Jojo Rabbit

My only fear is that I will forget some of what I meant to write. But since I can't cross my fingers while typing, I will just pray to Ray and Kurosawa and hope everything goes well. 

I was blessed by the company of Shri. Ishan Tuljapurkar. It is great to go with someone whom you can debate and try to give multiple meanings, enjoy the finer points and get a different lens in the post-movie discussion. For all that is said about it being "great" to go to the movies alone, going with someone you can talk at length about after the movie, regarding the same, is very valuable.

This is a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. It has been a while since a movie brought a smile to my face after it ended, and which was sustained while exiting the theatre (in this case, Westend Aundh. Got the best seats, just 150, 1030 PM show).

Though I will never stop cribbing about the design of the seats.

Nothing in this movie is superfluous. It is tight, exact, but liberal enough and not constrained. It treats the subject matter with respect, restraint and yet manages to, using humour, and Adolf Hitler, to propound truths you realize only after laughing at the joke. It is clean but not sanitized.

The best part is that Takei treats the audience with respect, and does not take them for granted. He knows we are intelligent, and hence through subtility, he shows us just enough to tug at our emotion, but not explain the story to us. The most brilliant example: an innocent scene, Jojo chasing a beautiful butterfly. Experience has taught us to expect a twist, something dangerous or tragic is now going to happen: butterfly dies, or Jojo is run over, or the blue sky will be filled with blasts. But no. Those shoes. And we know.

The characters are excellently built: the banality of evil is pure. Putting grenades on kids, and telling them to hug the enemy. Pulling off uniforms to put on kids. And those who want to do good, but are yet a part of the establishment, they too have no escape. Karma is Russian. And shepherds are German (beautiful PJ). A brilliant example of how we first laugh only to hold the laughs in the throat is the entire Gestapo scene: it is funny. It is an entire comic routine. We laugh. Until the questions begin.

Griffin Davis has shown more skill in acting than several Bollywood stars have shown in their entire career. All the supporting cast have taken their role seriously, but just enough. Including Archie Yates, who plays Yorki.

Three things were discussed regarding Yorki in the post-match discussions:

1. How it was excellent choice to not kill him, keeping the focus off “loss of life” in war, and on the subject matter
2. How he embodies the freedom of a child in a way: justification matters only what is explicable at the moment. He does not have a cathartic arc; he just wants a hug at the end. An 11-yr old just needs to live life.
3. How the military influences kids: he utters words like “sex” and the “Russians will screw our dogs!”

Shout out to Takei’s acting skills too. We decided his character, which is played very well, satirical humour at its finest, was an onion. So many layers.

One was definitely as a replacement for the loving father: explaining whys, reassuring Jojo regarding his fears. Then it becomes the correcting parent, telling him what is the right thing to do. And then the retributive: demanding and punishing. No wonder the kick at the end is cathartic.

This theory may be opposite or complimentary to what Ishan proposed. That it was the innate human reptilian/baser instinct of Jojo. An embodiment of evil/belongingness/justifications for all his actions. I am not too sure of this, and will stick to mine. Hitler was absent when Jojo tries to seek vengeance (a primal instinct) and stabs the Jewish girl.

Only one shot, after Jojo’s mom’s death, when there are random shots of roofs, does one get a bit disoriented, but at this time, one can just attribute deeper meaning to it. I thought the houses felt like they are weeping.

As I am going around telling everyone. It is a Valentine's Day gift for oneself: reaffirm your love for cinema. Go watch Jojo Rabbit. It is highly relevant today.

Rating: 5 Beards/5