Lynch/Oz

Alexandre O. Philippe’s visual sensibilities are an ideal vehicle through which to juxtapose Victor Fleming’s Technicolor extravaganza The Wizard of Oz (1939) and David Lynch’s obtuse, equally fantastical worlds in works from Eraserhead (1977) to What Did Jack Do? (2017). Right from the start of Lynch/Oz, however, the vision is larger: the first film shown in the documentary’s dominant split-screen format (Oz on the left, successor on the right) is Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life. Lynch is the focus but the ubiquity of the Wicked Witch and the Wizard’s curtains spans decades, genres, and voices.

Filmmakers including Karyn Kusama, John Waters (stealing the show), David Lowery, Rodney Ascher, Amy Nicholson, and the duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead speak through parallel scenes from Fleming and Lynch’s (or their own) oeuvre. Lynch is, unsurprisingly, absent; numerous clips remind viewers that the Midwestern auteur is loath to ascribe meaning, or share his own. The result is a full-scale celebration of beautifully rendered images that invites further independent exploration.

Given The Wizard of Oz's ubiquity on TV over the years, its pervasive influence makes sense. However, one brief segment finds similarities between Oz and Gone With the Wind, Fleming’s Oscar-winner from the same year. Why has Oz proved to have more staying power than that box-office juggernaut? Perhaps because it's a family film with a Campbellian hero’s journey. Perhaps its early colour images, no matter the topic, ingrained themselves indelibly in a cinematic code that directors and audiences understand. Unfortunately, that’s not for this 110-minute documentary to decide.

---

Released 2 Dec by Dogwoof; certificate 15