Lynch/Oz: A fun documentary about David Lynch and the Wizard of Oz
What makes a movie influential? Is it the story, the visuals, the cultural moment, or all of the above? It’s a topic explored in Lynch/Oz, a fascinating new work all about the link between filmmaker David Lynch and seminal 1930s movie The Wizard of Oz.
Documentarian Alexandre O Philippe has made interesting retrospectives on film history before. He witnessed the chaos of modern fandom in The People Vs George Lucas, and studied Psycho’s shower scene in 78/52.
Here, he hands the reigns to six artists and filmmakers, who discuss the enduring qualities of both The Wizard of Oz and Lynch’s work, from the early shorts through to his recent return to Twin Peaks.
The discussions are, as you would imagine, tangential and overlapping, feeling like a chat about movies rather than an essay with a point to prove. Lynch’s love of stories where the real and unreal exist side-by-side has clear links to The Yellow Brick Road, while visual motifs such as curtains are dissected.
Each narrator brings a different flavour – writer Amy Nicholson is more scholarly while director John Waters is predictably irreverent in his praise of both parties. It’s not a watertight thesis, succeeding more in highlighting the virtues of both parties rather than bringing them together.
That’s probably the best tribute you can pay to Lynch, who has repeatedly shown distain for explaining his films (“the second [a film] is finished, they want you to change it back into words.”).
Nevertheless Lynch/Oz is joyous cinema nerdiness, making the audience feel part of an unfocused but enthusiastic cinematic discussion.