DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
Taika takes on the tough topic of children living through war
Beloved Kiwi director Taika Waititi is back with another quirky and captivating movie, JojoRabbit. The film is a World War II satire that tells the tale of a lonely German boy whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler.
“I have always been drawn to stories that see life through children’s eyes. In this case, it happens to be a kid that we might not normally invest in,” Taika says of the film, which is based on the popular novel CagingSkies.
Taika, 44, shot to international acclaim with his wildly successful film Boy, and again a few years later with Hunt for the Wilder people. Since then he’s gone on to direct one of Marvel’s most popular films, Thor: Ragnarok, and is beloved around the world for his quirky sense of humour.
In JojoRabbit, which picked up the coveted People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival and is surrounded by Oscar buzz, not only is Taika the director, but he also plays Hitler.
“My grandfather fought against the Nazis in World War II and I’ve always been fascinated by that time and those events,” he tells. “When my mother told me about Christine Leunens’ book Caging Skies, I was drawn in by the fact it was told through the eyes of a German child indoctrinated into hate by adults.”
Growing up as a Maori Jew, Taika experienced prejudice – something he was reminded of while working on the film. His own kids – seven-yearold Te Hinekaahu and four-year-old Matewa – were also a big inspiration to him for this project.
He explains, “Having children of my own, I have become even more aware that adults are supposed to guide children through life and raise them to be better versions of themselves. And yet in times of war, adults are often doing the opposite. In fact, from a child’s point of view, during these times adults appear chaotic and absurd when all the world needs is guidance and balance.”