美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Jojo Rabbit,' Your Reich Is Calling

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Taika Waititi is best known for directing the Marvel¹ blockbuster "Thor: Ragnarok." But what got him that job were smaller movies that might best be described as quirky. Critic Bob Mondello says that description also fits his latest film, "Jojo Rabbit." It's about a little boy in Nazi² Germany who has an imaginary friend named Adolf Hitler.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE³: When a drumroll starts the 20th Century Fox fanfare⁴, you'll think for about one second that all is normal. But as the Fox searchlights sweep the sky, what's playing is what sounds like a German drinking song sung by children. Shortly after, we see images of Nazi soldiers saluting⁵ the Fuhrer as the Beatles sing "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand."

We're in 1944 Berlin, where 10-year-old Jojo is having a rough first day of Nazi summer camp and being consoled by an imaginary friend whose toothbrush mustache and swastika'd uniform clearly identify him but who sounds...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JOJO RABBIT")

TAIKA WAITITI: (As Adolf) Poor Jojo. What's wrong, little man?

MONDELLO: ...Not as you'd expect.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JOJO RABBIT")

ROMAN GRIFFIN DAVIS: (As Jojo) Hi, Adolf.

WAITITI: (As Adolf) Want to tell me about that rabbit incident? What was all that about?

DAVIS: (As Jojo) They wanted me to kill it. I'm sorry. I couldn't.

WAITITI: (As Adolf) Don't worry about it.

MONDELLO: Writer-director Taika Waititi plays the imaginary Hitler. And as he's a figment of the imagination of a nice 10-year-old, he's a nice guy.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JOJO RABBIT")

WAITITI: (As Adolf) Let me give you some really good advice. Be the rabbit. The humble⁶ bunny can outwit all of his enemies. He's brave and sneaky and strong. Be the rabbit.

MONDELLO: Jojo's best real friend...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JOJO RABBIT")

ARCHIE YATES: (As Yorki) Are you all right, Jojo? Who are you talking to?

DAVIS: (As Jojo) Nobody.

MONDELLO: That is literally⁷ true, as Adolf's never actually been around. As setups go, this treatment of history's most reviled⁸ mass murderer qualifies as unusual, though hardly unprecedented⁹. Charlie Chaplin played a Hitler-like Adenoid Hynkel in "The Great Dictator" when the real Hitler was still around. Mel Brooks¹⁰ mocked the Fuhrer after World War II in "The Producers." Quentin Tarantino created a revenge fantasy in "Inglourious Basterds." So Waititi's not treading new ground here, just offering a new take.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JOJO RABBIT")

DAVIS: (As Jojo) What am I going to do?

WAITITI: (As Adolf) No idea.

ROMAN GRIFFIN DAVIS AND TAIKA WAITITI: (As Adolf and Jojo) Got it.

DAVIS: (As Jojo) I'll negotiate.

WAITITI: (As Adolf) Burn down the house and blame Winston Churchill.

MONDELLO: His comic idea is much like Chaplin's - to deconstruct fascist¹¹ thinking. He makes Jojo a propaganda-fed child so innocent he's never learned to tie his shoes, then helps him puzzle out the lies. Assisting with the shoelaces and with life lessons is his mom, played by Scarlett Johansson.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JOJO RABBIT")

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: (As Rosie) Someday you'll meet someone special. Love is the strongest thing in the world.

DAVIS: (As Jojo) I think you'll find that metal is the strongest thing in the world, followed closely by dynamite¹² and then muscles.

MONDELLO: Also, Sam Rockwell as Jojo's camp counselor¹³ who's aware that the Nazi jig¹⁴ is up but plans to dance it away.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JOJO RABBIT")

SAM ROCKWELL: (As Captain Klenzendorf) Guys, this is yjr kid I told you about. He stole a hand grenade and blew himself up. And as a result, I got demoted for negligence¹⁵. Now I get to work in this office with all these wonderful kids.

MONDELLO: And a Jewish girl hiding in the attic¹⁶ played by Thomasin McKenzie.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JOJO RABBIT")

THOMASIN MCKENZIE: (As Elsa) You're not nuts, Jojo. You're a 10-year-old kid who likes dressing¹⁷ up in a funny uniform and wants to be part of a club.

MONDELLO: "Jojo Rabbit" is gently comic for a while and then surprisingly affecting at the end. So perhaps it's not fair to wish that Waititi had opted¹⁸ to deal more directly with the horrors of the Third Reich. We are, after all, living in a time when fascism is again a growing threat worldwide - not what he was going for, though. He's content to sidestep the atrocities¹⁹, concentrate on the indoctrination of children, and let his young hero - and by proxy²⁰, the audience - learn life lessons...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "JOJO RABBIT")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Your shoelaces are undone²¹ again.

MONDELLO: ...That are tied up with a neat little bow.

I'm Bob Mondello.

1 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

2 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 fanfare   

n.喇叭；号角之声；v.热闹地宣布

参考例句：

• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide.这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。
• A fanfare of trumpets heralded the arrival of the King.嘹亮的小号声宣告了国王驾到。

5 saluting   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的现在分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• 'Thank you kindly, sir,' replied Long John, again saluting. “万分感谢，先生。”高个子约翰说着又行了个礼。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• He approached the young woman and, without saluting, began at once to converse with her. 他走近那年青女郎，马上就和她攀谈起来了，连招呼都不打。 来自辞典例句

6 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 reviled   

v.辱骂，痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The tramp reviled the man who drove him off. 流浪汉辱骂那位赶他走开的人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The old man reviled against corruption. 那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

12 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

13 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

14 jig   

n.快步舞（曲）；v.上下晃动；用夹具辅助加工；蹦蹦跳跳

参考例句：

• I went mad with joy and danced a little jig.我欣喜若狂，跳了几步吉格舞。
• He piped a jig so that we could dance.他用笛子吹奏格舞曲好让我们跳舞。

15 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

16 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

17 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

18 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

19 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

21 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。