"What? You can 'Heil' me better than that!"

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2020)

Well, it's not "Schindler's List", and it might demonstrate a bit of Monty Python inspiration, but at heart this is a biting anti-hate film that uses drama and humor effectively to tell the story of a Nazi youth and a Jewish girl about to discover the world and themselves as part of the human condition. Films like this remind us that the differences that exist among disparate ethnicities or races are almost always an accident of birth, and if left unchallenged, people can generally learn to get along with one another. Young Johannes 'JoJo' Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) is determined to uphold the will of The Fuehrer in the form of his imaginary friend Adolf (Taika Waititi, who doubles as the film's director), and is left conflicted over the actions of his mother (Scarlett Johansson) when he learns that she's been hiding a teenage Jewish girl in a disguised passageway of their German home. Over time, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) and JoJo form a relationship that evolves into friendship, and in JoJo's case, borders on a case of puppy love, all while in the midst of Allied forces about to break the back of the Nazi stranglehold on their home town.
You wouldn't think that a film dealing with Hitler would be fodder for comedy, but director Waititi manages to walk a fine line between drama and humor. There will be those viewers who vilify the picture for it's dialog and treatment of Jews, but that's one of the things that always bothers me about a movie's detractors. By showing what occurred at one time in history isn't the same thing as supporting those actions, as deplorable as they might have been. The picture finds it's balance in the caricatured treatment of Nazi villains like Sam Rockwell's Captain Klenzendorf, Gestapo leader Deertz (Stephen Merchant), and the riotous Fraulein Rahm, portrayed by Rebel Wilson. One might even conclude that Klenzendorf, as loyal as he was to the Nazi cause, had at least a spark of humanity by disavowing JoJo in the presence of American soldiers so the young boy wouldn't be considered a Nazi sympathizer.
I couldn't think of a more perfect ending for the movie, reminding us of Elsa's promise to dance when she knew that the war was over and that she had finally acquired her freedom. Having survived great personal tragedy with the death of his mother and loss of a sister, JoJo looks himself in the mirror and vows that "Today, just do what you can". The closing soundtrack echoes JoJo's sentiments, and those of all people who are inspired to overcome their own unfortunate circumstances, as David Bowie's German lyrics relate how 'We can be heroes, just for one day'.