Documentary filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe delves deep into the psyche of David Lynch’s cinema and finds recurring references to an unexpected film: The Wizard of Oz.
There’s a world between the whimsical musical The Wizard of Oz and the strange universe of David Lynch. In appearance, at least. On closer inspection, the Swiss documentary filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe, accustomed to deciphering the cinema ofAliens To The Exorcist going through zombie films, finds on the contrary disturbing similarities.
There is this recurring image of the red shoes, which evoke those that Dorothée kicks together in the hope of returning home. There is this obsession with doubles, already present in the 1939 classic which, the documentary reminds us, owes its fame to its countless television broadcasts and not to its cinema release. There is also, in a general way, the presence in the work of David Lynch of a world hidden under appearances, like the one in which Oz makes believe, itself hidden behind a character and a simple curtain.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY EXHIBIT A
Still from the movie Lynch/Oz
Lynch/Oz does more than list the – plentiful – visual evidence of the influence that The Wizard of Oz on the creator of Sailor and Lula (Wild at Heart), Mullholland Drive And Twin Peaks, he also digs into its meaning through the observations of six film critics and filmmakers, including Amy Nicholson and John Waters. With them, the documentary filmmaker shows the deconstruction of the American dream directly and indirectly operated by David Lynch’s cinema and how the tragic fate of Judy Garland, an actress who played Dorothy, embodies this shipwreck.
The demonstration and the staging of Alexandre O. Philippe leave you completely speechless as they are convincing. In addition to nourishing his analysis with enlightened words, he supports it with a phenomenal quantity of carefully chosen excerpts. Lynch/Oz is a niche film, of course, but it has everything it takes to fascinate moviegoers who have remained haunted by blue-velvet, Twin Peaks And Lost Highway.
Lynch/Oz is presented at Cinéma du Parc in its original English version.
Indoors
Documentary
Lynch/Oz
Alexandre O.Philippe
Starring Amy Nicholson, John Waters, David Lynch
1:48