Jojo Rabbit (2019)

'Best Adapted Screenplay' Oscar winner Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit is adapted from a novel Caging skies by Christine Leunens. 

Jojo Rabbit is a film about an 10-year-old who has an imaginary friend: Adolf Hitler. Jojo's eidolon of the Führer represents his nationalism which he believes is something of utmost importance as it was highly valued in the Nazi society. 

The innocent mind of the young boy gradually learns the real story as one day he finds out that a Jewish girl has been living in his apartment. His inner conflicts of trying to understand what is right and wrong are portrayed through humorous scenes where he talks to Hitler about what he must do to protect his mother from the 'evil Jew girl'. 

The entire film is shown from the perspective of young Jojo. The character development of Jojo has been shown through his conversations with Hitler and how he goes from admiring the Führer to finally kicking him out of a window. He realizes that all that he was taught in school about the jews was fake when he meets the Jewish girl in his apartment. Jojo never quite understood nazism yet admired it because he was brainwashed in school. With the Jewish girl, he gets to be a child again.  

Jojo's mother, Scarlett Johansson plays a prominent role in trying to shape his ideals. She knows that nazism is wrong but she doesn't tell that to her son because she wants to protect him wants him to understand this on his own when he grows up. More importantly, she just wants Jojo to have a carefree childhood as she felt that 10-year-olds shouldn't worry about politics. 

Cinematography wise the scenes are cleverly shot. For instance, there are multiple scenes where Scarlett's shoes have been shown dominantly in the frame. This was done to create emphasis through cinematography. The audience remembered how the shoes looked like and when they saw these shoes worn by a woman hanged by the Nazis in the town square, it wasn't required to show her face and it was clear who the woman was. 

Simple actions such as tying shoelaces and opening doors have created an emotional context as they helped in showing the character development of Jojo. The characters are Emotional human beings and as we see them endure through tragedies, the movie comes to an end with a scene where the characters don't speak but express emotions through a wholesome dance-off.