There's no place like home ... no time like childhood ... no movie like "The Wizard of Oz" ...

Rating: 10/10 (1 March 2012)

Red like magical ruby slippers, yellow like a brick road to follow, green like the Emerald city, blue like a cloudless sky, violet like a floppy field  all the colors of the rainbow celebrate two magical universes with the same initials: cinema and childhood.
"The Wizard of Oz" is and will forever be associated with a magnificent imagery, unforgettable songs such as "Ding Dong! the Witch is Dead", "We're off to see the Wizard", the catchy "If I had..." songs, the Munchkins' high-pitched voices, Dorothy having the feeling 'not to be in Kansas' anymore, the shrill and scary voice of a green-faced evil witch and so on and so forth. With all these elements, it's comforting that the film lost against a worthy adversary, the iconic "Gone with the Wind" from the same director. God, if there ever was a year where film-making triumphed, it's 1939, and the throne of Hollywood undoubtedly belonged to Victor Fleming.
"The Wizard of Oz" is both a spectacular milestone for its first use of colors and groundbreaking visual effects and a timeless classic in the way it touched the heart of children from many generations, all over the world. It's fascinating how these two aspects drive the film's paradoxical nature as the ultimate escapism, plunging us in the dreamlike Technicolor vision of the enchanted land of Oz, yet concluding with the immortal "There's no place like home". "Oz" captures through the innate power and insecurity of childhood a very poignant contradiction that reminds us how we used to dream of such places 'over the rainbow' and still were deeply rooted to our home, our family. And Kansas, with its sepia-like simplicity is Dorothy's home and we couldn't be happier for her when she was finally back.
But as a set-up to this powerful finale, the whole film is a miraculous journey into a magical world where a group of friends will try to find the only person whose power could fulfill their wishes. Dorothy wants to go home, because she left her aunt worried after a frightening tornado destroyed the farm, the Scarecrow wants to have a brain, the Tin Man, a heart and needless to say what the Cowardly Lion wants. We all can identify with Dorothy or her friends because each one remains true to one of the many emotions that inhabit childhood, fear, awkwardness, joy, sadness, homesickness etc. And watching these three adult actors and an adolescent Judy Garland taking their roles with such dedication is the best tribute to the good old days' innocence. Those were the days ruled by Walt Disney and MGM's roaring lion, when people went to the movie theaters to escape, to dream  an even sadder desire when put in the tragic international context of the film.
Speaking of my personal experience, I had "The Wizard of Oz" in mind long before watching the film, with the unforgettable image of Dorothy and her three friends walking along the "We're off to see the Wizard" song, one of these indelible shots in the history of film-making that invites us to re-enact them every once in a while. That's the secret of "Oz", which makes any attempt to summarize the film pointless. Any other fantasy film can be more spectacular or penetrating but its popularity might mostly rely on the story, on the way it ends. Take Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life", the whole significance of the film depends on the reception of the last act of the film, and kind of diminish the impact of the first scenes. In "The Wizard of Oz", it's all about characters, scenes, songs, quotes, each sequence is as valuable and impacting as another, and more than anything, each one conveys a valuable lesson about and for children.
Whether it's about children's adoration for their pet animals (Dorothy's adventure starts because she wanted to protect her dog Toto from the evil Miss Gulch) or about the value of friendship in order to face the adversity of the adult world, an undeniable pedagogical value elevates "Oz" above all the other fantasy movies. It is, for once, not a coming-of-age, but a coming-to-realization story and a proud affirmation of the value of childhood in the way it intelligently mirrors our own memories of a time of misunderstanding, naivety, trust and fear and a perpetual leaning helping us to face the world, to accept it and moreover to accept ourselves (there's a subtle message about self-acceptance powerfully conveyed by the wizard, played by the jovial Frank Morgan). And the merit of these lessons is to be learned through action: Dorothy and her friends are never passive characters characters and that's crucial because it puts action as a necessary step before learning, and fear, not as a flaw, but a necessary step before learning about courage.
"The Wizard of Oz" provides also through the wizard's character, the man 'behind the curtain', a lesson about naivety and how child's eyes can easily trust or be impressed. In a way, it illustrates the sad reality that all the adults aren't trustworthy. Of course, some of them can be really mean and the film wouldn't have been half the masterpiece it is without the scene stealing performance of Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West, rightfully nominated #4 in the AFI Top 50 villains. The Witch happens to be a representation of Mrs. Gulch in Dorothy's dream, like most of the characters, including the three friends (farmhands in real-life) and the wizard  in a way, it helps us to keep in mind that Dorothy is only dreaming, which doesn't make her dream less impacting anyway.
And bizarrely, as we forget it's all a dream, we cease to be marveled by the beauty of the cinematography and the special effects, forgetting that it was before CGI, before "Star Wars", that's the miracle of "The Wizard of Oz", and as a beautiful dream, its memory can be eternal