電影《兔嘲男孩》影評：Thoughts on Jojo Rabbit

Jojo's early embrace of Nazism reminds me of the youth league. Back in elementary school, it was a big deal to join the youth league. Not everyone joined it at once. Only the best students got to join it first. I joined the second round. It was important enough to the barely 9-year-old me, that I still remember being nontrivially upset and disappointed for not getting in earlier. We were told that the red scarf is red, because it was soaked with the blood of slain soldiers. Kind of a minor detail, yet a disturbingly violent one now I think about it.

The casting of Scarlett Johansson is unfortunate. Don't get me wrong- she did a wonderful job as an actor. The scene where she intermittently played the dad and herself is equally funny, touching, and heart-wrenching. But Johansson's casting of an originally Asian character in "Ghost in the Shell" was indefensible. She also continued to defend Woody Allen despite his daughter came out accusing him of sexual assault. Irony abounds, given that the movie is on racism and suppression.

Actor controversy aside, the movie is a triumph. Disarmingly funny (most scenes with Hitler), at times tense (the SS visit), and profoundly heartbreaking (the shoes), Jojo Rabbit is a timely recounting of history that transcends genres.