Details about a deleted scene from the Oscar-winning film Jojo Rabbit have been revealed by an actress who was cut from the film. The hit Taika Waititi dramatic-comedy was one of 2019’s most critically acclaimed films, marking a major turning point in the filmmaker’s career.
The film tells the story of Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis), a young German boy whose misguided sense of right and wrong leads him to take on Adolf Hitler as a close and trusted imaginary friend. But as World War II intensifies, Jojo discovers that his mother, Rosie (Scarlett Johansson) has permitted a Jewish girl called Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) to hide in their home. Soon Jojo develops an unwitting bond with Elsa and begins to question just why he thought Hitler was such a great guy in the first place. At times both hilarious and touching, Jojo Rabbit offered a new twist on the World War II-era film genre and made for an accessible watch. Waititi’s films up to the release of Jojo Rabbit, while excellent, still hadn’t managed to make the crossover into Oscar territory. Now with the film’s success what it is, Waititi’s fanbase has grown beyond a niche category that included Thor devotees.
As with all films, Jojo Rabbit has its own share of scenes that were left on the cutting room floor during the editing process. And while some of these scenes have already been seen by fans thanks to the internet and Blu Ray supplements, one scene involving cut actress Rachel House was recently revealed in detail during an interview with Collider. The scene involved House portraying an American soldier who turned up at the end of the film and gave a speech about America saving the day, which quickly turned into a tirade against German people – all of which was intended to come off as ironic in relation to America’s newfound superpower status. Describing the scene as “clever” but “completely unneeded”, House’s full explanation can be read below:
“And I have to say, I am so relieved it was cut. I was the American solider and I turned up at the end and I gave this very sort of righteous speech saying how America saved the day and then that turned into total prejudice and racism really toward German people. So it was sort of trying to be ironic; ‘Yay! We’ve saved the day! And now we’re gonna turn and be cruel on these other people as they have done.’ It was very clever, but it was completely unneeded.”
As a good friend of Waititi’s, House has appeared in several of his films, all of which have found some degree of success. In the case of Jojo Rabbit, however, when the aforementioned scene was cut, so was her onscreen presence. But even though she did not appear in what arguably ended up being Waititi’s best film, she remained a useful asset during production. House took on the role of an acting coach for Griffin Davis – a process that clearly achieved notable success, as the young star’s performance was one of the best things about Jojo Rabbit. At present, House isn’t attached to any of Waititi’s upcoming projects, though it would be great to see her turn up in the filmmaker’s upcoming Star Wars film.
All things considered, it sounds as though cutting House’s scene from Jojo Rabbit was a good idea. The film already makes it clear how prejudice, bigotry and hatred can only lead to negative places, so adding in the scene with the American soldier really wasn’t going to make things any clearer. It likely also would have felt a little heavy-handed and didactic, something that no filmmaker wants to be accused of being. Waititi’s ability to see that enough was enough in terms of the film’s themes and message are a major part of what took Jojo Rabbit from just another World War II story to something far more special.
Source: Collider