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Post by hi224 on Jan 23, 2020 4:22:46 GMT
it really just worked for me.
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Post by jonesjxd on Jan 27, 2020 15:11:07 GMT
To me it works because it's legitimately funny, and has a lot of emotional resonance. Taika Waititi is a comedy filmmaker that knows where the joke is, and he understands that each scene has to be a bit unto itself, the scene must push the story forward but it also has to be a contained comedy bit. Most scenes in Jojo Rabbit and Thor Ragnarok (haven't seen any of his other works) could work as a good two minute comedy sketch, but also can be added up to a satisfying complete film. The emotional resonance comes into play because at heart, these films are dramas, and rather heartbreaking dramas about genocide and totalitarianism. Jojo Rabbit is about a young boy's programming and deprogramming from Nazi brainwashing during the Holocaust, Thor Ragnarok is about a totalitarian destroying an entire planet and civilization, and our hero learning to accept that reality and defeat. These are heavy subject matters dealt with through comedy. Another strength of Waititi is he's not afraid to make a fool of his protagonist, and is eager to set the example by playing the biggest fool himself. Typically in comedy the main character is the "straight man", but Thor and Jojo are certainly not the "straight men" in these movies, they are equal fools, this adds a vulnerability that only adds to their eventual arcs. Jojo Rabbit is anchored in reality by the female characters, who are not audience surrogates either, they are bystanders and victims of the actual reality of the movie. We can have our fun with Jojo and Hitler, but the real stakes fall on Rosie and Elsa, who's vulnerability is in the physical reality. This structural reality chaos is anxiety inducing for the viewer, but in a good way, and by time the Allies storm Berlin and we're fully engulfed in the physical stakes of the movie, we're more invested, and earns Waititi the right to go really big in his finish-- and ending the film by having Hitler launched out a window via a crotch kick and cutting to credits on a David Bowie song is going really, really big, it earns it.
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Post by hi224 on Jan 27, 2020 18:56:30 GMT
To me it works because it's legitimately funny, and has a lot of emotional resonance. Taika Waititi is a comedy filmmaker that knows where the joke is, and he understands that each scene has to be a bit unto itself, the scene must push the story forward but it also has to be a contained comedy bit. Most scenes in Jojo Rabbit and Thor Ragnarok (haven't seen any of his other works) could work as a good two minute comedy sketch, but also can be added up to a satisfying complete film. The emotional resonance comes into play because at heart, these films are dramas, and rather heartbreaking dramas about genocide and totalitarianism. Jojo Rabbit is about a young boy's programming and deprogramming from Nazi brainwashing during the Holocaust, Thor Ragnarok is about a totalitarian destroying an entire planet and civilization, and our hero learning to accept that reality and defeat. These are heavy subject matters dealt with through comedy. Another strength of Waititi is he's not afraid to make a fool of his protagonist, and is eager to set the example by playing the biggest fool himself. Typically in comedy the main character is the "straight man", but Thor and Jojo are certainly not the "straight men" in these movies, they are equal fools, this adds a vulnerability that only adds to their eventual arcs. Jojo Rabbit is anchored in reality by the female characters, who are not audience surrogates either, they are bystanders and victims of the actual reality of the movie. We can have our fun with Jojo and Hitler, but the real stakes fall on Rosie and Elsa, who's vulnerability is in the physical reality. This structural reality chaos is anxiety inducing for the viewer, but in a good way, and by time the Allies storm Berlin and we're fully engulfed in the physical stakes of the movie, we're more invested, and earns Waititi the right to go really big in his finish-- and ending the film by having Hitler launched out a window via a crotch kick and cutting to credits on a David Bowie song is going really, really big, it earns it. Really, I am sort of sick of people lamenting how derivative this whole movie is. Sure Grand Budapest Hotel and Life is Beautiful exist and no its not very original to mock nazis, but their are always a number of ways to relate that aspect of history to a modern day audience.
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Post by hi224 on Jan 30, 2020 18:05:50 GMT
To me it works because it's legitimately funny, and has a lot of emotional resonance. Taika Waititi is a comedy filmmaker that knows where the joke is, and he understands that each scene has to be a bit unto itself, the scene must push the story forward but it also has to be a contained comedy bit. Most scenes in Jojo Rabbit and Thor Ragnarok (haven't seen any of his other works) could work as a good two minute comedy sketch, but also can be added up to a satisfying complete film. The emotional resonance comes into play because at heart, these films are dramas, and rather heartbreaking dramas about genocide and totalitarianism. Jojo Rabbit is about a young boy's programming and deprogramming from Nazi brainwashing during the Holocaust, Thor Ragnarok is about a totalitarian destroying an entire planet and civilization, and our hero learning to accept that reality and defeat. These are heavy subject matters dealt with through comedy. Another strength of Waititi is he's not afraid to make a fool of his protagonist, and is eager to set the example by playing the biggest fool himself. Typically in comedy the main character is the "straight man", but Thor and Jojo are certainly not the "straight men" in these movies, they are equal fools, this adds a vulnerability that only adds to their eventual arcs. Jojo Rabbit is anchored in reality by the female characters, who are not audience surrogates either, they are bystanders and victims of the actual reality of the movie. We can have our fun with Jojo and Hitler, but the real stakes fall on Rosie and Elsa, who's vulnerability is in the physical reality. This structural reality chaos is anxiety inducing for the viewer, but in a good way, and by time the Allies storm Berlin and we're fully engulfed in the physical stakes of the movie, we're more invested, and earns Waititi the right to go really big in his finish-- and ending the film by having Hitler launched out a window via a crotch kick and cutting to credits on a David Bowie song is going really, really big, it earns it. Generously and accurately stated. It was in fact the ending that really gave me a delayed emotional punch to the proceedings and made me realize that I had just seen something that I hadn't expected, nor that it would make me weep out of both joy and sadness in equal measures. The ending could have easily failed and ruined everything that went before it due to what could be considered an anachronistic approach, but it worked in so well with the rest of the film, that it couldn't have ended any other way. A perfect ending to what I feel to be a flawless film. The timing was impeccable and the unusual and original style of it, I hope will make it a keeper for the ages. I love the analysis in this thread here as well.
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Post by Vits on Feb 1, 2020 11:25:27 GMT
There's a common misconception that comedy movies don't require good production values (especially the framing of the shots) just because the jokes are the priority. And if the movie takes place in the past, the sets tend to look like they belong in a stage play or a sketch TV show. Movies like JOJO RABBIT luckily go against this notion. Mihai Malaimare Jr.'s cinematography and Ra Vincent's production design display a lot of effort. Roman Griffin Davis and Thomasin McKenzie's performances are outstanding. I had doubts in regards to the premise: In 1940s Germany, a boy named Johannes "Jojo" Betzler (who wants to become a Nazi) discovers a girl named Elsa Korr hiding in his attic. I thought "I know where things will go. He'll be scared at first yet intrigued by her beauty. He'll get to know her, slowly realizing that Jews aren't evil after all, while he's falls in love with her. I don't like this idea very much. It'll be implied that his attraction motivates him to be open-minded in the first place. That the situation wouldn't be the same if Elsa was a boy. Therefore, him discovering he's been fed lies won't ring as true." While the plot does play out like this, there's a detail that makes a big difference. During one of their first conversations, Elsa tells Jojo "No, you're not a Nazi. You may like swastikas and you may wear this uniform, but you don't belong with them." I interpreted this as Elsa being able to see what's inside Jojo: A kind person (something that was already confirmed at the beginning of the movie, where he didn't follow an officer's order to kill a rabbit). So... No, it's not about the power of boners. The sad, thrilling and sweet moments are well-executed. One in particular is (and will be) hard to forget. Without getting into spoilers, let's just say that Jojo briefly thinks that Elsa (as a Jew) is to blame for something bad. He confronts her in a scene with no dialogue. Well, since the dramatic moments in a comedy are supposed to enhance it instead of overshadow it, I guess I should consider all of this a flaw. I wouldn't do that if this was trying to be a dramedy, but no. It's trying to be a comedy first and foremost. A very wacky one. Don't get me wrong; I did laugh while watching this movie, but not as often as I could have. No gag is truly memorable. Taika Waititi came up with cleverly satirical observations, he clearly left the most obvious jokes possible reserved for the Führer himself. When you create a supporting character who can only be seen and heard by the protagonist, you can still make them feel like they're participants in the story. Here, the presence of Adolf Hitler as Jojo's imaginary friend doesn't seem to serve a purpose beyond the mockery of a real-life villain. You can't even excuse this as a catharsis for the audience, because this isn't the first or even the millionth time we've seen him being made fun of. For some reason, he sometimes tries to interact with other people. Not just talk to them; he makes weird faces underwater while he watches people inside a pool, even though they're not really doing anything odd and even though Jojo is far away and probably not even paying attention to those people... How and why is Jojo imagining all of this? Not surprisingly, this flamboyant and cheery man eventually shows his angry side to Jojo. Is this supposed to represent how Germans felt when they realized that their leader's positive image was a political strategy and the result of the manipulation of the media? Well, if it's not the real Hitler that Jojo is seeing, it doesn't have as much meaning. 7/10 ------------------------------------- You can read comments of other movies in my blog. |
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