Off to see the wizard with Raimi

Eighty years after “The Wizard of Oz” with Judy Garland cast its everlasting spell over film fans, American director Sam Raimi is bringing to the screen the wizard’s own story, from wandering scoundrel to reformed hero to “Oz the Great and the Powerful”.

It’s a feel-good saga with stunning cinematography and dazzling colours, tracking the fantastical journey of ordinary Oscar Diggs (played by James Franco) to the Emerald City, where he’s confronted by evil witch sisters (Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz). 

With the help of Glinda the Good (Michelle Williams) and other friends he gathers along the away, Diggs finally discovers the greatness within and, like all heroes, emerges triumphant. 

A director of eclectic genres and interests, Raimi first found fame the “Evil Dead” horror series, did the western “The Quick and the Dead”, the crime thriller “A Simple Plan”, and more recently the “Spider-Man” trilogy. He explained in a phone interview with The Nation how he’s ended up in Oz. 

 

How did you get involved in this project?

I read the screenplay by Mitchell Kapner and thought, “This is a sweet story. It really uplifts the audience at the end,” and that’s exactly the kind of movie I wanted to make – something that has a positive effect on the audience.

 

What do you like most about the tale?

It’s about how we’re all made complete by other people’s love, and how we’ve got greatness within us if we can just find a heart – our own heart. 

I think it’s a very good story for right now. It’s very timely. I guess Baum’s work [L Frank Baum wrote the novels, beginning in 1900, on which every other version draws] has been around for 110 years not because of its fantastical description but also because these characters have hearts. 

They’re incomplete, flawed characters who find themselves on a journey together. It’s a very fulfilling experience for the readers, and it’s that aspect that I tried to put into this picture. 

 

Were you a fan of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”?

I’d never read any of Frank Baum’s novels until after the screenplay, and then I went back to read all four of them. 

 

It’s such a big-time classic. Were you nervous getting your hands on it?

I was! When I saw the script, I thought, “Oh this is the prequel to ‘The Wizard of Oz’” and told my agent I’d rather not read it because I didn’t want to tread on the good name of “The Wizard of Oz”, which is so beloved. 

But two weeks later I was looking for a writer for another project and the screenplay was handed to me again, so I said, “Okay, I can read this now because I’m just looking for a writer, not a movie to direct” – and I fell in love with the story. All fears I had for the people who love the original “Wizard of Oz” vanished. This thing is so sweet! It will just make the audience happy. 

It’s the story of a selfish man who has a heart somewhere buried deep within him. He wants to be great, but he doesn’t know how. Then he finds, through the love of a little china girl [an animated character played by Joey King], the monkey and the desire to be worthy of the love of Glinda the Good. So he becomes a less selfish. He finds that heart. He finally finds a way to be the great man he’s always wanted to be. 

And I think that is so moving. Anyone who has a problem with this story has to be a wicked old witch! 

 

What was the biggest challenge in making the movie?

There were two parts that were equally very challenging. One was developing the look of every scene and communicating that to each department – props, scenery, costumes. Each scene has a unique feeling of its own. There are so many details! 

But I would say the most difficult thing was trying to preserve the soul of the china girl and Zach Braff’s character [Finley the Flying Monkey], the film’s only other animated character, in their performances. 

 

And how did you do it?

Usually that process nowadays is done through motion capture. Their movements are registered and reinterpreted through the computer and then put into an animated avatar. It’s such a cool process, but I had to abandon it. I went back to a homemade process, where I captured the action with video camera and chose the pieces I wanted. 

Then I sat with the animation director doing each individual character frame by frame to get the essence of that performance, how to exaggerate that moment where the actor raised an eyebrow or lowered the lips or fluttered the eyelashes. Those are the details that make it feel human.

 

How was it working with James Franco again after “Spider-Man”? 

It was great. I like James. He’s got everything he needs to play the wizard. He’s funny, dashingly handsome and he’s got something that people call charisma. And he knows what it’s like to be a selfish person in real life, too, and he’s not afraid to dig into that darker side of himself to make that part of the character real. 

 

Ding dong

_ “Oz the Great and Powerful” lands in cinemas next Thursday.