By Travis Johnson
Everyone’s a Taika Waititi fan now. Some longer than others, for sure – we’ve been on board since Scarfies – but the one-two punch of Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Thor Ragnarok has really catapulted the Wellington-born comedian and filmmaker to the top of the heap, culturally speaking. Taika, the received wisdom is, can do no wrong.
Apparently Waititi has taken that as a challenge. In his next film, the Māori/Jewish entertainer will play Hitler.
Adolf Hitler.
Yes, that one.
According to The Wrap, Waititi’s next film will be Jojo Rabbit, which is… well, read for yourself:
“After being severely hurt by a grenade at Hitler youth camp, a prideful and nationalistic ten-year old boy discovers that his mother is hiding a fifteen year old Jewish girl in their house.
“Jojo Rabbit, by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Hunt for the Wilderpeople), blends his signature humor, pathos, and deeply compelling characters in a World War II satire about a ten-year-old boy who, ridiculed by his peers and misunderstood by his mother, can’t quite figure out how to fit in. As the naïve young German struggles to understand his place in an increasingly Fascist regime, he resorts to an imaginary friend who can offer advice and help him cope.”
That imaginary friend is Hitler, A., as played by Waititi, T. So not your actual flesh-and-mustache Hitler, but a confused young boy’s imaginary, advice-giving mental image of Hitler. The avuncular Hitler, if you will.
That may be a difficult needle to thread.
“It’s my version of… a lonely boy’s best version of his hero, which is really his dad,” Waititi said. ““This is not the Adolf we know and hate, this guy is goofy, charming, and glides through life with a child- like naivety.”
So, perhaps picture Taika’s turn as (sort of) Michael Jackson in Boy, if you will. But with goosestepping rather than moonwalking.
Jojo Rabbit is scheduled to begin production in May. We are all over this one.
