(Taika Waititi imitating the drumroll)
(children singing in German)
TAIKA WAITITI: Hey, this is different!
This is not what I'm used to!
Well, I guess I like it. Michael Giacchino, at his best.
Hi everyone, I'm Taika Waititi...
your favorite New Zealander other than Sam Neill,
and Cliff Curtis, and Peter Jackson,
and Jacinda Ardern, and my mom.
So this is my feel-good movie.
Welcome to Jojo Rabbit: The Commentary.
Which is usually something that people
don't even know exists in the extra features.
Hopefully you've stumbled upon this and you've decided,
"Well, I'm going to watch the entire movie
listening to the monotonous drone of a New Zealander
talking about his movie."
Wow. What can I say about what you're looking at?
There's a kid. He's white. He's got blue eyes.
He's as Aryan as they come.
What you'll notice behind him
is one of the greatest actors to grace the silver screen
in, probably, the last 682 years.
An actor by the name of Taika Waititi,
who also happened to write and direct this movie.
And also happens to be me.
Do I do everything? Yes.
Ooh! There I am! I can barely stand to look at myself.
That's how impressed I am.
Do you ever go sometimes, I mean, you probably won't,
I'm probably the only person who does this,
sometimes catch a reflection of yourself, you know, in a teapot,
or your reflection in a mirror and something, and you're just stunned,
like an opossum in the car headlights, and you suddenly just think,
"Oh my God, who's that?"
And you want to know more about that person.
Well, welcome to my world, that's what happens to me every single day.
It's a blessing and a curse,
and it's just something I've learned to live with over the years.
Guys, this is one of my favorite bits. Let's watch this.
This is a Heil. Heil!
- Heil Hitler! Heil Hitler. - Heil Hitler. Heil Hitler!
- Hell Hitler! Hell Hitler! - Hell Hitler.
Ooh, that's It. You've got it. Hell Hitler.
- Have a great day! Hell Hitler. - Hell Hitler! Hell Hitler!
- You're gonna be the best. Hell Hitler! - Hell Hitler! Hell Hitler!
- You can do It. - Hell Hitler! Hell Hitler!
BOTH(rapidly): Hell Hitler! Hell Hitler! Hell Hitler! Hell Hitler!
("Komm, gib mir deine Hand" by The Beatles begins)
Hell Hitler!
Hell Hitler.
Hell Hitler. Hell Hitler.
(screams and cheers)
WAITITI: Check out this footage of Beatlemania,
I mean, sorry, Hitlermania,
which is, I thought was appropriate
to liken Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich to the Beatles.
And...
what they created, the chaos and the mayhem that they created.
I did find it interesting, though, that the frenzy that Germany...
was...
that they found themselves in during this time...
I noticed similarities in their footage
with people screaming and going nuts for Hitler at all these rallies and stuff.
And I thought, "Wow, it looks so weird. All these women crying and everything.
It looks like the footage I've seen
when I was watching old Beatles footage."
And then, we had the idea to put the German version
of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand,"
"Komm gib mir deine Hand" by the Beatles, sung by the Beatles.
Because, as you all know, I'm sure you don't,
because you don't read,
and you just get your information from tidbits on the Internet,
the Beatles spent numerous years in Hamburg
and recorded quite a few of the songs in German,
as did Johnny Cash, as did David Bowie,
as did Roy Orbison.
Okay, so, let's watch the film for a bit more.
I hope you guys want to keep watching this film.
Hell Hitler, guys.
Hell Hitler!
Jun gvolk, welcome to the Hitlerjugend training weekend.
In which we will make men and women of you all.
My name is Captain Klenzendorf.
You may call me Captain K.
Captain K!
(cheering)
Ja. And this is Sub-Officer Finkel.
This is Fr?ulein Rahm.
Hey. Heil Hitler, everyone.
So a little about me. Who am I?
And why am I here talking to a bunch of little titty-grabbers
instead of leading my men into battle towards glorious death?
Great question.
I've asked it myself every day since Operation Screw Up,
where I lost a perfectly good eye in a totally preventable enemy attack.
And according to my superiors,
you need two eyes to be a meaningful part of the war effort.
Can two-eyed people do this?
(cheering)
- Jesus. - Over the next two days,
you little critters will get to experience some of the things
that the mighty German army goes through every day.
And even though it would appear our country's on the back foot
and there really isn't much hope in us winning this war,
apparently we're doing just fine.
Anyway. You boys have all been issued with your Deutsches Jun gvolk daggers.
These are very special and expensive weapons.
You should never be without them.
And don't try to stab each other.
No stabbing!
No stabbing.
This is your first step towards being men.
Today you boys will be involved in such activities
as marching, bayonet drills, grenade-throwing,
trench-digging, map-reading, gas defense,
camouflage, ambush techniques,
war games, firing guns, and blowing stuff up.
(cheering)
The girls will practice important womanly duties
such as dressing wounds, making beds,
and learning how to get pregnant.
GIRLS: Aw.
I've had 18 kids for Germany.
Such a great year to be a girl.
All right. Let's get to it.
- (cheering) - FIN KEL: Come on.
Go!
God help me.
Well, when I'm lyin' in my bed at night .P
FINKEL: Go, go, go!
Nothin' ever seems to turn out right
(screams, thuds)
I don't want to grow up
MAN: Three, two, one, swastika!
Come on! Pull it! Come on!
Aah! Aah!
Well, when I see the price that you pay
(shouting)
I don't ever want to be that way
I don't want to grow up
- Now finish him. - BOY: Don't, no, no!
(screaming)
The only thing to live for is today
- Fangs. - Fangs, ja.
- Serpent tongue. - Serpent's tongue, ja.
Scales!
WAITITI: So for this commentary, I'm going to call a few of the actors,
so I don't need to feel so alone
and talk by myself for the next 90 minutes.
So, first up, we're going to call Roman Griffin Davis,
who plays the titular character of Johannes Betzler, aka Jojo.
It's calling! It's ringing!
(line ringing)
- ROMAN GRIFFIN DAVIS: Hello. - WAITITI: How are you, buddy?
DAVIS: I'm fine. Really tired. School sucks.
WAITITI: Are you tired because you-How old are you?
DAVIS: Twelve.
WAITITI: You're twelve now? You're getting old.
DAVIS: Yeah, I've been twelve for quite a while, Taika.
WAITITI: Roman, tell me...
Tell me, Roman, be honest,
what was the experience like making this movie?
- Be honest. - DAVIS: Well, it was great.
It was interesting and it was difficult at times,
but it was a great experience for me.
WAITITI: I didn't...I wasn't mean to you?
- DAVIS: No, never. - WAITITI: Yeah, good. Good you'd say that.
I'm sure it was difficult.
What was the hardest part of it for you?
DAVIS: Probably...
Not only actually learning my lines, but it wasn't actually that difficult.
WAITITI: I think it probably was.
- DAVIS: The German accent. - Yep.
- That was annoying. - WAITITI: What about the subject matter?
DAVIS: Well, it was hard to keep...
to be serious and funny at the same time.
That was also difficult. Like, I don't know.
But yeah, no, it's hard to keep the levels of emotion and comedy.
WAITITI: And how about playing a boy who really loved Hitler?
DAVIS: No, that was also difficult.
I remember the first time on the first scene,
and I know it made me feel really uncomfortable.
But after a while, I mean...
WAITITI: After a while of hanging out with me as Hitler, you learned to respect me.
DAVIS: Yeah.
No, but it was weird the first time.
WAITITI: Archie, who plays Yorki...
He's a wonderful, wonderful guy, isn't he, Archie Yates?
DAVIS: No, he's the funniest person. He was the funniest person on set.
- Yeah. - Apart from Rebel.
WAITITI: So Rebel and Archie were the funniest?
Is that what you're trying to tell me?
DAVIS: Yeah, and Stephen. They were all, but Archie was very funny.
WAITITI: So Rebel, Stephen, and Archie
were the funniest people that you were around on set.
- DAVIS: Yeah. - WAITITI: Okay. Goodbye.
DAVIS: No, no, also Scarlett and Sam were all also equally as funny.
WAITITI: So Scarlett, Sam, Archie, Rebel,
- (Davis laughs) - WAITITI: and...
- and who else? - DAVIS: Oh my gosh.
WAITITI: And Stephen Merchant were all
- the funniest people on set. - DAVIS: There's one other person...
WAITITI: Is that what you're trying to tell me, Roman?
After everything I did for you.
- After I gave you a job. - (Davis protesting)
- I've made you a superstar! - DAVIS: There was one extra guy...
He was-Yeah,
no, there was this one extra who was quite funny.
- WAITITI: An extra? - DAVIS: He's got the-Yeah,
yeah. But apart from that...
WAITITI: I can take this all away from you,
it's still not too late for me to cut you out of this movie.
DAVIS: And, no, Taika. Taika, wow, Taika. God, he's hilarious.
- WAITITI: You've learned nothing! - DAVIS: Honestly, hilarious.
WAITITI: I don't think people want to hear
how we were in the Czech Republic in this forest
and how it was full of weird European bugs.
And I was in a fat suit the entire shoot and I was really uncomfortable.
DAVIS: You were in a fat suit? Really?
- WAITITI: That was method! - DAVIS: Yeah.
- Yeah, method acting. Yeah. - WAITITI: Yeah.
But yeah, no, that was very uncomfortable.
Those boots in particular, took about ten minutes per boot to put on.
DA VIS: I remember when the first time you were...Did I tell you that?
The first time you dressed up as Hitler, it made me cry.
Not like, because you're acting like Hitler, obviously,
but just the costume in general.
WAITITI: And that's why I love you, Roman.
Because you're sensitive, and you're emotional,
and it's a dream come true to work with an actor
who, when they see Hitler, cries.
Well, Roman, I'm going to hang up on you.
(Davis giggles)
WAITITI: You've been great. Take care.
DAVIS: Thank you forgiving me ajob.
(sniffling)
WAITITI: Okay, let's watch this next bit.
Poor Jojo. What's wrong, little man?
- Hi, Adolf. - Wanna tell me about that rabbit incident?
What was all that about?
They wanted me to kill it.
I'm sorry. I couldn't.
(snorts)Don't worry about it. I couldn't care less.
But now they call me a scared rabbit.
Let them say whatever they want.
People used to say a lot of nasty things about me.
"This guy's a lunatic."
"Look at that psycho. He's gonna get us all killed."
I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. The rabbit is no coward.
The humble little bunny faces a dangerous world every day,
hunting carrots for his family, for his country.
My empire will be full of all animals.
Lions, giraffes, zebras,
rhinoceroses, octopuses,
rhinoctopuses.
Even the mighty rabbit.
Cigarette?
Oh, no, thanks. I don't smoke.
Let me give you some really good advice.
Be the rabbit.
The humble bunny can outwit all of his enemies.
He's brave and sneaky and strong.
Be the rabbit.
YORKI: Jojo!
Are you all right, Jojo?
Who were you talking to?
Nobody.
I thought you were crying.
Are you a teardrop specialist?
No.
Case closed.
Now, it's time for Jojo to show those stick insects
who is the real cowardly rabbit.
I'm sorry, what are you talking about?
Never mind.
Jojo, where are you going?
JOJO: To be the rabbit!
Jojo Rabbit. Jojo Rabbit. Hunting carrots. Jojo Rabbit.
Hey, this is amazing.
We're like two human antelopes.
(both shouting)
Now, lads, each of you will be given the opportunity
to ignite and throw a grenade.
I will personally be supervising each of you
to make sure you don't blow your eyes out or something.
All right, who's first?
Klaus.
(Jojo, Adolf shouting)
(shouting continues, slowed down)
Shit.
Shit!
Don't do that.
(muffled): Jojo. Jojo.
(screams)
Finkel! Finkel!
Jojo, Jojo.
O-M Gott.
He looks like a Picasso painting.
(Jojo breathing heavily)
(lights buzzing)
KLENZENDORF: His mother's going to kill me.
(labored breathing)
My darling cub.
(shushing)
(breathing shakily)
(gasps)
ROSIE: Hey, kid.
Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm, mm.
Mmm. My darling little cub.
Why so happy?
Your son is ugly like a monster.
Hey. You're no monster.
Besides, your scars will heal,
and you'll get most of the movement back in your leg.
But I'll never be in Hitler's personal guards.
You're fine as you are.
I'm just happy to have you back home.
Mama Lion worries about her cub, especially when...
WAITITI: Next up, we've got Stephen Merchant.
STEPHEN MERCHANT: Hello.
Hi Stephen! This is Taika! I'm live on the DVD commentary.
People don't use DVDs anymore but you're live.
MERCHANT: Sorry, who is this again?
Taika.
The name doesn't ring a bell.
No, T-A.... Taika.
- MERCHANT: Oh,Taika! Yeah. - Yeah.
How's it going? What do you need to know?
I mean, what are you looking for?
What kind of insight are you looking for, for this commentary?
WAITITI: Well, as you know, no one listens to these but...
That's right.
So, whatever you want to say, feel free to say it
because this will be the only time it's heard, by me.
MERCHANT:(laughing) Okay.
WAITITI: By me and these technicians who are listening.
(laughing)Sure. Well, what can I tell you?
You know, I enjoyed working with you.
I find you a very collaborative director, with strong ideas
but also looking for, you know, whatever contribution I could make.
- WAITITI: This...You're absolutely right! - Yeah!
WAITITI: Thank you for calling in, first time caller.
(Waititi laughing)
MERCHANT: Tell me, yeah, tell me what your impressions were of me?
WAITITI: Right, yeah, because those compliments are boomerangs
and they're going to come right back at you.
It was lovely working with someone so smart.
I'd say you were the smartest person in the entire film.
MERCHANT: Wait a minute. You say that to all the actors!
- WAITITI: Nope. - Oh! Okay, good.
Well, let's hope that none of the actors listen to this commentary because...
- WAITITI: They won't. - . . .I'm sure they'll be deeply offended.
- No, no one will. - No one will.
But, no, no, I really loved your insights.
And of course, we both come from a world of comedy.
Yup!
Some of us have won a few more Emmys and BAFTAs than others.
Come on, it's not a contest. But yes, two Golden Globes and three BAFTAs.
Right, okay. But no Emmys?
What's that, sir?
No Emmys.
- One Emmy. Sorry. - Okay, just one Em my.
MERCHANT: Like I said, thoroughly enjoyed the film. Thought you did a terrific job.
And I thought, I'll tell you what I thought was impressive, Taika,
was the tone you struck.
Because, I was amazed that you started very funny,
and it was often, with things like the clones, almost surreal,
and yet by the end, I was vely...I was tearing up.
I had a lump in my throat.
WAITITI: Get that checked out.
MERCHANT: I was eating some sweets in the cinema and I...it got lodged.
But I got a little teary-eyed, and I was very emotional by the end.
I thought that was quite the needle to thread.
So, well done.
WAITITI: Thank you so much. Ill take that.
New Zealanders aren't good at taking compliments
but I'm starting to learn because I live in America,
and it's all they live on over here.
- That's right. - They just thrive...They can't...
They can't go a day without seeking out a compliment over here.
MERCHANT: It's a diet of kale and compliments.
- Yup. - You know that.
WAITITI: "Hello, would you-What would you like?"
"I'd like kale, and I'd like you to tell me how good I am at everything."
(Merchant laughing)
MERCHANT: Did you have any trepidation about getting that tone right?
Did you ever any worries that perhaps the audience wouldn't go with it?
WAITITI: I just, I would just be happy if my mom liked it.
Sure.
Basically, my entire life
I've been seeking out the validation and love of my mom and my dad,
who's now passed away, but I still-I'm
sure somewhere out there he's still watching
and I know, even from the grave, I'm still not good enough.
(Merchant guffaws)
MERCHANT: Oh, dear! Well, this took a dark turn.
WAITITI: I just want my mom to love me-What do you want from me, Stephen?
Why are you delving into this shit?
Oh, I'm nervous. Is she of the Jewish persuasion?
She is. She's been persuaded.
I'll tell you one thing that is exciting, and I discovered this recently.
I went to a brief little excursion to Mexico,
and I found a bootleg DVD copy of one of my own films.
WAITITI: Oh, thank God. I thought you were going to say this one.
MERCHANT: Well, I was just wondering because... So it turns...
I mean, I looked at it, and it was very well done.
They had clearly just ripped it off of an official DVD.
WAITITI: Fighting with My Family.
What that, sorry? That's right!
Fighting with My Family, still available on DVD and digital downloading
turning up bootlegs in Mexico. It's only about a dollar.
But so, I'm hoping that there's at least some Mexican audience
who perhaps bothered to buy the DVD and listen to the commentary.
There may be hope for you, yet, at least in the bootleg market.
What other kind of bonus features will I be finding on the DVD
that I won't be buying?
WAITITI: There might be some deleted scenes,
but then we might just re-delete them and not show them at all.
Any hilarious bloopers or outtakes?
- I think so. - MERCHANT: I love a blooper.
WAITITI: Well, what's your idea of a good blooper?
Is it just someone forgetting their lines or like a good, like, someone laughing?
MERCHANT: No, my favorite bloopers are either someone doing a hilarious improv
that perhaps makes the other cast members laugh.
WAITITI: Yeah.
MERCHANT: I also love any kind of blooper in which an accident befalls an actor.
WAITITI: Oh!
You know, they can't get through a door, they drop a prop,
- or perhaps they hit their head... - Die?
...on a piece of lighting equipment
and gash their forehead wide open, blood everywhere.
Oh, yes!
Those are the kind of bloopers I'm looking for.
WAITITI: Well, did I hit myself? I hit myself quite a lot in this film.
MERCHANT: Good.
(Waititi coughs)
Good, I'll look forward to those. I have to say,
if anyone has bothered to get this far in the commentary, the y-I
mean, I would be asking for my money back at this point.
WAITITI: Yeah, but I don't know. I think online, I don't think you can.
Once you've purchased it and downloaded it,
- I think this is it. - Sure.
- You're stuck with this. - Smart. Yep.
That's how they get you. I've done that many times buying movies and then,
buying movies, especially for the commentary
and then being thoroughly disappointed.
MERCHANT: Sure, I actually I'm one of the few people
who does listen to the commentaries, actually,
and I once listened to Michael Bay's commentary for the movie, The Rock.
All the way through.
WAITITI: Wow.
MERCHANT: Yeah, right? So, I would be-And
I would be severely disappointed by this one, because what Bay gave me
unlike you, was Bay gave me a genuine insight into the fllmmaking process.
WAITITI: Well, no one cares, man.
MERCHANT: Don't they?
Tell me...Let me see if I can get a bit of insight from you,
because I am interested in your creative process.
WAITITI: Okay.
MERCHANT: Do you do a lot of careful storyboarding and planning
before each of your scenes, or do you just wing it on the day?
WAITITI: It really depends. If there's quite a few actors,
then I will start boarding everything and figuring it all out beforehand,
because I have to figure out my coverage.
Then, if not, if it's something that's relatively simple,
I'll just make it up on the day.
Sometimes, I will just make it all up, even if it is something complex.
And then, I also-If it's something I can-If
there's a certain master shot that I want to achieve,
I'll think about that quite a lot beforehand.
And then, it's really about trying to convince everyone else
that it's a good idea.
MERCHANT: So, with the visual style of this movie,
did you have thoughts before you began?
Was there anything that was influencing that visual style?
The kind of-The sort of-The
particular look of Nazi Germany in the late 40s?
WAITITI: I wanted something colorful.
I wanted something colorful
because for most of the films from this period,
have been de-saturated, and you've got that very dull, the muted tones.
Lots of...It's always brown and grey. And I know why that is,
it's to highlight just how grim the situations were.
But I wanted to show something
that was actually a bit more authentic to the colors of the time,
because it was a very-The
world was very bright back then,
and you could remember Germany was the height of fashion.
And design, and interior design. And textiles.
And so they had a lot of-There was a lot of color,
and a lot of patterns, and a lot of design going on.
And I wanted to just-I found that really interesting.
I wanted to see if that would affect the message, you know, without...
You've got to be careful because you don't want it to feel
like you're trying to make a comedy when you have bright colors.
- But I think the... - Right.
.color and stuff doesn't necessarily need to...
Doesn't mean-Doesn't
have to necessarily mean that a film
hasn't got a powerful message, or isn't-It doesn't have something deeper to say.
MERCHANT: Well, the production design, particularly of the house,
I thought, was very striking. Because, as you say,
you've lent there, into some of the style and fashion.
Not only in, say, Scarlett Johansson 's costumes,
which I think are very stylish and cool, but also the house itself.
It feels like it has a kind of-Quite a lot of sort of 30s,
what would have been very contemporary design,
and I was wondering, as I was watching the film,
it actually snapped me out of the film, what exactly is her socioeconomic level?
Because she seems to have some very-WAITITI:
They've got money. They've definitely got money.
I mean, look how big-The rooms are big,
the bedroom that the kids spend a lot of time in,
and I don't know if you remember the beautiful yellow sort-of-wallpaper,
but it's, like, these padded panels.
- They're all around the room. - Yup.
And the hand-painted wallpaper. And all of that stuff is something,
obviously you'd have if you had any money before the war
and throughout the war, and...
So yeah, and I didn't want it to feel like-I've
seen a lot of movies where everything's set in a shoebox,
and you know, then people don't have anything.
But I like this idea of this quite opulent house,
because it really feels like Jojo's kingdom.
And the fact that this...
What he considers to be somewhat of a monster intruding on his kingdom,
it feels like more ofa threat to him that she's in there,
because he's got such a beautiful house.
MERCHANT: Taika, tell me a little bit about how you work with actors,
because when you're working with me, for instance, I come in,
you know I'm going to deliver a hundred and ten percent,
you barely have to give me any direction at all.
In fact, there may have been occasions where I think you wandered off
and had a nap, and I just did my own thing.
WAITITI: Yeah.
Because you're working with an absolute pro.
- Yeah. - But when you're working with people,
perhaps young children, or you're working with, say...
- Scarlett? - Oscar winner Sam Rockwell,
who are less reliable,
what's your approach then to acting with those guys?
Rehearsal? Is there time?
WAITITI: Not much time. Not much time to rehearse.
A lot of people always say they want to rehearse,
but then they don't ever really have time to rehearse.
I would say most of the time-With absolute professionals like yourself,
- and like ScarJo, and SaRo... - Yup.
(Merchant chuckling)
WAITITI: SamRo. SamRo, and RebWi.
MERCHANT:(laughing)Yeah.
WAITITI: So, a lot of people are there...
I feel like they come in,
and there's a reason they're called professionals,
and it's because they will give you lots of variations,
you don't actually have to do much.
I think...I don't like to give a lot of direction,
I don't feel it's necessary if someone: A, knows the words,
can say them relatively fast, and not make me feel like they're "acting."
I'm doing the quotation mark thing right now, "acting."
And...
So that's what I really appreciate about working with actors like that.
MERCHANT: Look, let me tell you right away
that I had a lot of careful prep here with the accent,
because you had asked us to speak with German accents.
I myself was a little nervous having never really done much accent work.
In fact, none at all.
Worked with a voice coach, got that down pat,
was pleased, fairly pleased with myself. And then you sort of invited Sam and I
to kind of play with it, add a bit, improvise.
Which, I have to say, I'm not normally a nervous performer on a movie set,
but I suddenly became quite nervous. I'd never met you before,
didn't know whether you were going to be demanding or tyrannical.
You know, never worked with Sam before.
Didn't know if he was going to be a diva, ha ving just won an Academy award.
In the end, the environment was fantastic. He was great. You were great.
I loosened up, and I actually felt that day two, I suddenly kind of relaxed
and I was enjoying myself more.
But day one, as I was searching around that room,
I was a little bit more...I don't know, a bit more self-conscious, less relaxed.
Which probably is okay when you're playing a Gestapo officer.
WAITITI: Yeah.
MERCHANT: You don't need to be too kind of rock-and-roll.
- No, no, no. - Garish.
WAITITI: Yeah, no, that's right. I was very impressed
with your acting actually, Stephen. Terrifying, is what people...
is how people have described you.
That's why I love this in actors.
I love where they don't have to be the main part of a film.
They can just come in for one or two scenes,
and it's not so much steal the show, but there's a real-Like,
the film would not be the same without them.
MERCHANT: Well, I appreciate that, and I'm going to take that compliment.
even though you said I didn't steal the show.
But no, but what I thought was nice is,
I like a film where suddenly there's a sort of new injection of energy,
you know, and I thought what was great was by bringing the Gestapo in at that point,
it suddenly adds a very real tension which I think sort of,
feels like it spins the film into another sort of energy and dimension.
Ithought it was very-From your point of view,
from a scripting point of view, I thought it was very smart,
because it adds a nice sort of menace.
Because previously, the German threat, the Nazi threat
always seemed a little more kind of abstract.
And suddenly, you've sort of personified it,
and I thought that-Listen, I was watching the movie,
I was dozing off, waiting for myself.
I showed up, I thought, "Finally, the big boy's arrived."
- Big boy. Big boy. Big man on campus. - And now I'm interested.
No, I mean, I leaned forward, I thought, "You've got me. You've won me over."
WAITITI: "Now, who's this?"
(Merchant laughing)
- Yep. - But I have to say,
I don't know what that little town was that we filmed in,
but you had dressed it, you know, in period detail with swastika flags
and everyone in the German uniforms.
And suddenly, you can walk around, and it is quite chilling.
It's like you're suddenly, you are taken...
As an actor, you're suddenly taken back to that moment in time.
Because you get a little bit...
WAITITI: Yeah. Well, there were a few elderly people in the town,
and I think one of them had said to someone, "I remember this," and...
- MERCHANT: My God. Yeah. - Yeah, yeah.
And so, they would have been kids at the time.
So those flags and everything would've been there back in the day.
MERCHANT: Well, that's something I wanted to ask you in all seriousness,
because the scene in which-I don't want to pre-I
don't want to spoii it for people who are watching the movie for the first time
by listening to the commentary.
WAITITI: And if you are, you have no idea how to watch movies.
MERCHANT: Foolish enough to do that. "I'll go watch this movie
and have a listen to the commentary as my first pass through the film."
I'm going to jump ahead to a spoiler.
But I think it's no surprise to people who are fans of the movie
that they know that there's a tragic outcome for Scarlett's character.
But I thought, again, what was particularly clever,
was your placement of her shoes, which you had preempted early on...
- Yes. - . . . in the movie,
by seeing her dancing on the wall and things like that,
which I did not see you placing that at all, I just was...
It was very clever. And then...
So when you see her feet, when her son finds her at the end,
you don't need to see Scarlett herself,
you just need to see those shoes. And it's heartbreaking.
And I wondered where did that idea come-How did that-Because
that was, I thought, particularly elegant and sort of...
WAITITI: Well, I don't like the idea of seeing people hanging.
Or I don't like the idea of really, seeing dead people, even in films.
- Yeah. - So, and particularly,
for a kid to find their parent like that,
I feel like, even as a character,
it's a very intimate and personal thing for that child,
and I don't think that...
I sort of don't feel that we...
had permission, really, to see what he saw.
MERCHANT: Yeah.
WAITITI: And I feel like we needed to see enough
that we knew exactly what was happening, but it wasn't really our business
to see some gruesome shot of her in a noose.
Because I like people's memory of that character in this film
to be that lovable, clownish, goofy mother,
who's full of love, and beautiful.
And a really bright spark in this film and in this boy's life.
And I don't want the last memory of her to be
some gruesome death mask.
And so, I think showing the feet was like the only way
I could really feel...think of...
of telling us that it was her.
And also telling us what had happened to her.
MERCHANT: Well, it's very effective,
and also I think it's because we also project what we think.
We imagine what the boy is seeing
and it sort of allows us to, as a viewer, to just experience it
and imagine it ourselves, and project it ourselves
without having to see, as you say, the gruesome detail.
And also, I think with the film, you're always slightly conscious that,
you know, "That's that act-that's that famous actor."
WAITITI: Yes, exactly.
"I wonder how they've done that, when they made her hang up there."
WAITITI: I absolutely agree. I feel like that too would've pulled people out.
IVs a distraction actually, and you feel,
"Well, I know she's not dead because I saw her at that, you know,
on that red carpet for the other thing the other day."
So, you know, say, "They must have used some wires or how'd they do that,"
and that, yeah, you're right, it does pull you out.
MERCHANT: I assume they're going to want me
to do my own commentary for the whole movie anyway.
So, I guess people can tune into that for further insights into my process.
WAITITI: They certainly can.
MERCHANT: That makes sense. Love to you. Love to everybody involved.
Love to the technicians, and-WAITITI:
You don't know them.
MERCHANT: I look forward to never hearing this commentary.
WAITITI: Yeah, look forward to never hearing this commentary either.
- MERCHANT: All the best! - WAITITI: All the best!
- Goodbye, dear boy. Ciao. - Goodbye!
Okay, so let's watch the film for a bit more.
I'd be able to tell if I did.
KLENZENDORF: Yeah, me neither.
Without their funny hats, it's damn near impossible.
Someone should write a book on the subject.
FINKEL: It would make things so much easier.
- KLENZENDORF: It would be a hit. - FIN KEL: Ja.
- (whistle blowing) - (clamoring)
Finkie, they're drowning. Come on.
I'll see you later, little man.
(whistle continues blowing)
Okay, here's the situation.
If I tell on you, you'll be in big trouble,
and I don't think you want that.
But then you'll tell on me and my mother, and we'll be in trouble,
which I don't want.
And if you tell my mother I know, then she'll kick you out,
which you don't want.
And if I tell my mother I know,
then you'll cut off my Nazi head,
which I also don't want.
So, it's a Mexican stalemate.
It's just a normal stalemate.
I have some conditions for allowing you to stay here.
- "Conditions?" - Yes.
Tell me everything about the Jewish race.
Okay.
We're like you,
but human.
Please take this seriously.
Think of this as an exposé.
I want to know all your secrets.
Kindly refrain from sitting on my sister's bed.
Why? She doesn't need it.
You know nothing of my sister.
Inge and I were friends.
I remember you.
Such a funny little boy.
P. Enough with the small talk.
Start telling me about your kind.
Obviously, we are demons who love money.
Right?
Obviously. Everyone knows that.
But what people don't know is that we're also allergic to food.
Cheese, bread, meat.
That stuff will kill us instantly.
So, if you're thinking of ending my life,
that's the fastest way.
Also biscuits, lethal.
Very funny.
Anyway, there's not enough food for you,
so I don't know what you're going to do.
Your mother managed to find me some bread.
She's kind. She treats me like a person.
But you're not. Not a proper person.
Are you?
How dare you, Jew!
You are weak like an eyelash.
I am born of Aryan ancestry.
My blood is the color of a pure red rose.
And my eyes are blue like-Break
free.
Break free, great Aryan. There are no weak Jews.
I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants.
We were chosen by God.
You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't even grow a full mustache.
(panting)
The stronger race, huh?
(Jojo coughing)
So, how's it all going with that Jew thing upstairs?
Well, she doesn't want to talk to me.
Mm-hmm. Well, you are a Nazi.
I guess.
This book is going to be harder to write than I thought.
- Hmm. - (door opens)
What's she doing? She's burning something.
What is she burning?
- (loudly): What are you burning? - She can't hear you.
(shouts): What are you burning?
(mid-tempo song plays)
Why so happy?
Things are changing.
The Allies have taken Italy.
France will be next and soon the war will be over.
Goddamn it! Why does that make you happy?
You hate your country that much?
I love my country. It's the war I hate.
It's pointless and stupid,
and the sooner we have peace, the better.
Oh, the war will end.
We will crush our enemies into dust.
And when they are destroyed,
we shall use their graves as toilets.
Okay. No more politics.
Dinner is neutral ground. This table is Switzerland.
Let's eat.
You aren't eating.
No. I am not that hungry.
I might eat later.
For now, I am just going to chew on these grapes.
Well, I'm especially hungry tonight.
So maybe I'll just finish yours.
Don't want it to go to waste.
(Rosie inhales deeply)
How was your day, Johannes?
Oh, you know, just wandered around,
being a deformed kid with nothing to live for.
You're not deformed.
My face looks like a goddamn street map, woman.
I wouldn't expect you to understand.
If my father were here, he'd get it.
Well, he's not.
I know. And instead, I'm stuck with you.
You want your dad, eh?
Yeah, I do.
- Yeah? Yeah? - Yeah. Yeah.
- Yeah? - Yeah!
Fine.
(low voice): Don't you ever talk to your goddamn mother like that!
(normal voice): Paul, what happened?
Paul?
(low voice): I yelled at the kid.
(normal voice): What? Go apologize.
(low voice): Sorry, kid.
(normal voice): What?
What kind of apology was that?
(low voice): Sorry, kid.
Jojo...
I know you miss me, but I'm...
I'm out there trying to make a difference in the world.
And while I'm gone,
I need you to take care of my Rosie.
Can you do that?
Yes, Dad.
Thanks.
She's doing what she can.
Gosh. We made a good kid, huh?
Mm-mm! Damn, that's good.
It reminds me of dancing with Rosie in The Red Salon.
- (up-tempo song plays) - You remember, honey?
(normal voice): Of course I do, babe.
(low voice): Hey, don't just sit there, kid.
Come.
Dance with your parents, come.
(music continues)
(song continues, faint)
WAITITI: Now, about Thomasin, what can I say about Thomasin?
So her mom and dad are friends of mine from Wellington,
grew up with them in the theater scene.
And I've known Thomasin since she was very little,
and she's now become
a very popular actor in her own right.
Her mother and father are from theater royalty in New Zealand,
and she is...
she is continuing that lineage with her career right now
and she is in Edgar Wright's new movie.
Her character, Elsa, I didn't want-So
I wasn't that interested in someone playing
a sort of typical victimized version of this character,
which I felt like I'd seen before.
Not to say that that wasn't authentic.
IVs just more that I wanted to feel like
she was more of a threat to Jojo.
And so I wanted her to feel more like a bully, or more like a...
a more powerful force in his life.
And she did a lot of research,
her own research into the time period.
And, I also told her to watch Heathers
because I felt like Elsa may have been-there
was a chance that Elsa was one of the cool kids at school
and she was in like the popular group,
she was one of one of the popular girls.
And I remember being 16 or 17
and if I had been forced to go from being one of the cool kids at school
to living in someone's attic who I barely knew,
I would...I'd be pretty pissed off.
And I felt like having that kind of energy
would help to show why she's...
manipulating him at points and why she-how
much she has power over him.
So, yeah. So, that's that. And that worked.
So, I'm just glad that you guys waited to find out
where the idea for the story came from.
IVs an adaptation of a book called Caging Skies
by Christine Leunens. Leunens? Leunens...
(pronunciation attempts continue)
Christine.
And it's a brilliant book, and my mother read the book
and she turned me on to it. I read it, and I could not put it down.
It's a real page-turner.
And I ended up adapting it,
and making this movie.
Imaginary Hitler is not in the book, but the whole idea of this boy
indoctrinated into Hitler youth is in the book,
and then he finds the girl in his attic and everything.
That's all in the book. So, yes it's...that's where it came from.
I'm glad you asked.
Okay, so I'll allow you to watch this next little section.
"I found a new woman and we laugh a lot
and do the tongue-kiss.
It's like my favorite poet, Rilke, says,
'We need in love to practice only this: letting each other go.'
So, goodbye and sorry about letting you go.
From Nathan, your ex-fiancé.
PS, I'm not really in the resistance.
I was lying.
I'm unemployed and quite fat now."
(crying quietly)
(knocks)
Urn... don't open the door,
but I actually forgot there was a second letter.
(clears throat)"Dear Elsa...
I just wanted to let you know that I don't want to break up with you now.
I changed my mind because I don't want you to kill yourself over me,
which a couple of girls have done in the past,
and it's pretty stressful.
I need you to stay alive.
Thank God you're being taken care of by that kid
who I must say is a remarkable young man beyond his years.
And brave, too.
And let's still get married sometime,
even though I am truly unemployed
and have nothing going on for me.
Yours, Nathan."
- Beethoven. - Einstein.
- Bach. - Gershwin.
Brahms. Wagner. Mozart.
Musicians, is that all you have?
Rilke.
Oh, yeah, of course.
Your favorite, Rilke. Jewish mother.
Diet rich, then.
Houdini.
- (snaps fingers) - No. That's impossible.
Believe it, brother.
Just ask Pissarro, Modigliani, Man Ray, Gertrude Stein,
Mr. Moses and the king of them all, Jesus Christi. Amen.
Pew, pew, pew!
Well, you're just saying any old name now.
I've never heard of these people and now I'm fed up.
Hey.
If you find any more of those letters, will you let me know?
Sure.
Okay.
Bye.
ROSIE: Ah, these banks used to be full of lovers.
There was dancing and singing.
Romance.
JOJO: There's no time for romance.
We're at war.
ROSIE: Oh. There's always time for romance.
Someday you'll meet someone special.
Why does everyone keep telling me that?
Who else tells you that?
Everyone.
Anyway.
It's a stupid idea.
(scoffs)You're stupid.
Love is the strongest thing in the world.
I think you'll find that metal is the strongest thing in the world.
Followed closely by dynamite, and then muscles.
Besides, I wouldn't even know it if I saw it.
ROSIE: Surprise, surprise.
Your shoelaces are undone again.
WAITITI: So, now I'm going to give Sam a call, Sam Rockwell.
You'll know when it happens.
(phone beeps)
You'll feel it.
(Waititi dialing)
It's a pain.
In my ass, I bet.
In your tummy.
Like you're full of butterflies.
Here we go.
Come on, Shitler.
SAM ROCKWELL: Hello?
Hey, hey, hey, hey! This is Taika!
Hey! Taika!
What's happening, Sam?
What's going...hey, fancy talking to you, pal!
WAITITI: We are currently in the middle of the commentary for the film.
We are recording right now.
ROCKWELL: I just remember...
talking to you on the phone,
and we talked about the different versions of this guy,
and I think we mentioned Bill Murray, and then...
maybe we talked about Oskar Werner or...
WAITITI: Yeah, yeah.
ROCKWELL: And we talked about-But
I remember, you tweaked this, the opening speech a little bit.
- That's right. - You added even more disillusion, right?
Or more, more...
WAITITI: Yeah. Yeah.
Because I think he was too proud in the first iteration, right?
I think he felt a little like he was little too patriotic or something
and I like-I think after talking to you,
we both realized that he's a more interesting character
if he's disillusioned.
ROCKWELL: Yeah, and then you said you weren't sure how to-You
had written this beautiful ending, and then we were...
you were going to hang him, but you already hung the mom,
so you were like...or something. I don't know.
WAITITI: That's right. Yeah.
ROCKWELL: But you wrote an amazing script and it was like,
I mean it was kind of like a no-brainer...
to do it.
I mean what do you remember about-I mean, I remember the contact lenses.
WAITITI: I felt like everyone was on the same page and I felt,
it was very easy, you know,
just when you...when I talk to you and you got it,
that was basically enough for me.
I mean, I already loved you and wanted you to do it.
But sometimes, sometimes, you know,
you're not sure of people that they get what it is that you're trying to do.
ROCKWELL: Yeah, it was a delicate tone, sometimes people get confused,
and I'm not really sure why, you know.
WAITITI: Yeah, yeah. I don't know why either.
Because comedy has been-well, comedy has been around for...
it's been part of criticism of regimes and dictators
for so many-for hundreds of years,
not just in film and, you know,
so it's been a vital part of any discussion.
ROCKWELL: Exactly, and as Steve Merchant was saying,
one of the smartest people I've ever met, you know,
it goes back with Chaplin and, what's his name, Jack Benny, right?
WAITITI: Yup.
ROCKWELL: And...
I remember all these people, Mel Brooks, you know,
Roberto Benigni, Spielberg makes fun of Nazis
- in Raiders of the Lost Ark. - Yeah.
Yeah, and it's the best way to humiliate these people,
is by humor, is by comedy.
WAITITI: That's right, that's right. Yeah.
ROCKWELL: But what happened, how did you get Scarlett? How did that happen?
WAITITI: Well, she...I've always wanted to work with her.
I'd known her through various circles fora little while.
And...
And I was always enamored with her.
I always wanted to do something with her,
and I knew she was a mother
so that role I feel like-Personally,
I feel like it had to be someone who had had a child
and who knew what it was like to want to protect a child.
And everyone knows the feeling of wanting to protect a child
but just, I think there's just something about a mother and...
Yeah. I felt like she was perfect for it.
ROCKWELL: You wrote these-The thing about it, you wrote these,
the three roles;
the mother, Captain K and Hitler have this kind of-Obviously
there's a twist with Hitler.
And there's a twist with all of them actually.
There's a twist with Scarlett's and mine.
But a bigger twist with Hitler
is that he starts out warm and cozy and then you realize...
I love how you become more Hitler as the movie goes on.
And...
with Scarlett there's that kind of-It's
just a great role, because she's...
almost like a father and a mother at the same time.
WAITITI: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right! Yeah.
ROCKWELL: And literally she actually acts that out at one point.
- Yeah. - Which is an amazing scene.
I love the scene where she talks about drinking champagne
and looking in the face of a tiger.
You know, I think that's a beautiful scene.
And the scene about falling in love and butterflies and...
- Yeah. - But I think-I
think the reason-I mean the Captain K thing
was the opening scene, and the death scene.
WAITITI: Yep.
ROCK WELL: And then some of those scenes in between were just-It's
just delicious material that you couldn't...
There's no way you could say no to that. It was, like...
I don't know, it was such an interesting part to me, I thought,
because he was-He's
most likely gay and he's...
Or doesn't know that he's gay.
And he's,
well, he's not allowed to express that and he's also-I
thought he also...you talked about that he's probably a war hero...
- He was a war hero. - Yeah.
And it went wrong and he got disillusioned,
and he realized that he was in a shitty club.
(Waititi laughs)
ROCKWELL: And they were a losing club.
And the scene where they're burning the books.
I loved that. It's like...
WAITITI: That's right you can see it, you can see it with him.
ROCKWELL: Yeah, you can, except that he's like "Yeah, that's not cool."
You know?
WAITITI: Yeah, I think we also talked about the idea that, you know,
maybe he used to frequent the Kit-Kat Club in Berlin and he used to,
hang around in Potsdamer Platz back in the day before the war.
And he missed those days of dressing up in camp costumes
and the crazy, debaucherous nightlife.
ROCKWELL: He partied at the clubs and he sort of...
Yeah, I remember talking about that.
- Yeah. - And, and the...
You know,
the stuff with the guns is fantastic.
And you got me to do that, which I love, because I was like-I
don't think...
You have a way of getting people to just do anything.
I don't know, you have this way about you because you're so charming
and you're just fun to be around.
WAITITI: I'm trust...I'm trustworthy!
ROCKWELL: You're trustworthy and you're very charismatic
so what happens is you basically-I don't know, it's like,
I kind of was ready to do anything.
WAITITI: Well, that's good. I feel like you've got to feel safe.
And I think that-I would like to make sure that people know
if there's something, if this doesn't work, I'm like,
I've got everyone's best interest at heart and I'm not going to-I'm
not out to make a fool of someone.
ROCKWELL: Yeah, yeah, when you're working with cool people who are experienced-Just
worked with Clint East wood, and I worked with...
You've worked with tons of amazing people. Scarlett's worked-And
what you notice is that when you work with really experienced people,
it's pretty, it's pretty easy.
WAITITI: Yeah. Right.
ROCKWELL: It's not...all you do is talk about the recipe, you know,
how many potatoes and how many carrots,
and maybe not too many onions or whatever.
But you're not, like...
It's not like you're afraid that someone's going to burn the stew or anything,
you kind of know the stew's going to be okay.
WAITITI: That's right, yeah.
It's like, if you over...
So no one really wants to over talk everything
and they don't want to, like, yeah, discuss, you know,
every single minute detail of the character before every take.
It's like you do that upfront and then you don't ever have to talk about it again.
ROCKWELL: Yeah, exactly.
And don't you find out
when you work with people who are really experienced, they just-It's
not that hard, it's like, it's not brain surgery.
It's like, you just go, yeah, let's do that, and then we'll do this,
and then you just do it. It's not like a big...
WAITITI: Totally.
ROCKWELL: Sometimes it can be so...
it can be so complicated and it doesn't need to be,
- Absolutely. - I guess what I'm saying,
and that's why it was great with you, I thought, you know.
WAITITI: I really agree.
And I feel the same way about working with you and with everyone, really.
It's just, it was...
Nothing was a hassle.
ROCKWELL: Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, you know, sometimes you're losing the light
or whatever, but it's usually pretty chill.
- Yeah. - Carthew was great,
and, you know, everybody was really nice.
I was thinking about that too, about those scenes with Alfie and Rebel
were really fun because it was like...
I don't know, again, it was like people at the top of their game,
like just riffing.
And I remember you throwing these last minute ad-libs at Rebel
and you would just-you would let her go on this riff
- Oh, my God. - with Stephen Merchant.
And Stephen Merchant doing his riffs and you would throw stuff at us
and it was just hilarious.
It was just, like,
easier to do with comedy, obviously.
WAITITI:(laughing)Yeah. That's right.
ROCKWELL: You know, but it was really fun
to just riff like that, like you were writing on the spot.
WAITITI: Yeah. All right, buddy. Okay. See you later, bye.
And that was Sam Rockwell.
? . . from what you're used to, but we need all hands on deck right now.
Metal for Hitler!
- WAITITI: Two. What? Nine. - (dial tone)
Let's see if this works.
- REBEL WILSON: Hello? - Rebel, can you hear me? This is Taika.
WILSON: Taika! How's it going?
WAITITI: IVs really good!
Welcome to this really weird commentary I'm doing,
where I'm just calling everyone up on the phone.
WILSON: Yeah! I mean, I've never had that thing done before.
WAITITI:(laughing) Yeah, what about phone calls?
- WILSON: Yeah. Such a pioneer... - Yeah.
? . .in flimmaking and in DVD extra-making.
WAITITI: Yep. No, that's right. This is the way to do it.
Where are you? Are you driving?
W I LS ON: I'm driving. I'm in Beverly Hills.
I'm driving out to Fox, actually.
WAITITI: We're never really going to know if you're telling the truth.
You could just be in your car, at your house, you could be in Australia.
WILSON: With the Queen, yeah, I could be.
WAITITI: I'm in Beverly Hills.
WILSON: Yeah, I know! Beverly Hills.
I love, I love driving in Beverly Hills.
It makes me feel like I've made it.
WAITITI: Does it make you feel like Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop,
where you're driving down the road
and you're just seeing people with poodles and stuff,
and you're just freaking out and you go...
(laughing like Eddie Murphy)
So, Rebel, tell us about your experience working in Prague. How was that?
WILSON: On all the locations, I felt like this is what it was like, World War II.
- Yeah. - Everywhere we shot.
Yeah.
Which made it more real in a way.
WAITITI: Especially where you were staying.
WILSON: Yeah, I mean that really just-that luxury spa at the Four Seasons
really made me feel like World War II.
No, that was really nice, wasn't it, the Four Seasons, and then just...
WAITITI: I don't know, because I wasn't staying there.
WILSON: Why were you not staying there?
It's luxury.
WAITITI: I don't know.
I was only writing and directing and starring in the movie.
WILSON: Yeah, yeah, you were busy.
So we did get to go on that one little trip down the river,
in the little boat, do you remember that?
- Yeah. - And we had pretzels, and...
- We had.... . . chocolate covered strawberries.
WAITITI: I remember that.
Yeah.
And you organized that.
That was really nice of you, thank you!
We were in Prague.
I didn't really get to see a lot of Prague, and to go out on that boat
was just so lovely to get out of my apartment,
and to get out and see the sights, and see that beautiful river.
WILSON: Yeah, it was gorgeous.
Yeah.
I got to see a lot of sights,
because I feel like I was in Prague for a month,
and I filmed like seven days with you,
so there was a lot of time, just me chilling in Prague.
- Yeah, yeah. - Yeah.
And trying out the goulash at various restaurants.
WAITITI: So much goulash. We'll always have the goulash.
WILSON: What was your favorite scene to shoot, Taika?
WAITITI: I loved shooting all the battle stuff, with all the gunpowder.
WILSON: Yeah.
WILSON: I liked shooting with the machine gun.
Yeah.
- That was cool. - That was cool, yeah.
WILSON: Yeah, I cut up my hands, though.
I don't know whether I told you about it,
but my hands got a bit cut up from, you know.
- From the machine gun? - The machine gun, yeah.
WAITITI: Well, war is hell. And that's what the movie's about.
And that's the message. So don't get a machine gun.
Don't hold one. You'll cut your hands up.
- WILSON: No. It's bad. Bad. - WAITITI: And also they're bad.
- They're terrible weapons. - No good will come of it.
No good will come of it.
Yeah, I'm sorry I didn't hear about that.
WILSON: Yeah, I'm all right, Iwas going to say we're very peace loving,
being, like, Australia, New Zealand.
WAITITI: We don't want...we don't like conflict. We're very polite.
WILSON: Yeah, yeah. We're very polite.
- Yep. - We're just, you know, subtly funny.
WAITITI: Yeah, very subtly.
In fact, some would say too subtly.
WILSON: I mean, yeah, some would.
WAITITI: I like to do jokes where people have to be a little bit smart to get them.
WILSON: Yeah, and this movie, I think,
you have to be a little bit smart to get it.
WAITITI: Yeah, if you're not a little bit smart,
if you're not at the bare minimum a little bit smart,
you probably won't like this movie.
WILSON: No, I reckon anyone who's listening to this commentary
loves the movie.
They loved it so much that they've already watched the movie without the commentary
and then they're like, "Damn it,
I got to hear all the juicy behind-the-scenes gossip..."
WAITITI: Yeah. All of the information...
I want to know everything about every shot,
every set and stuff.
I've basically given no information about anything so far, but guess what?
There's the rest of the movie to go. I'm warming them into it.
WILSON: I've got some cool gossip. I've got some cool gossip...
- Yeah. - . . . that people might like.
- Okay. - Like, Sam Rockwell, so nice.
WAITITI: That's a little bit of gossip no one knows.
Sam Rockwell's actually nice.
WILSON: Yeah. Scarlett Johansson, ScarJo, really nice.
WAITITI: No one would've thought that!
WILSON: Yeah, and doesn't she look good in the movie!
Like, it's World War II, but look how good she looks.
WAITITI: I know, and this is one of the first times
she's ever looked good in a movie, too.
WILSON: Yeah, and she's so stylish in World War II.
- Yup. - Amazing. I don't know how she does it.
Yeah, I know, but in this movie, she's great.
And then I was going to say Stephen Merchant, hilarious, that guy.
Love that guy.
WAITITI: Is he in this?
WILSON: Yeah, you know that guy that wrote The Office, who's like really tall?
WAITITI: Oh, yes. I thought that was all prosthetics.
WILSON: No, he actually is that tall.
WAITITI: Don't like him.
WILSON: Yeah. You know, tall people can be in movies as well.
- So, yeah. - Not for long.
But, a great guy, and we would have a lot of fun dinners while you were busy,
like starring in the movie, directing the movie.
WAITITI: Yeah.
WILSON: Like, we would have a lot of fun dinners without you.
WAITITI: That's cool. That's cool.
Cool, well...
Good to talk to you, Rebel!
WILSON: Yeah, fun times!
WAITITI: Lovely talking to you!
(both laughing)
You're not at the Fox lot now, are you?
WAITITI: I'm on the Fox lot now. Why don't you come in here?
- I'm just...WILSON: We're here!
We're just going in.
WAITITI: Okay, well, someone's going to give you a text
and then you're going to come in here and say hi.
Come give me a cuddle. Okay.
- WILSON: Yeah. All right. - WAITITI: Good, good, goodbye.
WILSON: Bye, now, shag me too, bye!
(Waititi laughs)
WAITITI: And that was Rebel.
Maybe I've run out of things to say.
I don't know. What should I say now?
These things are always very hard, these commentaries,
that's why I'm calling everyone so that they do all the work.
...time at home?
She is quite busy.
Is she?
Well, I'm pleased to see that you're wearing your jugend uniform,
but...
where is your knife?
You must always carry your DJ knife. Where is it?
- l left it... - It's here.
And who might you be?
Well, who might you be? And what are you doing in my house?
WAITITI: Oh, thank God. There she is.
Get in here. We're all over here.
I'm talking into the mic and I just ran out of things to say.
So, I just talked to Rebel on the phone,
and now she just happened to be on the Fox lot,
and now she's right here next to me.
- Hi, darling! - WILSON: Hi!
WAITITI: Muah!
All right, look, we got this microphone here.
- WILSON: Yeah. - WAITITI: Pull a seat up next to you.
- WILSON: Yeah, okay. This is Carly. - WAITITI: Next to me.
CARLY: Hey, what's up? Good to see you.
WAITITI: You too!
WILSON: You've got fresh fruit in here!
WAITITI: Yeah, eat this fresh fruit with me.
- WILSON: Wow. - WAITITI: This is the microphone with...
WILSON: Yeah.
WAITITI: And then I've also got these instructions to call various people.
WILSON: How's it going so far?
WAITITI: Terribly. So this is...
WILSON: I mean, I thought our phone chat was fire.
- WAITITI: I thought it was fire. - But just in case it wasn't, I came in.
WAITITI: I thought it was pretty-I thought it was pretty good.
WILSON: As far as phone chats go when I'm trying to navigate.
WAITITI: I was supposed to ask you
about Roman and twins, and the clone story.
WILSON: Okay, I will say, I love Roman, his mother, Camille, his whole family.
Hardy and Gilby play the clones.
And I thought they were so cute,
and I kept saying to you on set,
"Can we get them in something? Can we just do something?"
WAITITI: That's right.
And then we came up with the little clones idea.
- Yup. - And then the lovely Jason Chen,
who's on visual effects, worked out how to-he's
a genius, that guy, worked out how to just like...
WAITITI: Well, it's not that hard. You just cut and paste.
WILSON: Well, to me I was like, "That's magic. That's movie magic."
Because there's only two of the clones,
but we make it look like there's obviously a lot more in the movie
through movie magic.
WAITITI: Through the smoke and mirrors of movie magic.
I'm very proud of what Scarlett did in the movie, as well.
- Yeah. - l think that's...
WILSON: She's awesome.
WAITITI: . . .just a really...
Dare I say it?
Some of her best work.
WILSON: Yeah, I mean...
WAITITI: I dare say it, and I dared to say it, and I said it.
WILSON: You have fired me up with these strawberries
and this little bit of ad libbing.
WAITITI: You're so good at ad libbing on commentaries.
WILSON: No, I'm not! I've never done a commentary!
- WAITITI: I love you! - I've never done a commentary.
WAITITI: Let's just watch this little bit here.
How old are you in this photo?
They're three years old.
I was 14.
KLENZENDORF: Date of birth?
First of May.
1929.
Correct. Thank you, Inge.
Get a new photo. You look like a ghost in this one.
DEERTZ: Wait.
What is...
this?
Yoohoo Jew.
Tell me, who did this?
ELSA: I did.
It's an exposé on Jews.
How they think, behave, look.
It'll be a gift to the F¨¹hrer.
(tittering)
DEERTZ: Guys, you have to see this.
Look at this one. He has a tail.
There's one of them hanging upside down like a bat.
(men laughing)
This one here, it is a drawing of their heads.
And who is operating the machinery of their brains?
The devil.
It's funny 'cause it's true.
Look at this little, stupid Jew.
There they are with horns.
What is this?
"Die, Nathan, die."
"Ways of killing Nathan."
Nathan being tortured by snakes.
Poked with sticks.
Being fired from a cannon
and just being called names.
(muttering in agreement)
Yeah. Nathan being crushed under the wheel of an old-time penny-farthing bicycle.
Who is Nathan, please?
Just some boy.
DEERTZ: Nathan being roasted over an open fire.
Reminds me, we must get back and-You
remember? Because we left that guy hanging up.
- Ja. Ja. - Thank you for this.
You have really made my day.
I do hope you continue with it.
And, of course,
if you see anything suspicious, give us a ring.
Good day.
Hell Hitler.
MEN: Hell Hitler.
Nice to meet you, Inge.
Stay home, Jojo.
Look after your family. Look after this knife.
(sighs)
(door closes)
(door slides)
Elsa, you fooled them.
ELSA: May seventh.
What?
She was born on the seventh, not the first.
He was helping us.
They'll be back.
They'll figure out she's dead, then I'll be dead.
Nobody really knows Inge died.
You could be her.
I'll tell Mama everything when she gets home.
That I know you and that we're friends.
Jew and Nazi are not friends.
Man, that was a complete bust.
You mind explaining that?
She's not-She
doesn't seem like a bad person.
(exhales)
ADOLF: I am beginning to question your loyalty to myself and the party.
You call yourself a patriot?
Yet, where is the evidence?
The German soldier was born out of necessity.
Germany depends on the passion of these young men.
Passion and the readiness to fall for the Fatherland
despite the futile efforts of Allied war profiteers
who send their ill-prepared armies clumsily into the lair of the wolf.
And only zealous men who stand steadfast in the face of the enemy
will be etched in German memory forever.
And it is up to you to decide if you want to be remembered,
or disappear without a trace,
like a pitiful grain of sand into a desert of insignificance.
To put it plainly...
get your shit together and sort out your priorities.
You're ten, Jojo.
Start acting like it.
(spits)
(breathing shakily)
(crying)
No.
(crying continues)
(knife clatters)
(Jojo crying)
(air raid siren wailing)
- (planes droning) - (explosions)
JOJO: Did you know?
ELSA: She didn't tell me much...
only that she worked with her friends
and your father was somehow involved from afar.
No. He's fighting in the war.
She said he'll be home as soon as the war's over.
She didn't want to tell you anything for obvious reasons.
Because she hated me.
Because I'm a Nazi.
I'm the enemy.
She didn't want you to know anything that could get you in trouble.
But now I have nothing.
No one.
The last time I saw my parents was at the station.
They were put on a train.
I ran.
Slowly found my way back to the city.
A friend of my father's hid me.
Then another friend, then friends of friends.
Until your mother took me in.
And so far, I'm still here.
But my...
my parents went to a place you don't come back from.
What's the first thing you'll do when you're free?
Dance.
Everybody's gotta live
And everybody's gonna die
Everybody's gotta live
I think you know the reason why
Sometimes the goin' gets so good
Then again, it gets pretty rough
(sniffs)
But when I have you in my arms, baby
You know I just can't, I just can't get enough
.P Oh, yeah .P
Everybody's gotta live
Yes, they do
And everybody's gonna die
Everybody try to have a, a good time
I think you know the reason why
I feel like I've seen just about a million sunsets
She said if you're with me, I'll never go away
That's when I stopped and I took another look at my baby
She said if you're with me, I'll never go away
Because
Everybody's gotta live
And everybody's gonna die
Everybody's gotta live
Before you know the reason why
Yeah
Everybody's gotta live
That's it. That's it. Hurry.
- (explosion) - (screaming)
(explosion)
Yorki?
Jojo!
(screaming)
Oh, God.
Jojo.
How I've missed you.
Sorry about your mama.
I cried for ages when I heard what happened.
What's going on out here?
The Russians, Jojo. They're coming.
And the Americans from the other way.
And England and China and Africa and India.
The whole world is coming.
Help me with this ammo.
- And how are we doing? - Terribly.
Our only friends are the Japanese.
And just between you and me, they don't look very Aryan.
- Remember that Jew I told you about? - Oh, yeah.
I still have her.
She's basically my girlfriend now.
Good for you, Jojo. A girlfriend.
But, you know, she's Jewish.
There are bigger things to worry about than Jews, Jojo.
There's Russians somewhere out there.
They're worse than anyone.
I heard they eat babies and have sex with dogs.
I mean, like, that's bad, right?
Sex with dogs?
Yeah. The Englishmen do it, too.
We have to stop them before they eat us and screw all our dogs.
It's crazy.
And now Hitler's gone, we're really on our own.
- What? - You didn't hear?
He's dead.
He gave up and blew his brains out.
No.
That's impossible.
Blew them out.
His brains.
Turns out he was hiding a lot of stuff from us.
Doing some really bad things behind everyone's backs.
I'm not sure we chose the right side.
- (screaming) - (gunfire)
Okay. Come here. Okay. See that American there?
Just go give him a hug. Go! Run! Let's go!
Yorki. Yorki, great news.
You've just been promoted, and you get your own pistol.
Just go and shoot anybody who looks different to us.
- Okay. - Okay.
(shouting)
Jojo, where's your uniform?
Here. Here, put the jacket on so they know not to shoot you.
We must kill everything that we see.
For Hitler.
Die, devil scum!
Die!
(men shouting in distance)
MAN: Fall out!
(ethereal music in German plays)
(screams)
Whoc! Ha!
Ja.
MAN: Come. This way.
MAN: They are here!
The Americans!
AMERICAN SOLDIER#1: Come on.
- Stay on him. - AMERICAN SOLDIER#2: Behind you, Cap.
Over here. Come on, go!
WAITITI: Now I'm going to call Alfie Allen.
You guys bored of this yet?
Would you like any information about the film?
Don't answer that.
I'm going to give you some information about the film.
(dial tone)
Okay, here we go.
Nine...
(deep sigh)
(phone beeping)
Why do I have to do all this?
Seven...
I'm going to give you Alfie's number.
One, eight...
- Theater and stuff. - ALFIE ALLEN: Hello!
- Alfie, hi! I'm Taika Waititi. - Hey, bro.
Hey, bro, I'm just, in the middle of doing this commentary
and I'd thought I'd give you a quick call and say hi.
ALLEN: Hey, mate! What's going on, bro?
Where are you?
WAITITI: I'm on the Fox lot...
and that's the news. I'm just watching the movie.
ALLEN: Am I being recorded right now?
WAITITI: Yes, you are.
(Allen laughs)
ALLEN: Cool, I'm in London.
I am on my way across London.
How's the Fox lot?
WAITITI: IVs good.
Are you on your way across London to your job as a chimney sweep?
ALLEN: Yes, lam. I'm going to get pretty dirty tonight.
- I'm not going to lie. - Yup.
So yeah, I'm just trying my hard, you know.
I'm trying my hardest to be reserved in this conversation.
Because that's what we do, us Brits. You know what I mean?
WAITITI: "You know what I mean?"
- Can I ask you a question about London? - Yeah.
Do you guys still like, go to the toilet in those pots under your bed
and then throw them out on the street on top of people?
ALLEN: No, we use policemen's hats.
- That's what we do. - WAITITI: Okay. You've changed.
You're getting cleaner now?
ALLEN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're getting cleaner now.
WAITITI: So the British take baths now. Is that right?
ALLEN: We are very conscious about saving water,
so I don't take baths myself,
but for the first time, I might treat myself. Yeah.
WAITITI: Cool, and how long ago did you guys get rid of the Plague?
ALLEN: Oh, God, that's a bit too intellectual for me, Taika.
I don't know about that one, mate.
WAITITI: Right. IVd be about 2002. Is that right?
ALLEN: Yes, something like that.
WAITITI: Yeah, cool, well, you guys are doing great over there.
Sounds like your economy's booming and as someone from the colonies...
no sympathy.
- So, anyway. - Yeah, yeah.
Let's talk about the movie.
ALLEN: Economy's booming for all the wrong reasons. Not!
(Waititi laughs)
- No! Leave him alone! - Go home!
No!
WAITITI: We're watching the movie?
I'm really bad at these commentary things, but I just like calling you guys up.
ALLEN: Okay.
How do I do commentary on something if I'm not watching it?
That feels weird.
WAITITI: Yeah. I think this is the only way to do it.
ALLEN: Have I let the cat out of the bag?
WAITITI: No, I've seen-I've seen...well-I've
seen lots of commentaries,
and they're usually pretty bad, so I think this one's going quite well.
- ALLEN: All right. Great. Amazing. - WAITITI: Yeah, yeah.
I just want to ask you about your time...
working with me.
ALLEN: I mean, it was...(chuckles) It was great, mate.
- I really loved it. - Lovely.
I remember meeting on the first night when I got in,
because when we spoke on the phone, I played the audition tape for you,
and then, which I had to actually fly.
I was going to get a ferry because of my dog at the time.
So I was going to get a ferry over,
so you actually got me out of getting on the ferry with my dog.
So, somebody else had to do that.
- So thanks for that. - You're welcome.
So I got a flight back from where I was.
And then spoke to you about the tape,
and then you called me about or I called you, I think I called you,
about a week later.
And you were cooking.
And you were like, "Hey, man, do you fancy coming out?"
And I was like, it's just amazing, you know.
What an incredible opportunity
to work with so many talented people, including yourself.
And yeah, the rest is history.
I just got over there on the first flight, and we...
I think we got along fairly decent.
WAITITI: I think we got along beautifully.
ALLEN: It all went, yeah! Yeah.
So it was great, and then it was just, you know,
coming from Thrones, and doing something which was, you know, where somebody...
It was just great, man. I just felt, I felt liberated as an actor.
It was fantastic.
WAITITI: It was fantastic.
So now, I'm going to let you watch this next bit
and Ill be back very soon.
Out where?
Outside, dummy.
Jojo, what's going on?
Is it safe to come out?
Jojo, is it safe?
Can I leave?
No.
You can't leave.
Why?
JOJO: You have to stay here...
Who won?
JOJO:...withme.
Jojo, who won...who won the war?
We did.
Germany won the war.
I-I'm sorry.
"Dear Elsa.
I know it's hard for you at the moment...
and I know you feel like giving up.
But you have to carry on.
Me and your good friend, Jojo,
have devised a plan for you to escape.
So, please listen to him.
He's gonna help you get out of there.
And then you can come live with me in Paris.
And don't worry about Jojo.
He'll be okay.
See you in Paris.
Nathan."
- He's dead. - Pardon?
Nathan.
He died last year.
Tuberculosis.
Well.., that's weird.
Who wrote these?
Thank you, Jojo.
You have been so good to me.
Well, the thing is, I love you.
I know you think of me as a younger brother, which is fine,
and, um, you're too old anyway.
But...
Man, it's quite hot in here.
I love you, too.
- As a younger brother. - As a younger brother.
Look, me and fake Nathan have found a way for you to escape.
Maybe you can trust a younger brother?
Maybe.
Okay, then.
Get your things together.
We're leaving.
(sighs)
Jojo Betzler.
Ten and a half years old.
Today,
just do what you can.
Where in the shit do you think you're going, hmm?
- Out. - Out? No, you don't.
No, we're gonna stay in here and you're gonna tell me
exactly what's going on with you and that thing in the attic.
That "thing" is a girl.
- You're in love with her, aren 't you? - Yes.
- Admit it. - I just said yes.
I knew it!
Well, it's never gonna work out.
No. No, she's too old for you. And you're ugly.
You know she's gonna leave you. You know that, don't you?
So, here's what's gonna happen, you little shit.
You're gonna put this on, okay?
You're gonna forget about that disgusting Jewy cow up there.
And you're gonna come back to me, where you belong.
Right?
Put it on.
And then, we're gonna pretend none of this ever happened.
You got it?
You're not gonna hell me?
Come on? For old time's sake?
- Heil me, little man. - No.
- Hell me. - No.
A little hell, just a little hell?
WAITITI: Here we have me being kicked out of the window.
I was originally thought I was going to...
Originally I thought I was going to try and do the stunt,
but I realized that I would have broken my neck.
So, I got someone else to do it,
a professional, and that's what you should do.
Get the professional stunt person to do it, unless you're Tom Cruise.
All right, let's watch this bit and I'll come back at the end.
Ready?
Yeah.
(door unlocks)
Is it dangerous out there?
Extremely.
(big band music playing in distance)
(horn honks)
Yeah!
Whoo!
(horn honks)
(indistinct chattering)
(sighs)We made it.
Probably deserved that.
What do we do now?
WAITITI: Now we're outside the house...
and this is where the great song, Heroes, comes in,
David Bowie, Heroes.
And this song has been in the script right from the very beginning.
I always knew I wanted the song at the end.
IVs got ties to Berlin because that's where they recorded it.
And there's some themes there around the wall
and kissing under the wall, you know,
beneath the guard towers.
And, it just felt like an appropriate song to end the film on
because I feel like... at the end of all of this,
this big journey, Jojo,
has in some way, become a hero.
He's turned around and he, in this sort of weird, messed up way,
he's helped save one person and that's Elsa,
just by letting her,
just by taking her outside and opening the door.
And, in a way, his house was the last...
harbored the last remnants of Nazi Germany
and for her to leave that was a-signified the escape.
So, that's where the song came from.
Really, one of the main points I make in this film
is that I wanted to highlight the fact...
that after World War II, people said we should never forget.
We should never... forget what happened.
Always remember, and always...
remind ourselves of what humans can do to each other.
And, I feel like now in 2019,
given certain behavior of certain people in certain parts of the world,
it feels like we are forgetting.
In a way, I feel like this is just another reminder...
that if you stop telling the story, then you stop remembering.
And, that gives way for some of the behavior
to happen again.
And it's not good enough.
And there's...I think there was a p011 in the Guardian
either last year or the year before done here in America.
It was something like 44%of the people they asked this one question.
They had no idea what Auschwitz was.
And so...
And it's 2018, and again, it's not good enough.
And so if 44%of people they asked
had no idea what the most infamous concentration camp was,
then we're not doing our jobs and we're not working hard enough
to keep reminding ourselves what happened and what can happen again.
When World War II erupted and when Hitler got into power in I 933,
people thought that they were the height of human civilization and human thinking.
And they thought nothing like this could ever happen again.
You know, and they'd forgotten.
Most of them had almost forgotten World War I.
They'd forgotten the Crimean War. They'd forgotten the Boer War.
They'd forgotten all the other wars.
I mean, no one remembered the Napoleonic Wars.
But the point is if we forget,
then this kind of thing can happen again.
And that's the news.
Thanks for listening to this commentary.
You've been a very loyal and engaged audience.
And see you in the next film.
(David Bowie's "Helden" continues playing)