Lynch/Oz (2022)

Fans of filmmaker David Lynch and/or the most famous movie of all time are likely to get a kick out of this documentary project by director and writer Alexandre O. Philippe. He approached a half dozen or so other filmmakers and critics for their meditations on the connections between Lynch and The Wizard of Oz. In turn, Philippe has cut together montages of scenes from Oz and all of Lynch’s movies to accompany, highlight, emphasize, and make the ideas more concrete as they are discussed in voiceovers. The result is a series of fascinating video essay vignettes. The titles of these segments may give some sense of their flavors: Wind, Membranes, Kindred, Multitudes, Judy, Dig. The most famous of these contributors may be filmmaker John Waters (whose pencil mustache, remember, is an homage to Little Richard). Waters’s Kindred treats Lynch as a friend and peer, with warm memories. Not so famous, perhaps, is Rodney Ascher (Membranes), director and writer of the 2012 documentary Room 237, which throws a similar intense focus on the Stanley Kubrick movie The Shining. My favorite segment of Lynch/Oz was the first, Wind, “hosted” by film critic Amy Nicholson. One thing that’s not clear is who wrote these speaking parts. Because they seem uniquely personal, and more essay-like than the result of interviews, I assumed while I was watching that the person speaking wrote the words. But Philippe is the only writer given credit on IMDb, and the speakers are credited as hosts, whatever that means. Filmmakers David Lowery and, to a lesser extent, Karyn Kusama, speak of their own films specifically and the influences of both Lynch and Oz. I have often viewed Lynch through the lens of The Wizard of Oz myself, most notably Blue Velvet, which has always seemed to me very much a version of the journey down the yellow brick road. But one thing Lynch/Oz does, probably not by coincidence, is suggest how widely and deeply The Wizard of Oz has influenced so many movies, from Steven Spielberg to Kubrick and beyond, hardly just David Lynch. I happen to love people sitting around talking about movies, even more so when direct film clips are involved. I’m thinking of Jean-Luc Godard’s Histoire(s) du Cinema or Martin Scorsese’s Personal Journey Through American Movies. And I’m also thinking of Room 237. Lynch/Oz is probably closer to the latter—slightly insular, maybe not for everyone. But they are all along the same spectrum of film studies. If any of the constituent elements are your cup of tea, then I’d say go for it.