Emotional rollercoaster to the last minute

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2020)

A tragic (dark) comedy, with un underlying positive message.
The movie starts off in a very humorous but slightly silly fashion. The beginning jokes made me experience a feeling of unease. After the main character Johannes practises his German greeting with Adolf himself, I quickly realized that Johannes isn't only adorable but also portraits a completly believable human being. He just lives in a bizarre world. As the movie progresses the story becomes deeper and the complexity of the war unfolds itself. As Johannes finds the hidden girl living in their attic, his own truth about the world slowly starts to crumble. In the private conversations these two kids have, I saw the brilliance of both young actors. They managed to take my breath more than once. Both with laughs and with tears. Any kind of 'cheap' feeling I might have had during the first ten minutes now faded. I am completely captured by the story. The many laughable moments are perfectly balanced with the overall tragedy. In the for me most memorable scene Rosie, Johannes mother, dances her sons anger and pain away as they talk about his father who left home. In this scene Scarlett Johansson demonstrates a variety of acting skills which made me admire her even more. Altough my sadness grew as the movie came closer to its ending. The strength and positive attitude of pretty much all main characters can't stop me from feeling good. It is a movie worth debating. But mostly felt like a little piece of art.