Johannes aka Jojo is a 10yr old aspiring Nazi who idolises the ruthlessness of the Third Reich and has posters of the Fuhrer on his bedroom wall. He is even on close speaking terms with Adolf Hitler himself, albeit an imaginary incarnation who goofily guides him through the events of the film (first introduced as just a body shot before we see his face - similarly to Clarence's visions of Elvis in True Romance). His one real friend is an optimistic, endlessly loveable and honest to a fault kid who looked like 'Piggy' from Lord of the Flies. He has the best line of the film as he tells Jojo; 'I'm gonna go home and see my mother, I need a cuddle'. The plot revolves around Jojo's discovery and investigation into a Jewish girl who is being harboured in the attic by his mum, played by Scarlett Johansson.
Directed by Taika Waititi who also did the offbeat but charming Hunt for the Wilderpeople, he uses a colour palette and framing seemingly heavily influenced by Wes Anderson, while other scenes showed sone of the Coen's later work's comedic style. There are lots of aspects that will have caused controversy within this production, many of which I can somewhat appreciate although I don't subscribe to them myself. Even within the first five minutes, the fact that Hitler is the superhero to Jojo and he goes to a Nazi youth camp with many other young children will have got many people's backs up - but I never found myself questioning the intentions or morals of the film - I was just happy to be taken along with it. It brasenly blends the serious subject matter with a lightheartedness that, although the balance wasn't always perfect, worked well for me most of the time (think Life is Beautiful and Good Bye, Lenin). The pick of the scenes and funniest moment would have to be the Heil Hitler encounter with Stephen Merchant's SS officer.
It is funny and shocking, sweet and horrific, melancholic and irreverent. Overall I found it really interesting, and enjoyed it very much. I wonder whether, in years to come, this may be referenced as one of those films that everyone should see and will go down in history - not unlike Basil Fawlty's Hitler's funny walk.
Heil Hitler
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