cyclonic activity

Freshest WOO moment: “I am your humbug servant,” says the word-bumbling BFG to the Queen of England. We all remember this scornful accusation hurled at the great and powerful Wizard of Oz when Toto revealed he was nothing more than a humble little man ‘behind the curtain’.
The film and trailers showcase an open window, the curtain blowing inward, the tempting light and Sophie’s irresistible urge (despite sensible warnings to herself) to peek out. She spies what she ought not to have seen, resulting of course in the giant being forced to abduct her.
Top to bottom: BFG, Wizard of Oz, Poltergeist
They fly in soaring leaps against the moonlit blue sky recalling shots from E.T. Transcending reality by means of flight to enchanted lands is standard Spielberg/WOO fare.
I was amused by the scene where the squadron of British helicopters must follow BFG to the land of giants. In other Spielberg projects such aerial armies hearken back to flying monkeys. Here he reverses himself and they are portrayed instead as a promenade of solidarity for Sophie’s cause. Natch—flying monkey references always denote evil.
This seems like a good time to point out Spielberg’s essential theme: Sophie’s overwhelming desire to return ‘home’, complicated by the conflict that ‘home’ is no longer safe from marauding giants.
Leading of course to the requisite ‘quest’, to stop the evil giants.
Steven’s mysterious recurring green goo gets another cameo as Sophie emerges from the snozzcumber.
The set for BFG’s house is whirring with cyclonic motion, spinning water wheels, circulating wheel barrels, even Steven’s beloved bicycle re-tooled as a hand mixer to whip up the ingredients for the queen’s dream.
Finally I must point out yet again prodigious use of red and yellow, (Steven’s homage to RG color space?) I noted it first with the little red jacket Sophie turns inside out to spare BFG his painful memories. Its subtle tones of scarlet and ochre enhance her chameleon goldish-red glasses and her blushing lips. Later I detected that even her shabby nightgown was sporting a faded pattern of red and yellows. The pigment duo boldly moves to multiple repetitions of crimson and gold at the queen’s palace: the guards, servants, walls and carpets.