The Wizard of Oz
You had me at “somewhere over the rainbow.” The Wizard of Oz never gets old, and it’s back in an exclusive one-week engagement in IMAX 3D starting this weekend. Frankly the IMAX transfer overwhelms with the sheer beauty of its contrast, but the 3D only really worked during the titles; flat images pop up in 3D convergence whereas lens and set-ups not directly intent on a specific perspective don’t always translate into 3D splendor. That being said, the Land of Oz via IMAX experience is a must see.
Just for the record, in the distant past, in a time before even VHS, U-matic or Beta tapes, The Wizard of Oz was a widely seen film because it was broadcast once a year on CBS (there were eventually other nets), on a Sunday nonetheless, and thus ingrained in the minds of kids growing up from the late-50s to the 1990s. The Wizard of Oz is truly a “horse of a different color.”
On one hand, this is a film that surely most of the 300-million-plus people in the U.S. have seen. Surely more people have seen TWOO than say Star Wars or The Godfather. So it’s a perfect barometer of our collective psyche. Perhaps it’s out on a limb to assume, but it’s possible that most of the 7-billion-plus people in the world are at least aware of imagery related to TWOO.
For instance, when Dorothy vows revenge against Miss Gulch, how do you feel? That should be the first question a person is asked when they apply for a job, and not what are your goals in life.
There was of course the famous synopsis of TWOO where it was described thus: A young girl and her dog are transported to a magical land where she murders the first person she sees and subsequently hooks up with three strangers who go on a killing spree. Yes, that’s true but there’s so much more. You see, Dorothy and company have systematically changed the cultural landscape of an entire empire. This isn’t some generational Madonna makeover but a complete overhaul of the way people perceive fantasy.
The Wizard of Oz was all about alternative universes and worlds beyond ken. There’s a magical realism to the fake painted backdrops and laminated yellow brick road. If you do research on the film you’ll find that MGM studio execs wanted to cut the song “Over the Rainbow.” Make a mental note: don’t trust Louis B. Mayer. (Warner Brothers now has the rights and additionally the film comes out in a Blu-ray edition next month.)
One scene that always worked for me was when the Cowardly Lion runs down the hallway outside of Oz’s headquarters and jumps out the window. In the screening that I attended the kids went crazy during this scene as well as when Lion sings his song and does his silly big cat vibrato.
Everything looks bolder in the IMAX version. When Dorothy is being carried away by the flying monkeys pay attention to the motion of her legs. And the tornado sequence still looks awesome even if it’s just a bunch of spinning nylons. Thomas Wolfe was simply wrong when he wrote “you can’t go home again.” Tap your heels together and go home this weekend with The Wizard of Oz.
— Michael Bergeron
