Closer Look at Wizard of Oz
A closer look at the characters in The Wizard of Oz By Mary Ann Monjeau-Warner
HUMA 205 Film Critique #1 Instructor: Dr. Tomory
March 15, 2013
“Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets, and then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again.”(Polito) You would think this is a horror flick coming up. It’s not! I sat down to watch the The Wizard of Oz (1939) with high expectations; after all, this is an American musical fantasy film. Slow paced, elegant yet modest black-and-white visuals, a general air of stateliness, to the contrary: The Wizard of Oz, the classic 1939 version, is a visually bold, brightly-colored, high speed extravaganza, with outlandish costumes and above and beyond acting. Now over 70 years later it is dated but not what you may expect. This movie successfully targets all age groups both young and old. There is no excuse for not viewing such a classic. One quote that I think of when I think of this movie is “I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore”. This paper briefly describes the settings, main characters and desires that Dorothy and her friends wish to obtain, only to discover they already have them. The opening of the film is a sepia tone which overlays the black and white film stock, scenes not just in black and white as you may have expected from a movie produced in 1939. An early scene, a tornado that transports Dorothy to Oz, is actually breath taking in sepia tone. You may think you are in Kansas, the dust filled air swirling about your immediate area. The tornado picks up the house and drops it in Oz, and the journey begins. Once in Oz a no hold barred parade with music, loud and boisterous. Munchkin’s outlandish costumes and psychedelic colors are truly out of this world, loud and rich visuals portrayed onto the screen with no restraint,
HUMA 205 Film Critique #1 Instructor: Dr. Tomory
March 15, 2013
“Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets, and then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again.”(Polito) You would think this is a horror flick coming up. It’s not! I sat down to watch the The Wizard of Oz (1939) with high expectations; after all, this is an American musical fantasy film. Slow paced, elegant yet modest black-and-white visuals, a general air of stateliness, to the contrary: The Wizard of Oz, the classic 1939 version, is a visually bold, brightly-colored, high speed extravaganza, with outlandish costumes and above and beyond acting. Now over 70 years later it is dated but not what you may expect. This movie successfully targets all age groups both young and old. There is no excuse for not viewing such a classic. One quote that I think of when I think of this movie is “I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore”. This paper briefly describes the settings, main characters and desires that Dorothy and her friends wish to obtain, only to discover they already have them. The opening of the film is a sepia tone which overlays the black and white film stock, scenes not just in black and white as you may have expected from a movie produced in 1939. An early scene, a tornado that transports Dorothy to Oz, is actually breath taking in sepia tone. You may think you are in Kansas, the dust filled air swirling about your immediate area. The tornado picks up the house and drops it in Oz, and the journey begins. Once in Oz a no hold barred parade with music, loud and boisterous. Munchkin’s outlandish costumes and psychedelic colors are truly out of this world, loud and rich visuals portrayed onto the screen with no restraint,