Twentieth Century Oz – A Rock’n’Roll Road Movie


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SYNOPSIS

It’s a tale straight from the twisted heart of the decade: 16-year-old groupie Dorothy (a mercifully older Joy Dunstan) is on tour with her new favourite band when their van crashes and she wakes up in alternate reality that looks surprisingly like Victoria circa 1976. With the help of flamboyant retailer Glynn the Good Fairy (Robin Ramsay), she dons a pair of sparkling ruby-red platform shoes and sets out to see the final concert – filmed at St Kilda’s Palais Theatre – of mythical, jumpsuit-clad glam rocker The Wizard (Aussie Rocky Horror star Graham Matters), joined by a gormless surfer (The Road Warrior’s Bruce Spence), a greaseball mechanic (Michael Carman) and a cowardly biker (Pure Shit’s Gary Waddell). Set to an infectious rock ’n’ roll soundtrack masterminded by Wilson of Daddy Cool and Mondo Rock fame, experimental Melbourne filmmaker Chris Löfvén’s loose and lurid take on L. Frank Baum’s classic relocates the fairytale to the decidedly unglamorous surrounds of mid-70s Australia. In this milieu, Dorothy, clad in a halter-top and faded denim, is pursued by a trucker thug (played by AC/DC’s road manager, coincidentally named Ned Kelly) and must fend off the unwanted advances of men seeking her surrender along the way.