A MIX OF LIGHT & DARK
Filmmaker plays Hitler as an amped buffoon in anti-hate satire film
Playing Adolf Hitler for laughs would make most actors squirm.
But filmmaker Taika Waititi leaped at the chance to give the loathed Nazi leader a comedic makeover in his anti-hate satire Jojo Rabbit.
“I didn’t write the part for myself. That was never my intention. Look at me — it’s like asking you to play Adolf Hitler,” he chuckles. But being asked by Fox Searchlight — the studio releasing the film — to play the dictator as an amped buffoon, indicated to him that they were committed to his satirical vision.
Jojo Rabbit tells the story of 10-year-old Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis), who is convinced Jews deserve to die. But the young Nazi discovers his mother, played by Scarlett Johansson, has been hiding a Jewish girl (Thomasin Mckenzie) in their home, which shatters the boy’s perceived image of the sworn enemy.
Waititi, who voices a bounty hunting droid in the upcoming live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian and is filming a supporting role in James Gunn’s Suicide Squad reboot, spoke about bringing his brand of absurdist humour to such a serious subject and what’s in store when he returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe next year.
Q You were introduced to the source material Caging Skies by your mother. What convinced you that the novel would have a cinematic appeal?
A My mom read the book and she was describing the premise of the story to me. The way that she was trying to paint this picture felt very cinematic. She wasn’t suggesting it as a film at all. She was just telling me the story. And the way she captured it piqued my interest, so I read it for myself and I dug it.
Q Was it easy to get a studio to back a story in which Adolf Hitler is a young child’s imaginary friend?
A It’s a really good script, so it was easy (laughs). Fox Searchlight wanted to do it, and I’ve always loved their films and their taste in film. I wrote it and we sent it around to gauge who might be interested in it, but then I went off and did What We Do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople and then Thor (Ragnarok). So I made three movies and then when I came back to the script, Searchlight said they wanted to make it with me and they suggested I play Adolf Hitler.
Q Was there anyone else you had in mind to play Adolf ?
A No.
Q Roman Griffin Davis is great in this film, and his transformation in the movie shows he has fantastic acting chops. How hard was it to find a kid to chart Jojo’s emotional journey?
A Roman came in right at the 11th hour. He came out of nowhere, really. I don’t know how we found him. One of his mother’s friends suggested he audition. Before him, we were looking around for five months. There were a couple of different people we were looking at, but for me, there was something about his sensitivity. He’s a very empathetic kid. He was constantly asking if he was emotional enough and if what he was doing was making people feel something. That was a special quality.
Q How did you set the goalposts for how far into humour you were going to go with this movie?
A I don’t think you can approach the subject matter and set the story during the Second World War without addressing (its atrocities) in some way. There are a lot of things you can’t make light of, but that’s what makes the film interesting. For me, if you’ve seen any of my films, there’s always a mix of light and dark. Every single one of my films has something pretty dramatic in it. I think highlighting the seriousness of whatever the situation holds is part of the human experience. It’s a mixture of light and dark. Every single day of your life — there’s comedy, you’ve got laughs and there are moments where you’re pissed off or crying. Life isn’t (like a depressing movie).
Q Jojo Rabbit is being released at a time of divisiveness. Five years ago I didn’t think you’d see white supremacist rallies in North American cities, and yet here we are.
A Absolutely ... when I wrote this, no one was really thinking about that. I lived in Germany for a time, and there wasn’t really any sort of (racism). Now and then there were pockets of this stuff popping up in Europe. Political parties that were far right would gain a little traction and then disappear.
But you’re right. In the last five years, there has been a rising up. What freaks me out — especially in America — is the people defending them. People saying things like, ‘It’s their right to express themselves.’ That’s f---ed up, man. At the end of (the Second World War) there was a clear delineation. If you’re a Nazi, you go to jail. Now if you’re a Nazi, you get your own Youtube channel.
For some reason now, we don’t have the same standards. And to those people saying, ‘Don’t be too quick to judge,’ I think you have every right to be quick to judge. If you like Nazis and if you adopt the thinking Nazis have, you can f--- off.
Q What were you doing before you became a filmmaker?
A I was mostly painting, doing music, theatre, comedy, but I don’t even mind doing a job that’s not in the arts. For me, it’s about staying busy. I think there’s just as much satisfaction to be drawn from truck driving. If you’ve got some sort of passion for something, for me it’s worth it.