It’s bad form to critique an ad-campaign instead of the film, but the central liability of Taika Waititi’s “Jojo Rabbit” is its own inability to recognise itself. Since its premiere in September at the Toronto Film Festival, where it won the coveted Grolsch People’s Choice Award, “Jojo Rabbit” has announced itself as “an anti-hate satire”. The phrase has been splashed across posters and interviews, suggesting a level of bluntness and obviousness that’s hard to shake. There are few “pro-hate” satires, so the ad-campaign’s assurance that it is “anti-hate” seems fuelled by a lack of trust in its own self. And, although this film, about a ten-year old Hitler Youth member who idolises Hitler, but is forced to rethink his ideology when he finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic, utilises irony and satirical elements throughout “Jojo Rabbit” is best described as emphatically satirical. Even as the broadest moments of the film have dominated its ad campaign over the last few months, up to its recent six Oscar nominations, “Jojo Rabbit” is much more thoughtful and complex than the broadness of its campaign suggests. And, more specifically, the value of the reveals itself for what it truly is – an incredibly perceptive coming-of-age story.
