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The best thing I watched recently was The Wiz (1978). I had seen it before but it was when I was a kid, and I totally missed the point of it (but still was entertained, so it totally works as a family picture). This time I got a lot more out of it. Here are some thoughts: -The cast and crew of this thing are bonkers. I always knew, even as a kid, that Michael Jackson and Diana Ross being in a movie together was some kind of big deal, but now that I'm familiar with Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russel, Lena Horne etc. I realize how star-studded it is. Everybody is great, there's really not a single bad performance. Sidney Lumet shows off some pretty amazing range here (this is the man who also directed Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and Network!), and you read that poster right, a young Joel Schumacher adapted the screenplay. It kinda makes sense thinking about the '95 and '97 Batmans, when you think of Joel as an up-and-comer working for Lumet on this project. -It also stands on its own in the oevre of movies about the black experience. It's set in a fanciful New York where cartoony checker cabs rumble from set piece to set piece ignoring black people's signals, and that's just the overt top layer of symbolism going on. Lower Manhattan is as scary for a black girl who has "never been below 125th street" as Oz was to Dorothy. I think it's strange that in the 70's there was this upswell of black culture that had a lot to say about poverty, but then in the 80's when American culture became obsessed with money and success suddenly it was racist to talk about black people being poor. Then Dr. Huxtable came along and... well, in 2016 let's just say fortunes change. My point is that 70's African American Cinema has some very adamant causes at stake and in the best of those films your perception of race issues are changed. Maybe not your opinions, but at least your lay of the land. I think the time that's elapsed since this movie was made has only broadened what it has to say. -The usual complaints I hear about it are that Diana Ross is too old for the part of Dorothy and that the effects are campy or theatrical. But I think those are intentional choices, because Judy Garland is way too old in The Wizard of Oz (1939) too. Dorothy is six years old in the books. In the same way the effects in The Wiz nod to Woz ('39) but they're also inventive and memorable in their own right. So I'm not too bothered by these flaws. -Really well edited. Small set-pieces are transformed into long tense chases with good solid editing and smart photography. -It's a musical where the actors can actually sing and dance well, the songs are catchy and they don't stop the story. So rare.
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Jul 31, 2016 18:45
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 20:41 |
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