Taika Waititi (‘Thor: Ragnarok’, ‘What We Do in the Shadows’, ‘Boy’) decided last spring to take a short break from work for Marvel , and carry out a satirical adaptation of the novel by Christine Leunens .
‘Jojo Rabbit’, providing what many are considering the most refined parodic vision of Hitler to date . But is this something new
Beware that comparisons are odious, let’s review other humorous cinematographic approaches around the dictator.
The 20th century: The masters of satire
The decade of the 1940s was surely the moment of greatest propaganda exaltation carried out by the Hollywood industry during World War II. The intention of emphasizing Hitler as absolute evil was the priority , but nobody would have thought of using humorous provocation as a weapon.
Chaplin as Adenoid Hynkel in the famous balloon sequence | Film Forum
However, the greatest humorous genius of the film mecca, Charlie Chaplin (‘Footlights’), chose to dare to parody Adolf Hitler in‘The Great Dictator’ (1940), a film that was based on the story of ‘The Prince and the Pauper’, to give it a spin regarding the situation facing Europe at that time.
Two years later, it was Ernst Lubitsch’s turn (‘The Devil Said No’), with ‘To be or not to be’ (1942), a farandulera intrigue with acid humor and forcefully anti-war. A theater company in Poland occupied by the German Army was confronting the Third Reich through the use of disguise; giving rise to several of the most parodic sequences around the dictator.
Bronski (Tom Dugan) disguised as Hitler in ‘To be or not to be’ (1942) | Film Stage
Siglo XXI: Reinterpreting Hitler
Now in the 21st century there is no fear of any retaliation, hence there was never an actor who de facto played Hitler 100%; Chaplin made a parody, but he was not the dictator and Lubitsch’s actor dressed up as him, but he was never Hitler as a real character.
That has not prevented the parody from taking its course, without more, in 2015 the novel by Timur Vermes ‘He has returned’ was adapted, where Oliver Masucci parodied a resurrected Hitler in Germany in 2014, using the documentary format as Larry Charles did. in ‘Borat’ (2006).
Oliver Masucci facing Hitler in ‘He’s back’ (2015) | Spectators
Without a doubt, and taking into account the current political correctness landscape,It is undeniable that Waititi has surely curled the curl in ‘Jojo Rabbit’, we will have to wait to see his first criticism to be sure.
