Libby

Stagecoach (1939)

2008-11-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed this film, and I'm not normally a fan of Westerns.

However, I didn't see where John Ford was sympathetic towards the Indians in this film. They were immediately shot and killed as "savages" in this film like all the others. Plus, when the wife of one of the men who was an Indian came in, the man [I think it was the bank man]instantly yelled savage and freaked out. I don't find that sympathetic at all... I did like that she was the one who went and told the Indians where the men were staying at.

Also, I thought it was a nice contrast with most of the film being shot in a stagecoach, since it was about the stagecoach represented progression through the West of what was to come, roads and railroad tracks.

The frontier represents freedom; whereas, civilization is structured with laws. Dallas and Ringo could not function in a structured society, since they both were outlaws. They had to go even farther from structure and farther south to Mexico.

OHHHHHH The man who played Buck was the voice of Friar Tuck in the Robin Hood cartoon!! That was awesome!!!!!!

I don't really have anything else to say...

Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea

2008-11-16T13:12:00.000-08:00

I guess I'm just going to talk about the guest filmmaker and his documentary this week, since I don't remember what we watched last Tuesday...So Chris Metzler's Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea is a great, funny film about these eccentric folks in no-man's land of the Salton Sea. One thing I did not like were all the graphics that were used; I thought it was unnecessary and over the top. But other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the footage that was shown. My favorite character was the lady who smoked the cigarette in the golf cart, not knowing what gave her cancer. ha! Anyways, I thought she was great, being very blunt and straight-forward about her opinions. I really don't have anything to say this week, so I'm cutting this one short. :]

Blonde Venus

2008-11-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

The beginning of the movie was beautiful; I loved how it opened in the past, then we learned the rest of the story between Ned and Helen via a bedtime story to their son. However, it is hard to be sympathetic to Helen, for she leaves her husband taking their son. When Ned finds she has been seeing Mr. Townsend, Helen never really gives him an explanation; she just leaves. When she is leaving her son in hotel rooms by himself, it is hard to relate to her and want her to succeed. Although it was interesting how I had to keep reminding myself that I did not like her because she is framed and lighted in an ethereal aspect that causes you to want to like her. None of the characters were very sympathetic except Johnny, the son.

Another element I noticed was how Helen plays the seductress to the "T" with her come hither looks like when she simply seduces the detective while she is on the farm with one simple look, making him forget that she was the one he was actually searching for.

I also thought it was great how the descent into Hell was literally going down into the South, although Texas is definitely not Hell. :)

Triumph of the Will (1935)

2008-10-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

In Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will, the beginning always amazes me. It begins in the clouds—it’s very dream-like. Hitler was a dream to the German people; he was going to rebirth the nation. I disagree with you [Dr. Hendricks] on the basis that Hitler was a god-like [Greek] figure; whereas, I view him more as the Messiah coming back to resurrect a nation—to revive it—to save it.

He is also filmed in a much lighter light than others, expressing that Arian quality that he loves. At the closing ceremony, the camera zooms back to view the audience and Hitler up on stage, emitting a shining light that was almost too bright to look at, relating him back to the Messiah figure.

During the first parade after Hitler arrived, the camera cut to children, all different kinds of people, including a cat to show the support of all the different walks of live Hitler received, including animals. The camera is always at a lower angle to make him appear larger than life and god-like; whereas, the crowds are filmed at low angles to make them look like peons! Also, the shadows of the people marching were shown before actually seeing the soldiers or people. This serves to demonstrate that the people will always be in the shadow of Hitler while he ruled?

A lot of cameras were used during this documentary, and it is evident through the many diverse shots Riefenstahl has.

The Duchess (2008)

2008-10-27T12:20:00.001-07:00

Director Saul Dibb tells the story of the Duchess of Devonshire, Georgina, who was a spirited woman, involved in politics, affairs of her husband, gambling, a woman of impeccable fashion sense, a woman that everyone loved except for her husband in the 2008 film, The Duchess. Keira Knightley portrays the vigorous Georgina who is stuck in a loveless marriage with the Duke [Ralph Fiennes] who has countless affairs, for he resents Georgina because she has only birthed girls and he longs for a male heir. Georgina is in love with a friend prior to her marriage, Charles Grey [Dominic Cooper]. She becomes fast friends with Bess Foster [Hayley Atwell], which results in Georgina inviting Bess to stay at her manor. Bess soon begins sleeping with the Duke, leaving Georgina devastated that her friend would betray her. Soon, there are three people in the marriage, and Georgina cannot get out without losing her girls. She starts an affair with Charles Grey and wants to leave her husband, but with threats about her children, she returns home to live with her husband and Bess. She does conceive a child with Charles Grey, in which she is forced to give her up to Grey’s family in a heartbreaking scene. The film ends with Georgina in this loveless marriage with her husband and Bess. It was very depressing, melancholy, and sad. It portrayed such a great woman, but viewers saw no depth with her. There was no character development of any of the characters, nor were there any sympathetic characters either. Georgina seems like a wonderful, courageous woman, but the film displayed none of those qualities—only demonstrating how she was stuck in a horrible marriage of three.

The Orphanage (2007)

2008-10-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

In The Orphanage, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, a family of three, Laura (Belen Rueda), Carlos (Fernando Cayo), and an adopted son, Simon (Roger Princep) return to the orphanage where Laura grew up to transform it into a home for handicapped children. However, Simon has always had two imaginary friends, but when he arrives at the old orphanage, he starts having more “friends” that are invisible to his parents. Strange events occur, leaving Laura convinced something is wrong. Simon soon vanishes without a trace, leaving his parents dumbfounded and devastated. Laura begins to believe that Simon’s imaginary friends are responsible for his disappearance. To discover the whereabouts of her son, Laura begins to play the games with the imaginary friends. She discovers her son is actually dead and ultimately kills herself to be with him and the other children.

The plot of the movie is intense and horrifying with many twists to shock viewers. It begins with a flashback of Laura as a little girl at the orphanage with all of the other children that lived there, playing a game. This effectively establishes the setting of the film and helps later tie in the strange occurrences to these children from Laura’s past. When the title appears, viewers are able to see the tone of the film—a horror film—for the title is presented in a very creepy manner with children’s hands ripping paper to reveal the title. Simon becomes very aggressive when his parents do not believe him about his friends, especially when Laura does not buy into his “game” that his friends played where they place clues of misplaced items in different spots to lead them somewhere or when Laura does not come see Thomas’s house the day Simon disappears. Something that still perplexes me is that when Simon was dressed in Thomas’s clothes, he slams his mother’s hand in the door, breaking her finger, and pushing her in the bathtub. Why does he do that? I would expect it of the ghost but not Simon, so that was shocking.

The film then weaves Benigna [Montserrat Carulla] into the whole plot, the woman who Laura found wondering the grounds one night and then died in a freak accident. She used to work at the orphanage and was the mother to Thomas. When Thomas dies in the caves from the other children’s game, she sought revenge on them, killing them all.

Eventually, Laura learns through the help of a mystic woman that the reason her son could see the “friends” was because he was close to death. In order for Laura to find her son, she asked Carlos to leave her at the house alone for two days. She sets the home up exactly like it used to be when it was an orphanage. She begins to overdose on medicine, so she will be able to see the children. They begin to play the game like with Simon and lead Laura to Thomas’s room, where Simon is sleeping [as a ghost]. She begins to carry him out of the room, insisting for him to pretend it was just a dream. When the ghosts disappear, she sees Simon lying on the ground, dead, for when he ran from his mother that day; he fell down the steps and died. Laura then kills herself to be with him. The children simply wanted someone to take care of all of them, and Laura took that role at the end of the film.

Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)

2008-10-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

Taxi to the Dark Side, directed by Alex Gibney, paints a horrifying picture of the torture used on supposed terrorist prisoners and deals with the corruption of high officials ignoring and portraying ignorance of these matters.

The film follows Dilawar, a man who was presumed a terrorist; he was wrongly arrested by an Afghan militiaman, who wanted to ingratiate himself with the United States soldiers. He was held in the American prison at Bagram, Afghanistan and was tortured so badly that he died after only 5 days. His legs were beaten so badly, that it looked as if a train had run over them. The film effectively uses Dilawar’s story to demonstrate the ruthless condemnation of the “Bush administration’s unofficially condoned policy of the torture of the prisoners, which is forbidden by the U.S. constitutional and military law and international agreements, but justified under the “necessity” of working the dark side.” Vice President Dick Cheney details that, “We [the U.S. government] have to work, though, sort of the dark side, if you will.” The “dark side” is torture, and if he is explicitly relating their treatment of prisoners to the “dark side,” then obviously, it is wrong. It also delves into interviews by soldiers who participated in the torturing. They detailed that it was unknowingly approved by their superiors, who feigned innocence at all of the claims all the way up to Bush.

It also employs provocative statements from Bush: “one by one the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice,” Bush said. He also exclaimed that terrorists are being treated “in a thorough and professional way.” These two statements are callous, for he knows exactly what “professional” way they are being treated, being beaten, mauled, ridiculed, dehumanized, and very inhumane treatment. However, he never uses these words because he is a pretentious bastard. One man details that we are fighting to protect our principles and liberties, yet we are not following those principles or liberties in dealing with prisoners that we so strongly believe in.

The film uses tactics to completely shock and provoke empathy from viewers: pictures of the beaten men, pictures of soldiers doing awful things with prisoners, reenactments, harsh statements, and pictures of Dilawar are repeatedly shown, etc. It is a very effective documentary.

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and Sullivan's Travels (1941)

2008-10-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

Both Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Sullivan’s Travels employ an exhilarating opening. Mr. Deeds… begins with a truck flying down a road and crashing off the bridge. Then a montage of newspapers and people telling who died in the car accident occurs. Likewise, Sullivan’s Travels opens with a gunfight aboard a fast moving train, although it is actually on film with Sullivan analyzing a film, creating a self-reflexive film.

In Sullivan’s Travels, Sullivan and others glamorize the life of the poor through his wanting to make a film about that lifestyle. However, when he truly experiences the mundane activities that the poor have to deal with such as sleeping with the multitudes in a shelter, being stolen from, and digging through the trash for food, Sullivan realizes that being poor is not such a charming life. Sullivan fully assimilates into the poor lifestyle when he is at the church and finally begins to laugh at the Mickey Mouse cartoon shown, like the others. This is also Preston Sturges’s way of making the film a satire of Hollywood, for the film seems to say that laughter alleviates everything, even social standing, in the way the film concludes and how it simplifies poverty.

As Sullivan’s Travels seems to celebrate cynicism, Mr. Deeds… is straight forward. Deeds romances his woman, unlike Sullivan. Even though everything bad happens to Deeds, he still ends up on top with the woman. The film also balances the character of Deeds between masculine and feminine to make him more endearing, such as singing in the rain and playing the tuba versus fighting and refusing help while dressing. Viewers tend to sympathize more with Deeds than Sullivan because Deeds was forced into his new existence; whereas, Sullivan chose it.

Scarface (1932) & 42nd Street (1933)

2008-10-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Scarface and 42nd Street possess many of the same qualities: both have an underlying theme of the American Dream, deal with issues of the Great Depression, and they reflect viewpoints on prohibition.

One image I thought was very artistic in Scarface was the image of John holding the salt shaker like a gun pointed at Tony, after Tony took his woman to dance with. It was an effective scene, foreshadowing Tony’s imminent fate when the guns are all pointed at him in the last scene at his apartment.

42nd Street also deals with a gangster of some sort. Julian Marsh hires Murphy to threaten Pat, so he will stay away from Dorothy [because of Abner]. Marsh says, “what one man’s meat is another man’s Murphy.” This plays on one of the themes in Scarface because Tony is a hero and a villain at the same time. It is in the eye of the beholder to view their character and what group they belong to—the group of the heroes or villains.

In 42nd Street, there is a scene where Abner and some of the other members of the production are at Dorothy’s apartment. They are all drinking; it represents the drinking as very glamorous, for all of the guests are garbed in elegant, ornate clothing. Even when Abner is inebriated, it sets up as a very humorous scene, looking at alcoholic beverages as a funny, sophisticated socializing thing to do. This directly contrasts with the prohibition act that was taking place in society. Evidently, the filmmaker’s views on the act are against it.

Likewise in Scarface, Tony is shown drinking in ornate clothing. It seems that drinking is synonymous with the upper class and wealth. This film is also painting a very sophisticated picture of alcohol and demonstrating Hawks’ outlook on the prohibition occurring during this period.

Un Chien Andalou (1929)

2008-10-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

Un Chien Andalou, by Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, is really strange. I forgot I had seen it already, which is weird, since it was a very memorable film. However as soon as I saw the knife slicing the eye in the very first scene, I remembered the entire film or some key scenes from it. I found it interesting how I did not remember the title, but I remembered some of the most provocative shots [ants coming from a hole in the hand, knife slicing the eye, etc.]. The title is not important, but the content of a film should be the most significant part of a film. And Un Chien Andalou does this.

The film is very hard to follow, but it is compelling all the same. I find it intriguing that a film as radical as this is so gripping. I read in our book that the eye slicing scene is literally making a cut at normative vision of film. The film details from the first scene that this film will not be a "normal" film with that cringing shot. It is going to make viewers think and try to understand what is happening. In this film, it is almost impossible to fully deduce the meaning or themes of the film because there is such a disconnect in every scene from the others.

Outsourced (2007)

2008-09-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

Outsourced, directed by John Jeffcoat, is a film about Todd Anderson (Josh Hamilton), a thirty-two year old man whose job gets outsourced to India and must travel to India to train his replacements in the call center of Western Novelty. The film wants to display the cultural differences in India and the United States and demonstrate a man who breaks down those barriers fusing two cultures together. It also ridicules American consumerism and the supposed “ideals” about American pride.

When Todd [or Mr. Toad as the Indians refer to him] first arrives in India to simply perform his job requirements and get back to the States, he does not appreciate the customs India’s culture brings. For instance, he tries to make the call center operate like a United States office, instead of asking the workers what will improve their working environment. He tries to teach the Indians how to speak “American” [slang words] and attempts to explain what the company’s ridiculous products’ purposes are. In one scene, Todd tries to explain to the workers why American farmers brand their cows and their steaks. The workers thought it was horrendous. One important part in the film was when Asha, played by Ayesha Dharker [the call center worker who he falls in love with], tells Todd that she thinks he should learn about Indian culture. She also points out that most American goods are produced in China, not the States, so why should Americans be upset by a customer call center in India, which directly ridicules Americans ideals about products and consumerism.

Not until the day of Holi, a celebration of the changing seasons and the colors through a paint war all over the country, does Todd heed Asha’s advice and fully embrace the Indian culture. He asks the office how work can be improved for them. He soon becomes a full embracer of the culture, participating in every custom and even giving his leftover food to the working people over the wall. He falls in love with Asha, who is a very independent, smart woman. Purohit N. Virajnarianan [Asif Basra] is the man who will take over Todd’s position in India. He houses Todd in his mother’s house and soon becomes a great friend. He is also the majority of where the comedy in the film stems from.

Even when Todd returns to the States, he still observes some of the same customs and practices he learned in India, like preparing his tea. The film effectively shows the hopelessness of outsourcing—that the big businesses will keep moving their industries to the cheaper country—for Todd’s boss decides to move the call center to China after all of the hard work by Todd and his coworkers in India. It also portrays a man who learns to accept all that another culture can offer and allows it to enrich his life.

Goya's Ghosts (2006)

2008-09-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

Goya’s Ghosts, directed by Milos Forman and starring Stellan Skarsgard, Javier Bardem, and Natalie Portman, is a film about the famous painter Francisco Goya, the Spanish Inquisition, and the French “liberation” of Spain. It is a film centered on the political turmoil occurring during Spain in this time period.

At the center of the politics occurring in Spain, Francisco Goya [Stellan Skarsgard] plays a man who is at peace with himself among all the turmoil. Viewers see everything from Goya’s perspective, which proved to be very interesting. He paints with an honest eye; for instance, in the queen’s portrait, he makes her appear even more homely than she actually is. When commissioned to paint a portrait for a young Catholic priest, Father Lorenzo [Javier Bardem], Goya sees straight through the pretense of the priest. Lorenzo is a man pitted against his own nature; viewers can witness the struggle with power and his own impulses. Goya recognizes this inner turmoil in Lorenzo; likewise, Lorenzo admires Goya for his talent and peace. Together they are a great contrast in the film, much like in the larger context, the turmoil occurring in their country.

From the struggles Lorenzo faces against himself, the pain fell on the innocent, Natalie Portman’s character, Ines Bilbatua, daughter of a wealthy merchant. She was wrongly accused of being Jewish by the Inquisition, who forced a confession from her during the torture process noted “The Question.” A confession obtained via this torture process was considered absolute truth. A very good scene was when Ines’s father put Lorenzo to “The Question” to prove that his daughter’s confession was coerced, causing Lorenzo to sign a confession that he was the bastard son of an orangutan. However, Ines remained in prison for 15 long years. Her freedom only was granted when Napoleon and his armies stopped the Inquisition. She emerges from the jail haggard with a jaw disease, which makes Portman talk out of the side of her mouth. It results in tremendous acting, for Portman has to play the naïve, innocent muse of Goya’s in the first section of the film, then she plays a decrepit woman overtaken by a hard life in prison and the loss of a child [Father Lorenzo’s child], and then Ines’s young daughter who is a harlot.

Goya's Ghosts served to express to viewers this tumultuous time in Spain; it is effective in doing this through the perspective of Goya.

Man with the Movie Camera

2008-09-26T22:57:00.001-07:00

Dziga Vertov’s Man with the Movie Camera is an artistic film about a man who is filming the daily lives of the regular working class, railroad workers, miners, and the bus station, and women in the street, in Russia. One theme that is evident in the film is that an inanimate object [the camera] is filming so many different events and people around it, and life still passes by. Vertov knows what type of shots he wants; he sets the camera at unique angles to get a different perspective that people would not normally notice in their daily regimen. For instance, he sets the camera between the two trolleys going down the road and he places the camera on the train tracks to get an underside view of the train. He uses montage a lot, juxtaposing images together. My favorite was the one with the two street scenes going into each other, and one was crooked within the frame.

In one shot, he is filming, on a moving car, another moving car. The women in the car actually react to the camera, which shows a realistic measure to the film. The use of slow motion was employed in the film as well; in the pole vaulting, high jumping, sand volleyball, the hurdlers, and the discus thrower, the film made it seem like they were suspended in air, creating an ethereal appearance. The swimmer performing the breast stroke in slow motion was pure grace.

Another scene that was impressive editing-wise and artistically was when the camera was moving by itself. It was conveying that the camera is an entity in itself; it captures the footage.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and Metropolis (1927)

2008-09-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

I could see the artistic measures in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) from its musical score and the camera effects employed. The music was very dark and always building up to something in the beginning of the film before the first murder took place. It got quieter when the murder was actually about to happen, impacting viewers in an emotional way. At first, viewers would always sense a tragedy was about to take place, but then when the music died down and viewers relaxed, a murder would then occur, catching them off guard. This increased the thrill of the film.

The first murder was displayed by the shadow on the wall behind the bed while the somnambulist was choking the man. It was an artistic measure to not show the two characters but focus on the wall behind them. Another part was the framing of the actors. The camera would fade from a scene into a circle framing one character; it really emphasized the constriction of the film and how everything was packed in.

Something the two films [The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Metropolis (1927)] had in common were the clean lines. For instance, when Cesare had taken the girl out of her bedroom and crawled up the side onto the roof of another building, there was a “Z” of lines drawing the viewers eyes up to Cesare with the woman on his back. The same “Z” was utilized in Metropolis with the architecture of the set. Showing the buildings, viewers would catch angles that drew their eyes to other buildings and so forth, constantly making the viewer look at the entire frame.

Metropolis was also very symmetrical, evident in the opening and ending sequences. In the beginning, all of the workers where shuffling in at exactly the same speed in uniform rows. There was an equilateral triangle of people walking up to the four-paneled doors in an exact, uniform manner.

Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin

2008-09-12T10:16:00.000-07:00

I really was surprised how much I found the films, Buster Keaton’s The General (1926) and Charlie Chaplin’s two shorts films, so funny. The facial expressions both used were perfect. Keaton was more of a stone face, and I laughed when everything around him was going wrong except his unmovable face. On the other hand, Chaplin’s facial expressions could relay to viewers exactly what he was thinking. They were both awesome. The expressions really cannot be reproduced that these two mastered.

I also agree with what Dr. Hendricks was saying about Keaton being more athletic and Chaplin balletic. Keaton performed all of his acrobatic stunts with an ease. He walked upright, strong, and masculine. Although he did slump in some of the scenes, it was brilliant, for when he does not use his face, he utilizes his body to convey a certain emotion. Chaplin had large shoes that caused him to waddle, but he still managed to walk with grace. He was very precise in his movements.

The General really stands out in my mind. Keaton always happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, yet the situation turns into the right place at the right time. For instance, when he sneaks into the house, and it ends up being the enemy’s house. He has to hide under the table. It seems like pure bad luck; however, he would not have learned of the plans or learned that his woman [Margaret?] was captured.

Broken Blossoms (1919)

2008-09-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

Besides the exaggerated acting in the silent film, I also noticed another exaggeration of sorts. The camera stays zoomed in on a facial expression or a gesture for a considerable amount of time. The pausing technique is probably used to make the point or action intended more understanding to viewers since it is a silent film. It also compels viewers to sympathize with Lucy.

I also found it interesting that the film labeled Lucy “a weaker object” in her father’s eyes. He does not identify with Lucy as he does other human beings. She is his to do with whatever he wishes, his possession and not a valuable one. Her very existence, her humanity has been taken from her by her father. He has basically sucked the life out of her. Ultimately, she has become merely an object.

While Battling Burrows is beating her at one point, Lucy places her hand on her father’s face in a loving gesture. It is odd because she is frightened of him, yet she touches his face tenderly. This is the only loving gesture Lucy makes towards anyone; she also places her hand on the Chinese man in the exact manner. There seems to be some sexual tension between Lucy and her father and the Chinese man. When the Chinese man comes forward presumably for a kiss, she looks frightened like she does when her father advances on her; however, she retaliates with this weird caress on the face with her hand. There is some strange sexuality going on in this film. The subtitles assure us that the Chinese man’s love for Lucy is only of “pure intentions,” but the film leads us to believe otherwise.

The film does a good job with the constriction of the set and Lucy's world and the close-ups of her face causing viewers to sympathize with Lucy.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

2008-08-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about other reasons why viewers sympathize with Judy Garland’s character, Dorothy. Her problems draw us in from the beginning to take Dorothy’s point of view [nobody listens to her, Toto, etc.]. Once she is in the land of Oz, she is constantly trying to find her way back home. Almost every viewer can relate to this quest, the quest for home. Almost everybody finds themselves, at one point or another, searching for their way back home. Sometimes, it can take years or just a week. It’s a cliché, but home is where the heart is. It’s where you want to be when you feel troubled and when you are consumed with joy. Surrounding yourself with the people who love you is the best medicine, the best rehabilitation. That is why viewers immediately want Dorothy to succeed.

The film also has a sense of escapism for Dorothy and viewers. Dorothy escapes Kansas and goes to a place “over the rainbow,” a fantasy land. Viewers leave the dark theatre or their place in front of a television to a land with munchkins, talking lions, and adventure around every corner. One large reason the film makes such an impact is the switch from black and white in Kansas to color in the land of Oz. It tremendously helps make Oz a fantasy world, full of vivacious color. Many films were still shot in black and white in 1939, so The Wizard of Oz enables viewers to fully lose themselves in the fantasy of the film.

The use of foreshadowing plays a large part in the movie. In Kansas, Hunk [who later becomes the scarecrow] tells Dorothy that it seems like you don’t have any brains, you would think your head was made of straw. The same thing happens with Zeke, detailing he needs some courage, foreshadowing his role as the cowardly lion. The only person Dorothy despises becomes the Wicked Witch of the West in her dream. The professor helps her realize how much Auntie Em cares about her, and she returns home before the storm. He is the wizard of Oz in her dream, who ultimately aids her in finding the way home again. The professor and the wizard are both portrayed with wisdom.