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Why Taika Waititi Made Oscar Contender ‘Jojo Rabbit’: “It Felt Scary to Me.”

️@VanityFair
️Fri Jan 31 2020

Jojo Rabbit is adapted from the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens, which my mother introduced to me in 2010. At the time, I was getting tired of seeing World War II through the lens of the soldier and began to wonder what the experience was like for ordinary people.

Around that time, it was the 20th anniversary of the Bosnian War. As a teenager in 1990/91, I had zero knowledge or interest in this conflict, fought in a place I couldn’t find on a map, and so it went by without much attention on my part. But in 2010 I decided to educate myself on this part of human history. What I discovered was a series of events and war crimes that matched many of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. And what really struck me was that the stories focused on the treatment and experiences of children, which is something I’d never really considered.

This idea of how war affects children is what led me to connect on a deeper level with the story and themes in Caging Skies. The idea of trying to understand this little boy who we should despise, and seeing Nazi Germany falling apart through his eyes, that felt like a challenge. As a way to externalize the battle that is going on in Jojo’s head throughout the film, I added in the imaginary Hitler character.

I’ve always used humor to present my ideas, and if I were to be true to myself and my sensibilities, this had to be the same. My laughs never come for free. I always knew I was in good company with the great satirists that came and went before me, but it still feels like my boldest film yet. This subject matter is very sensitive, and I knew I had to get it right. “Pressure” of the risk is the driving force of what keeps me going. That’s another reason I made Jojo Rabbit—because it felt scary to me. At this point in my career, I felt I was up for the challenge.

Cut to 2020, and Jojo Rabbit now has a resonance that I could never have predicted in 2010. It’s shocking and kind of sad to think that a film like this would have even more relevance than ever, but it’s also a reminder of just how important these stories are. They’re more than films, they’re dialogues around the way we treat each other and raise our children. They’re a way of educating ourselves, and more importantly the younger generations, about the dangerous habits of humans and the importance of fighting against intolerance and hate. I specifically chose contemporary dialogue and popular music to convey these messages, so the film could further resonate with today’s audience.

Lastly, the film is a love letter to mothers. My own mother has been an intellectually stimulating and creatively supportive force in my life, so it feels appropriate and natural that the film should focus so much on the influence of Jojo’s mother. She is a mother before anything, and knowing how I feel about parenting, and the perils it brings, it’s particularly satisfying to see Scarlett Johansson create a character whose priority is her son. Rosie’s main drive is protecting Jojo from the pervading darkness around them. She encourages her son, through love and laughter, to remain a child, to reject the dangerous ideas threatening his innocence, and stay in the light.

I guess that’s the aim of the film as a whole, is to allow the good and kindness within us to grow. We seem to need it a lot right now.