Jojo Rabbit

Hey, this is different!

This is not what I'm used to!

Well, I guess I like it. Michael Giacchino, at his best.

Hi everyone, I'm Taika Waititi...

your favorite New Zealander other than Sam Neill,

and Cliff Curtis, and Peter Jackson,

and Jacinda Ardern, and my mom.

So this is my feel-good movie.

Welcome to Jojo Rabbit: The Commentary.

Which is usually something that people

don't even know exists in the extra features.

Hopefully you've stumbled upon this and you've decided,

"Well, I'm going to watch the entire movie

listening to the monotonous drone of a New Zealander

talking about his movie."

Wow. What can I say about what you're looking at?

There's a kid. He's white. He's got blue eyes.

He's as Aryan as they come.

What you'll notice behind him

is one of the greatest actors to grace the silver screen

in, probably, the last 682 years.

An actor by the name of Taika Waititi,

who also happened to write and direct this movie.

And also happens to be me.

Do I do everything? Yes.

Ooh! There I am! I can barely stand to look at myself.

That's how impressed I am.

Do you ever go sometimes, I mean, you probably won't,

I'm probably the only person who does this,

sometimes catch a reflection of yourself, you know, in a teapot,

or your reflection in a mirror and something, and you're just stunned,

like an opossum in the car headlights, and you suddenly just think,

"Oh my God, who's that?"

And you want to know more about that person.

Well, welcome to my world, that's what happens to me every single day.

It's a blessing and a curse,

and it's just something I've learned to live with over the years.

Guys, this is one of my favorite bits. Let's watch this.

This is a Heil. Heil!

-Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler. - Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler!

-Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! - Heil Hitler.

Ooh, that's it. You've got it. Heil Hitler.

-Have a great day! Heil Hitler. - Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler!

-You're gonna be the best. Heil Hitler! - Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler!

-You can do it. - Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler!

BOTH (rapidly): Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler!

("Komm, gib mir deine Hand" by The Beatles begins)

Heil Hitler!

Heil Hitler.

Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler.

Check out this footage of Beatlemania,

I mean, sorry, Hitlermania,

which is, I thought was appropriate

to liken Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich to the Beatles.

And...

what they created, the chaos and the mayhem that they created.

I did find it interesting, though, that the frenzy that Germany...

was...

that they found themselves in during this time--

I noticed similarities in their footage

with people screaming and going nuts for Hitler at all these rallies and stuff.

And I thought, "Wow, it looks so weird. All these women crying and everything.

It looks like the footage I've seen

when I was watching old Beatles footage."

And then, we had the idea to put the German version

of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand,"

"Komm gib mir deine Hand" by the Beatles, sung by the Beatles.

Because, as you all know, I'm sure you don't,

because you don't read,

and you just get your information from tidbits on the Internet,

the Beatles spent numerous years in Hamburg

and recorded quite a few of the songs in German,

as did Johnny Cash, as did David Bowie,

as did Roy Orbison.

Okay, so, let's watch the film for a bit more.

I hope you guys want to keep watching this film.

Heil Hitler, guys.

Heil Hitler!

Jungvolk, welcome to the Hitlerjugend training weekend.

In which we will make men and women of you all.

My name is Captain Klenzendorf.

You may call me Captain K.

Captain K!

Ja. And this is Sub-Officer Finkel.

This is Fräulein Rahm.

Hey. Heil Hitler, everyone.

So a little about me. Who am I?

And why am I here talking to a bunch of little titty-grabbers

instead of leading my men into battle towards glorious death?

Great question.

I've asked it myself every day since Operation Screw Up,

where I lost a perfectly good eye in a totally prevent able enemy attack.

And according to my superiors,

you need two eyes to be a meaningful part of the war effort.

Can two-eyed people do this?

-Jesus. - Over the next two days,

you little critters will get to experience some of the things

that the mighty German army goes through every day.

And even though it would appear our country's on the back foot

and there really isn't much hope in us winning this war,

apparently we're doing just fine.

Anyway. You boys have all been issued with your Deutsches Jungvolk daggers.

These are very special and expensive weapons.

You should never be without them.

And don't try to stab each other.

No stabbing!

No stabbing.

This is your first step towards being men.

Today you boys will be involved in such activities

as marching, bayonet drills, grenade-throwing,

trench-digging, map-reading, gas defense,

camouflage, ambush techniques,

war games, firing guns, and blowing stuff up.

The girls will practice important womanly duties

such as dressing wounds, making beds,

and learning how to get pregnant.

Aw.

I've had 18 kids for Germany.

Such a great year to be a girl.

All right. Let's get to it.

- (cheering) Come on.

Go!

God help me.

Go, go, go!

Three, two, one, swastika!

Come on! Pull it! Come on!

Aah! Aah!

- Now finish him. Don't, no, no!

-Fangs. - Fangs, ja.

-Serpent tongue. - Serpent's tongue, ja.

Scales!

So for this commentary, I'm going to call a few of the actors,

so I don't need to feel so alone

and talk by myself for the next 90 minutes.

So, first up, we're going to call Roman Griffin Davis,

who plays the titular character of Johannes Betzler, aka Jojo.

It's calling! It's ringing!

Hello. How are you, buddy?

I'm fine. Really tired. School sucks.

Are you tired because you-- How old are you?

Twelve.

You're twelve now? You're getting old.

Yeah, I've been twelve for quite a while, Taika.

Roman, tell me...

Tell me, Roman, be honest,

what was the experience like making this movie?

- Be honest. Well, it was great.

It was interesting and it was difficult at times,

but it was a great experience for me.

I didn't-- I wasn't mean to you?

No, never. Yeah, good. Good you'd say that.

I'm sure it was difficult.

What was the hardest part of it for you?

Probably...

Not only actually learning my lines, but it wasn't actually that difficult.

I think it probably was.

The German accent. - Yep.

- That was annoying. What about the subject matter?

Well, it was hard to keep...

to be serious and funny at the same time.

That was also difficult. Like, I don't know.

But yeah, no, it's hard to keep the levels of emotion and comedy.

And how about playing a boy who really loved Hitler?

No, that was also difficult.

I remember the first time on the first scene,

and I know it made me feel really uncomfortable.

But after a while, I mean...

After a while of hanging out with me as Hitler, you learned to respect me.

Yeah.

No, but it was weird the first time.

Archie, who plays Yorki...

He's a wonderful, wonderful guy, isn't he, Archie Yates?

No, he's the funniest person. He was the funniest person on set.

- Yeah. - Apart from Rebel.

So Rebel and Archie were the funniest?

Is that what you're trying to tell me?

Yeah, and Stephen. They were all, but Archie was very funny.

So Rebel, Stephen, and Archie

were the funniest people that you were around on set.

Yeah. Okay. Goodbye.

No, no, also Scarlett and Sam were all also equally as funny.

So Scarlett, Sam, Archie, Rebel,

- (Davis laughs) and...

- and who else? Oh my gosh.

And Stephen Merchant were all

- the funniest people on set. There's one other person...

Is that what you're trying to tell me, Roman?

After everything I did for you.

- After I gave you a job. - (Davis protesting)

- I've made you a superstar! There was one extra guy...

He was--

Yeah, no, there was this one extra who was quite funny.

An extra? He's got the--

Yeah, yeah. But apart from that...

I can take this all away from you,

it's still not too late for me to cut you out of this movie.

And, no, Taika. Taika, wow, Taika. God, he's hilarious.