Jojo Rabbit (dir. Taika Waititi), 2019

A pair of shoes has the power to ignite emotion and signal a pivotal moment in Jojo Rabbit, testifying to the craft in the storytelling and costume design of the film. Told from the perspective a radicalized ten year old Hitler Youth, never having lived outside a Nazi regime, Jojo Rabbit emphasizes radicalization and the power of broadened minds rather than the horrors of the Holocaust and World War II. After all, a ten year old Aryan boy would never witness such horrors during this time period. Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) navigates life with mindset of a boy of his age, regardless of what actually is occurring outside his own narrow view of the world. His imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, is an idealized version of the Furer which Jojo desperately wants to please. After an accident at a training camp leaves him disfigured, Jojo returns home to his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson). Rosie works during the day (actually, she anonymously drops Anti-Nazi leaflets around town), leaving Jojo to continue his Nazi duties as a civilian. He pastes propaganda across town and collects donations for the cause. However, when he discovers a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin Mackenzie), stowed away in the crawlspace of his later-sister's bedroom, he is confronted with his worst fear: the humanization of a "race" he was bred to hate.

Jojo Rabbit is somewhat of a technical achievement. There are a few films each year that feel as though all the technical elements really come together for a cohesive, effortless finish, which is the case here. To highlight one technical aspect, as mentioned in the opening sentence, the costume design is stunning. Nazi Germany has been costumed to death, but Mexican designer Mayes C. Rubio completely changes the view and styling of this era to represent that of a child without compromising historical accuracy (though, of course, that unicorn-esque uniform is an exception). Jojo Rabbit received six Oscar nominations and only realistically is in the running for two: Adapted Screenplay and Costume Design, the two stand-outs of the film. Personally, I would love to see Jojo Rabbit claim victory to at least one Oscar: Mayes C. Rubio.

In the end, I found Jojo Rabbit to be a touching and, toward the end, heavy film. Sure, this is not the best portrayal of the era, but it doesn't try to be. The key focus is wartime and genocide through the eyes of a child and Jojo Rabbit nails that perspective.