Summary
Jojo runs into Yorki in town. Yorki is now a soldier, in spite of only being 11, and Jojo tells him that he has caught a Jew. Yorki says he does not understand what is so bad about Jews, and then has to go, abruptly.
Later at home, Jojo gives Elsa some colored pencils to draw with. When she tells him she can draw him, he says that no one would want to draw a "cripple." Elsa insists that he is not a cripple and adds, "Besides, true artists don't see that stuff." Jojo suggests that he will never get to kiss a girl, and Elsa offers to kiss him. He tells her that they are not supposed to be hanging out, but Elsa contends that it does not matter, since Jojo isn't really a Nazi. Noticing how dirty she looks in the mirror, Elsa decides to take a bath. While she's in the tub, Jojo experiences butterflies in his stomach, which we see. Elsa stares at a tiger in the wallpaper, thinking of the fact that Rosie said being a woman is about staring into the eyes of a tiger.
Suddenly, there's a knock on the door and Elsa runs to hide. The knocking on the door is the Gestapo, headed by Captain Herman Deertz. He introduces all the other members of the Gestapo and they go through a long introduction process, each saying "Heil Hitler" to Jojo as they enter. The Gestapo looks around, as Klezendorf and Finkel come into the house. Another round of Heil Hitlers ensues. Klezendorf says they are just dropping by to drop some pamphlets off for Jojo, who works for them.
The Gestapo go into Jojo's bedroom and admire all of his Nazi paraphernalia. "You may have heard a rumor that Hitler only has one ball. That is nonsense, he has 4," Deertz says. Suddenly, Deertz hears some noises upstairs and they go up to investigate. Deertz asks Jojo why his mother isn't home, and notices that Jojo doesn't have his dagger. Jojo panics, but suddenly, Elsa appears in the doorframe, pretending to be Jojo's sister, Inge.
Elsa tells Deertz that she has Jojo's knife to guard her room from him. Deertz asks to examine her room and to see her papers. When she finds them, she gives them to Klezendorf and he questions her about her date of birth. She tells him the photo's three years old and that she was 14. When she says her birthday is May 1st, 1929, Klezendorf says she is correct.
Deertz finds Jojo's book, Yoohoo Jew, and the Gestapo laugh at the book, delighted by the anti-Semitism. He finds a section that says "Die Nathan, die," and "Ways of killing Nathan," as Jojo and Elsa look at one another. Deertz says goodbye to the children and the Gestapo leave.
After they are gone, Elsa goes in the attic, and tells Jojo that Inge's real birthday was the 7th, which means that Klezendorf must have been helping them. "They'll figure out she's dead then I'll be dead," Elsa says mournfully. Jojo says he will tell his mother everything when she gets home, but Elsa is sad, suggesting, "Jews and Nazis are not friends."
Imaginary Hitler lectures Jojo about his disloyalty and Jojo goes into town. There, he sees a butterfly in the square and follows it. As he stands, he notices his mother's shoes, and sees that she has been hanged by the Gestapo. He weeps and clutches her legs. He stays there awhile, looking at her body, before returning home.
At home, he walks towards Elsa with his dagger and goes to stab her, but cannot bring himself to do it. He collapses on the ground, weeping, and Elsa sits beside him. That night, he asks Elsa if she knew Rosie worked for the resistance. She tells him that she had a hunch, and that his father is also working in the resistance. Elsa tells him that her family got sent away to the camps. "What's the first thing you'll do when you're free?" Jojo asks her, and she replies, "Dance," as explosions burst in the distance.
Jojo forages for food in nearby dumpsters, and we see him eating at the dining table with imaginary Hitler, who is eating a giant unicorn head. One day, Jojo sees a rabbit in the snow. We see a montage of him and Elsa living together in the house.
Analysis
While Jojo is vehement about his identification with the master Aryan race, he also feels marginalized by his disabilities following his botched grenade toss. After running into Yorki, who is now a Nazi soldier, Jojo returns home emotionally deflated and refers to himself as a cripple. His dreams of being a good Nazi have been crushed by his physical limitations and relegated him to his home, where he has no choice but to look inward and consider what a more thoughtful and moral life might look like. In this sense, Jojo goes from being a member of the majority to a more marginalized subject, which gives him greater empathy.
Waititi continues to take a whimsical approach to the visual elements of the film at many junctures, even as the story gets more serious. For example, while Elsa takes a bath, Jojo experiences butterflies in his stomach, a sensation that his mother told him about earlier. The reason the viewer knows he is experiencing this is because Waititi shoots him looking down at his stomach, which is suddenly revealed to be full of butterflies. Little aesthetic touches like this keep the film in the realm of the slightly uncanny rather than strict realism.
Time and time again, the Nazi characters in the film are presented as rather farcical and buffoonish. When Captain Herman Deertz and the Gestapo come to Jojo's house, they are equal parts intimidating and ridiculous. Dressed all in black and grimacing at Jojo, they create a rather scary tableau, especially considering that the Gestapo is merciless and murderous. However, as they enter the house, they cheerily greet Jojo one at a time in an outrageous chorus of "Heil Hitlers." Waititi wants to expose how the regimented nature of the fascist regime is ridiculous and laughable in many ways.
The film takes a dark turn when Jojo's mother is killed by the Gestapo. Just as Jojo is beginning to internalize some of her lessons about taking pleasure in life and take things less seriously, Rosie is killed, hanged in the city square by the Gestapo. This is a devastating and tragic turn of events, indeed, as Jojo needs his mother more than ever to help him sort out how to take care of Elsa. In the midst of the more slapstick and funny moments, the death and heartache of fascism are just around every corner. This time, it hits Jojo where he is most vulnerable, leaving him orphaned during uncertain times.
Out of this tragic turn of events, Jojo manages to continue on, finding solace in Elsa's company. The two of them become true friends as war breaks out around them. They lean on one another for comfort, tell each other stories, and spend their time together. It seems, for the first time, that Jojo is beginning to drop some of his virulent Nazism and embrace empathy and compassion for the Jewish girl living in his attic. Even if imaginary Hitler is still sitting at his dining table eating unicorn, Jojo becomes more detached from the figure he once idolized, and embraces a real-world friend in Elsa.
