Review of The Wizard of Oz (1939) by Filipeneto — 23 Feb 2018

Dorothy Gale is a young girl who lives on a farm in Kansas, but a tornado drag her to a magical land where she will have to go through various adventures in order to return. Directed by a team led by Victor Fleming, this movie has script by Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf and others. The cast is headed by Judy Garland and Frank Morgan.

We are facing one of the most famous films of all time, the precursor of musical, fantasy and adventure films. And its no coincidence that many of its scenes were in collective memory. It was a milestone for cinema, and almost all saw it, in movies, television, DVD or any other. The script is very interesting and takes children and adults to the child's imagination, plenty of witches, fairies, beautiful and impossible things. There are no dead moments, everything is perfect. The editing of the film was made carefully and photography, with a striking contrast between scenes in vivid colors and sepia scenes, marked the "border" between our world and the magical world of Oz. All this was innovative for its time.

The characters in this film have become iconic. The Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion have become paradigms of the potential untapped of human beings, people who seek to overcome their own insecurities and flaws. Dorothy has been an ideal of goodness and virtue, and her puppy an example of loyalty. In turn, the wizard ends up making the connection between the two worlds. Garland had it so good in this film that just famous and was one of the most acclaimed actresses of the golden age of American cinema.

The film also has several special effects, rudimentary and limited to existing technical, but functional and effective. The soundtrack of the film is perhaps one of the most remembered today. It mainly composed by Harold Arlen and has filled the movie with delightful musical moments. One of them, "Over the Rainbow," earned the Oscar for Best Original Song and its an icon even today. The film has also won the statuette for Best Soundtrack and was nominated for the categories of Best Film (1940), Best Color Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects.