Hi Tallard,
Thanks for watching the film and for posting your questions. I thought I'd help you out by clearing up your questions.
The idea of drying up is their way of understanding what happened to people. Their parents didn't tell them everything. As an audience, we see hints at what happened (nuclear war, civil unrest, etc). To them, people just dry up and become dust. Dust, wind and the echoes of the past are metaphors throughout the film.
FYI, they're not in Australia. You may not be aware, but Dorothy is from Kansas. In "OzLand", they're traveling through Kansas. They even find a Kansas map. We didn't explicitly say that, but we hoped people would infer it since Kansas is a major part of the Wizard of Oz lore and the settings they're in directly mirrors Dorothy's world. Yes, OzLand is a nickname for Australia, so I could see how you could get confused.
Each character was raised differently. There is a key scene where Leif explains how his mom taught him to read because she felt it is important. Each character has their traits. Leif is curious and likes to wonder. That is due to how his mother raised him. However, Emri was taught only to survive and his father didn't see the importance of reading, imagination, etc. Those are key traits of the characters that are explored in the film and give the audience an understanding of why they do the things they do.
You asked what is Oz? Have you never read "The Wonderful Wizard of OZ" or seen the original 1939 movie? If not, I'd highly suggest it. They're classics. The idea in our film is that he has read books all along their journey. However, this one seemed special to him at a point when he was really wondering if there was more their world. It becomes his gospel.
You only see them using canned food. The idea is that they eat non-perishable food like that.
And no, I do not have a learning disability. It would be quite difficult for me or anyone to make a movie like this, get it picked up for distribution, etc if they were mentally challenged.
I hope that cleared up some of your questions. You might pick up some of that on repeat viewings since we don't explain everything in bold. "OzLand" is meant to evoke thought and discussion while also being entertaining.
Thanks again for watching the film and have a great day!
Sincerely,
Michael Williams
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tallard
8 years ago
I'll give you the "not Australia" point.
Otherwise... I was not asking questions, I was being sarcastic. Further confirming my earlier appreciation of the author's abilities.
As for the intelligence of script writers (as it's now painfully obvious) in the USA, no, intelligence is not required in USA film-making.
So don't even bother thanking me for watching, I did not complete the film, it was impossible, and that's only happened to me less than a half-dozen times in my half century of film viewing.
But this being in Kansas makes its sheer bottom of the bucket-ness all too logical.
And given the number of fake "10" reviews, I don't expect to read any truths on this board.
Have yourself a lovely day.
***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**
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