The Wizard of OZ: The Film Critique (Movie Review Sample)

Essay
English
Number of Pages: 10
The Wizard of OZ: The Film Critique
Introduction
The Wizard of OZ is a timeless classical movie that was first premiered in 1939. The movie is a fantasy and musical classic that often occupies our imagination with something real more than any other movie. The film seeks to fill a space that many children fantasize about. For a child, home is the sense of utmost security and means everything to then, but there is the fantasy of the wider world out there which is both interesting and terrifying. The fear of a child being left to wonder in a strange and lonely world, the obstacles they face and the longing of being home again makes this a fundamental film to learn from .
The film has laid down a good platform of both comedy and music to lure children for both entertainment and learning lessons. It penetrates the insecurities of being a child and gives them hope that things will be better. It teaches them that they will not be children all their lives, and that at some point in life the adults will not be there to help them. This is because they will be adults who will take care of themselves, facing life alone but with the help of their friends. Adults also find the film captivating since it reminds them of where they have come from as children and how they became who they are today.
The movie is a blockbuster and the genre is that of fantasy. It was directed by Victor Fleming and King Vidor, written by Noel Langley and Florence Ryerson, produced by Mervyn Le Roy and Author Freed, distributed by Loew’s Incorporation and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corporation. The cast includes:
Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale
Frank Morgan as Professor Marvel/the Wizard of OZ/Doorkeeper of Emerald city/the coach driver/Wizard’s doorkeeper
Ray Bolger as Hunk/ the Scarecrow
Bert Lahr as Zeke/The Cowardly Lion
Jack Haley as Hickory/The Tin Man
Billie Burke as Glinda
The story is the dream of a young girl, Dorothy Gale, travelling in a fantasy world in the Land of Oz. She runs away from home to protect her dog, toto, who was being claimed by their evil neighbor, Miss Gulch, for biting her. In the fantasy world, she meets strange friends who help her in her quest to return home to her parents. The main theme, which runs throughout in this film is the revelation that there is no better place like home. This is because all her endeavors in the fantasy world are to find ways to go back to her home (Roger, "The Wizard”).
The plot and story in the Wizard of Oz show different approaches due to the fact that a story usually shows the emotional aspects of the journey of the film while the plot is the physical aspect. There are many plot elements in the film ranging from where Dorothy’s house is transported by a tornado and lands on a witch, meeting some travelling companions, the wizard sending them on a task to when they attack a witch with water. In all the above cases, we see no emotional content but rather activities happening. Therefore, the plot is that continuous physical activity happening in the film right from the beginning to the end (Steve "Tips for a Novel”).
The film plot begins with an encounter of Dorothy, her pet and Miss Gulch, her neighbor. This leads to the dog biting her, leading to Miss Gulch seeking for revenge by demanding the dog to be killed. Dorothy tries to explain to her aunt m and Uncle Henry what transpired but they are too busy with their house work. Miss Gulch comes to their home and since the aunt and uncle did not want to break any laws, they surrender the dog to her. Dorothy feels devastated by this action. In the hands of Miss Gulch, the dog escapes and goes back home. This makes Dorothy ran away from home to protect it. On her way, she meets Professor Marvel who tricks her into believing that her Aunt is very sick. When she returns, the house is transported by a tornado. Unable to reach the house, a window hits her and falls unconscious. She wakes up and sees her house in the air and Miss Gulch turns into a witch. The house drops on the witch from the East and kills her ("The Wizard of Oz" 1939).
Dorothy is embraced by Glinda, a good witch from the North and informs her that she is in Munchkin land. She seeks to find her home and Glinda instructs her to follow the Yellow brick road to a wizard in Emerald city who would help her. On the way, she meets a scarecrow, a cowardly lion and a Tin Man who all join her to the see the wizard. The wizard wishes to get the bad witch’s broom from the east first before he helps them. After they bring the broom, he then gives them a hot air balloon that will take them home but the dog jumps off. Dorothy returns to get the dog and Glinda helps her to get home by telling her to tap her heals saying "There is no place like home”. She wakes up with her Aunt and Uncle beside her and explains it as all but a dream.
The story, on the other hand, is a continuous emotional feeling attached to the plot of the film. We see Dorothy in sorrow when her pet is taken away, the distress she feels when she realizes that her beloved house has landed on a witch and the sadness of her having to leave her recently acquired friends or companions. The story shows an emotional form of reaction to a plot laid out in the film. It is what keeps the audience glued to the movie. The mixture of the two needs to be merged together throughout the movie for it to succeed at capturing the audience (Steve Tips for a Novel”).
In the entire movie, there are many specific and design techniques and elements that have been used to drive the theme home. Editing, as a technique has been widely used. There is absence of color at the beginning and end of the movie. In the song "Over the Rainbow”, she dreams of much more than what her home was. This is fulfilled because after the tornado, she opens the door to a colored world full of fantasy, which captures the attention of the viewer especially in those days when movies were not being produced in color (Stephyski "Editing Techniques”).
In the Land of Oz, there is an established shot of her first step from her sepia-themed house to this magical colorful land. This is an example of an inside-out editing, where there is a close-up of Dorothy and then slowly moving to show the surrounding features of the entire Munchkin land and the Yellow brick road. This shows how production changed from black and white to color screening. It depicts how the world in Kansas is different from the fantasy world of Oz, showing the difference from reality and fantasy.
There is the Cross-cut editing used in the movie which shows two events happening at the same time but in different locations. For example, when Dorothy falls asleep when in the field, we see an image of the good witch appearing when she is casting her spell. Right afterwards, Dorothy then wakes up and is seen helping the Tin Man and the scene zooms back to the crystal of the wicked witch before going back to the group as they continue on their way. This shows how the two scenes are seen happening at the same time and yet it is quite clear that the locations are different (Stephyski "Editing Rechniques”).
The director of the film is seen using many camera angles to keep the audience entertained. As Dorothy is meeting with the Munchkins in the Oz, there are many shots in high angle that shows just how different Dorothy’s height is different from the Munchkins. There are also shots with wide angles used to capture the audience. These are used to show Dorothy is not fit in that land as she does not look like the locals of the land. It is a technique used to show how Dorothy is supposed to realize that home is where she fits and belongs.
Lighting as a technique is also used in the film. There is bright lighting and bright colors in the film to show the happy mood of the characters in the land Oz. The Land of Oz is also supposed to be that land of fantasy that is not real. Lighting is used essentially to depict and entice the audience about this land of imaginary thought.
The film is produced almost entirely indoors on the stage’s sound of MGM. Since the movie had the sounds of the studio, much of the work rested with the special effects wing. We have matte which was used abundantly to show the landscape of Kansa town and how different it was from the Land in the Oz.
Elaborate art sets are used to create the Land of Oz in full scale in special reference to the witch’s home and the room where the thrown of the wizard of Oz was located. Creating a scarecrow, a Tin Man and a lion to life made the makeup department work really hard. They all had to have their personalities in check as well as characteristics of a human being that would surpass the costumes they wore.
The wizard of Oz has had many impacts on society. The images and the songs have become rooted in the hearts of people who have watched the film. The Land of Oz represents that world of fantasy that cannot last forever. It is just an illusion of childhood which is not real. That is why it is depicted as exciting, fun and alluring to children who fancy for something different than what they encounter every day. Another cultural lesson from the movie is that it is always best to handle and solve problems at home. Home is the best place one can have. It is a refuge where one can depend on when the world outside there is harsh and difficult. Dorothy talks of her heart’s desires being in her own backyard. Having faith in the family seems to reap fruits since they are the only people who will never let one down (Emanuel "Cultural Impact”).
The film has a social teaching which seems to go through the idea that grownups will not always be there for support and protection. The film tends to depict her aunt and uncle being power...