rose_griffes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_griffes) wrote2020-02-10 05:56 pm
rose_griffes) wrote2020-02-10 05:56 pm
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in lieu of the Venn diagram I had planned... movie!
I have no interest in the Oscars, other than maybe a casual moment of curiosity about what clothes people wear. So it was almost entirely accidental that I've actually watched two of the seven films nominated for best picture this year.
A friend of a friend had bought an Oscars week pass for a nearby movie theater and then his mother got sick; so I saw Jojo Rabbit with his pass, accompanied by our mutual friend. All I knew in advance was "little boy and imaginary friend Hitler," which was not much of a summary of the film, as it turns out. As someone who enjoys a bit of film dissection and doesn't mind knowing some details in advance, I probably should have found out more before watching it.
So. It was... weird. I've watched other films that Taika Waititi worked on, and this one is definitely the strangest of those that I've seen. I'm not sure what to say, other than: I felt uncomfortable a lot of the time. I'm glad to know that Waititi is Jewish, because the things that he was mocking should probably only be mocked by someone from the inside.
Setting: a German city (Berlin? possibly?) near the end of World War II. Young children, including Jojo, are still being "trained" in youth camps. Jojo, a dreamy sort of child, imagines his own version of Hitler (played by Waititi himself) as a sort of personal cheerleader. Jojo gets bullied at camp, tries to show off and gets injured, which leads to more bullying because of the resulting limp and scars. We see him and his mother (Scarlett Johannsen), and learn that she may be working for some kind of resistance movement, even if Jojo doesn't really understand that.
Jojo's obsession with "The Jews" as villains is clearly cultural; this belief system is challenged when he discovers that his mother has been hiding a Jewish teenager in the cupboards in the bedroom that belongs to Jojo's now-dead sister. Their interactions are the best part of this film. Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) has the strongest characterization in this movie, I think; Jojo is the titular lead, but he's also a ten-year-old boy, still changing and learning.
While the ending of the film is hopeful (and really adorable, I'll admit), there's a big cliff ahead that's impossible for me to ignore, which is this: many children in post-war Germany did not fare well. Especially those without a parent--and while Jojo's father could still return, it's not a sure thing.
Picking through my own reaction, I think part of feeling ill at ease stems from worry about the kids playing such key roles in this film. Acting hasn't always been kind to children. I hope that Roman Griffin Davis enjoyed the work--he certainly did it well--and that it doesn't have any negative effects on him.
A friend of a friend had bought an Oscars week pass for a nearby movie theater and then his mother got sick; so I saw Jojo Rabbit with his pass, accompanied by our mutual friend. All I knew in advance was "little boy and imaginary friend Hitler," which was not much of a summary of the film, as it turns out. As someone who enjoys a bit of film dissection and doesn't mind knowing some details in advance, I probably should have found out more before watching it.
So. It was... weird. I've watched other films that Taika Waititi worked on, and this one is definitely the strangest of those that I've seen. I'm not sure what to say, other than: I felt uncomfortable a lot of the time. I'm glad to know that Waititi is Jewish, because the things that he was mocking should probably only be mocked by someone from the inside.
Setting: a German city (Berlin? possibly?) near the end of World War II. Young children, including Jojo, are still being "trained" in youth camps. Jojo, a dreamy sort of child, imagines his own version of Hitler (played by Waititi himself) as a sort of personal cheerleader. Jojo gets bullied at camp, tries to show off and gets injured, which leads to more bullying because of the resulting limp and scars. We see him and his mother (Scarlett Johannsen), and learn that she may be working for some kind of resistance movement, even if Jojo doesn't really understand that.
Jojo's obsession with "The Jews" as villains is clearly cultural; this belief system is challenged when he discovers that his mother has been hiding a Jewish teenager in the cupboards in the bedroom that belongs to Jojo's now-dead sister. Their interactions are the best part of this film. Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) has the strongest characterization in this movie, I think; Jojo is the titular lead, but he's also a ten-year-old boy, still changing and learning.
While the ending of the film is hopeful (and really adorable, I'll admit), there's a big cliff ahead that's impossible for me to ignore, which is this: many children in post-war Germany did not fare well. Especially those without a parent--and while Jojo's father could still return, it's not a sure thing.
Picking through my own reaction, I think part of feeling ill at ease stems from worry about the kids playing such key roles in this film. Acting hasn't always been kind to children. I hope that Roman Griffin Davis enjoyed the work--he certainly did it well--and that it doesn't have any negative effects on him.
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Co-worker: Isn't that the one about the Hitler Youth Camp?
Boss : Not really, but yes, it's amazing.
Co-worker: IS it animated?
Boss: No. But you really have to see it. Amazing. (then he leaves.)
Co-worker and I just look at each other.
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My friend? She loved it. Thought it was both hilarious and well-done. I went with "Well-done but not for me."
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I know my boss has a dark sense of humor.
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Have you seen Parasite? It won Best Picture! It’s an incredible film!
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As a huge wimp, I'm concerned about the violence in Parasite. I don't know if I'll watch or not; probably not while it's on the big screen, at any rate.
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It is one of the very few films to watch that is worth the hype.
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I dunno if I'll ever write a review of it. I probably want to watch it again. I'm also re-reading Andre Gorz's The Traitor right now, which I think is another path towards getting my head around it.
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Yeah, it's hard to come up with something to say about films like those. At least it is for me.
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Maybe it is just that I want there to be more to JoJo than there is? I dunno, for me at least it gave me a lot to think about. But maybe just because it's so uneven.
Her point about the obvious issue of pretending he had never met a Jewish person is well-taken, though. It's pretty irresponsible as a conceit. I think this is part of why I wanted to go back to Gorz, whose father was Jewish. The actual massive betrayal of Jewish residents like... You have an ethical obligation to deal with that, I think.
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Thanks for the link.
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I think where I differ most with Esther's review is how I perceived Elsa, the Jewish teenager who was hiding in Jojo's house. Nussbaum has a slightly different perspective on that as well.
I... might be writing a bit of fic from Elsa's POV. Maybe. She was the character I connected to most strongly, although that probably has a lot do to with 1) I tend to gravitate to female characters anyway, and 2) having done a ton of research about German children after World War II for fic about Gaby Teller (TMFU), all of that recently acquired information bouncing around in my head just wants to be useful.
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the kind you can enjoy a great deal so long as you don't think about it too much
I'd argue that any movie that deals with Nazism really should make you think, and if it's not what is it making you do instead? Sympathize? Be amused by them through your sympathy? No thanks.
They often verge on minimizing the danger that the real Nazis posed, missing--or perhaps ignoring--the simple fact that it doesn't matter if the soldier holding you at gunpoint doesn't live up to the Aryan ideal, so long as they still have the gun.
Well. said.