It looks as though Taika Waititi has triumphed again – both with his new anti-hate film, which he wrote, directed and stars in – and its promotion. Yes, there’s a trailer for the comedy-drama, Jojo Rabbit, the story of a young boy in Hitler’s army finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home, but there’s also the most wonderful skit. It’s based on a meme taken from a 2004 German movie called Der Untergang, which recounts the last days of Hitler’s life.
A parody version of the scene in which Hitler learns that his inescapable defeat is coming, was uploaded to YouTube in 2006, in which subtitles were added to make the dictator lament about the lack of new features in the then-recently released Microsoft Flight Simulator X.
Parody versions then proliferated took off, with the YouTube channel Hitler Rants Parodies turning into a hub for all the videos in 2009. (Click on the link to find Hitler’s reaction to Boris Johnson becoming prime minister.)
In the Jojo Rabbit parody version, Hitler finds out that he (or more accurately the young boy’s imaginary friend, Hitler) is being played by a Polynesian Jew – Waititi. Waititi has a Mairo father and a Russian-Jewish mother. Hitler is anything but amused. The parody promo has been a hit ever since it was first tweeted.
— Jojo Rabbit (@jojorabbitmovie) July 26, 2019
Haaaaaa I forgot about this stupid meme. Now I like it. #JojoRabbit #FuckYouShitler https://t.co/QXjP0tyGRv
— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) July 26, 2019
The film will be a headliner for the 2019 Toronto film festival in September and the film is based on a novel, Caging Skies, by New Zealand-Belgian author, Christine Leunens. As well as Waititi, the cast includes Scarlett Johansson, Alfie Allen, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Sam Rockwell, Thomasin McKenzie and Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo.
Here is the official trailer:
