Jojo Rabbit (2019) on Netflix
Ten-year-old Jojo Betzler belongs to the Hitler Youth in Nazi Germany and talks with an imaginary Adolf Hitler. At home he finds Elsa, a Jewish teenager his mother is hiding.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.9/10494,597 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes80%
Trailer
Plot summary
Johannes Betzler, called Jojo, is ten and lives in Nazi Germany during the last years of World War II. He has joined the Deutsches Jungvolk and talks with an imaginary Adolf Hitler, a foolish version of the leader he worships. At a training camp run by Captain Klenzendorf, Jojo cannot bring himself to kill a rabbit bare-handed, and the older boys mock him as Jojo Rabbit. A hand grenade he throws during an exercise explodes at his feet, leaving his face scarred and one leg lame. His mother, Rosie, asks the demoted Klenzendorf to give him small jobs while he heals. Alone at home one day, Jojo finds Elsa Korr, a Jewish teenager and a friend of his late sister Inge, hidden behind the walls of the attic. If anyone finds out, all three of them will be killed.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Fox Searchlight decided they would only make the film if Taika Waititi portrayed Adolf himself; he reluctantly agreed and recalled being embarrassed on set, and said he did not do much research on Hitler "because I just didn't think he deserved [the effort]".
- After Disney completed its acquisition of Fox Searchlight's parent company 21st Century Fox in March 2019, several Disney executives worried the film's mature themes would ruin their reputation as a family-friendly studio, and Variety reported it was considered "too edgy" for Disney.
- Another inspiration came from Taika Waititi reading that 66% of American millennials had never heard of or had no knowledge of the Auschwitz concentration camp; he hoped the memories of the victims would remain forever and that conversations about the topic would not stop.
- The soundtrack uses "Komm, gib mir deine Hand", the German version of the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand", after Taika Waititi noted "similarities between the crowd at Hitler's rallies and the frenzy at Beatles concerts"; Michael Giacchino secured the rights by contacting Paul McCartney, with whom he had previously worked.
- Taika Waititi had the idea for Jojo Rabbit in 2010, when his mother, Robin Cohen, introduced him to Christine Leunens' 2008 novel Caging Skies.
- Taika Waititi and the casting team, led by casting director Des Hamilton, watched about 1,000 audition tapes before accepting Roman Griffin Davis, who was initially being auditioned for Ford v Ferrari and later also auditioned for Jojo Rabbit.
- The title sequence was created by the New Zealand production company Assembly and features footage from the 1935 Nazi propaganda documentary Triumph of the Will, with text letterforms handcrafted to correspond to the film's historical aesthetic.
SPOILER
Costume designer Mayes C. Rubeo wanted Rosie's clothing to be distinctive so it would resonate with the audience and assist them in the scene where Rosie is found hanged; for that scene she chose single lace-up red and white spectator shoes made by Toronto shoemaker Jitterbug, based on her own sketch.
