The Sound of Music (1965)

Note:       This review contains spoilers!

            All screen shots are the sole property of 20^th Century Fox.

Director – Robert Wise

Starring – Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker

Running time – 168 minutes

Distinctions – AFI’s Top 100: No. 55, Best Picture Oscar 1966

Until the re-release of Gone with the Wind in 1970, The Sound of Music was the highest grossing movie of all time. It followed on from a highly successful stage musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein but the movie is today more highly regarded and popular than the stage production. Its success is in a large part due to its many excellent scenes featuring wonderful music. Many of the songs in this film are amongst the most memorable in film history.

The Guru discusses two great scenes that feature wonderful songs and one scene that is memorable for its suspense.

Synopsis

The Sound of Music tells the true story of the events leading up to a family’s escape from Austria following the Anschluss in 1938. However, the Anschluss is the context of the movie and not central to the story or the theme of the film.

Maria (Julie Andrews) is a young woman preparing to become a nun in a convent in Salzburg. However, the Mother Abbess feels that Maria is not well suited for the life of a nun and arranges for her to become the governess to a family of seven children. The children’s mother died several years earlier while their father is Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), a retired naval commander and war hero. (While it may seem strange that Austria should have a naval hero given that it is currently land-locked, it should be borne in mind that at the time of World War I, Austria was part of the much larger Austrian-Hungarian empire. The real Captain von Trapp was, in fact, a submarine commander.)

Maria finds that Captain von Trapp is a strict disciplinarian who runs his household much like one would run a ship. Singing, music and playing are forbidden and Maria soon finds out that this is because such things remind the captain of his late wife. Defiantly, Maria teaches the children to sing and soon even the captain is joining in. Maria and Captain von Trapp fall in love and are married.

Shortly afterwards, Austria becomes part of Nazi Germany – the Anschluss. Captain von Trapp is ordered to join the German navy. Knowing that he cannot safely refuse the order, he escapes with his family over the Alps on foot.

The Von Trapp family would eventually settle in America.

Great Scene 1 : “The hills are alive with the sound of music!” (00:00:00 to 00:04:47)

The opening scene of the movie starts with a shot of the snow-covered Alps. The camera then moves across the Austrian countryside until it passes by Salzburg and then settles on the nearby hills. The aerial trip is so spectacular that immediately the audience has a fondness for Austria that will lead to sympathy for the nation after the Anschluss. The trip taken by the camera is the opposite of that that will be made later by the Von Trapp family who will leave Salzburg and make the journey over the Alps and into Switzerland.

It is in the hills that we are first introduced to Maria who, inspired by her surroundings, sings one of the most well known and most loved songs in film history, “The Sound of Music”, for which the movie is named. Maria joyously spins around the hills. The hills seem to respond to her. The hills and Maria are dancing together. This scene brings together a great song, a great voice and great cinematography.

It was not east to film this scene. Much of the shooting was done from a helicopter and apparently the force of the rotor repeatedly knocked Julie Andrews to the ground. The result is well worth her efforts though and this scene can rightly be regarded as one of the best movie entrances.

Finally, it is worth pointing out that this scene tells us quite a bit about Maria. It tells us that she is optimistic, is able to appreciate apparently ordinary things and is more comfortable in nature than most people. The fact that she has to leave due to being late shows us that she is rather forgetful and easily distracted. This all makes for an entirely loveable character.

Great Scene 2 : “Edelweiss” (01:20:22 to 01:24:28)

In this scene, the Captain sings a song (“Edelweiss”) for his children, Maria, the Baroness and Max. His oldest child, Liesl, soon joins in to form a wonderful duet.

The song “Edelweiss” is perhaps the most beautiful from the Sound of Music. Many people assume that it really is a traditional Austrian folk song but this is not the case – it was written for the play. In fact, the song and even the movie are not well known in Austria. However, this should not detract from what is undoubtedly a great scene.

It is in this scene that the Captain completes his metamorphosis from strict sea officer to loving father. This change started when he first heard his children singing. As we listen to the Captain sing, it is striking how far he has come from when we first met him. He is now warm, much closer to his family and far happier – illustrating just how much of an effect Maria has had on the Von Trapp family.

This scene also reveals the start of the Captain and Maria’s feelings for each other. Maria looks at the Captain lovingly and with great admiration as he sings. The Baroness notices this and appears jealous. Her jealousy will later lead to her persuading Maria to leave the Von Trapps and return to the abbey. The scene ends with a look between Maria and the Captain that lets us know the feelings they are developing for each other. Of course, at this stage, they do not yet realise their own feelings.

Great Scene 3 : “Reverend Mother, I have sinned.” (02:38:40 to 02:45:51)

While attempting to escape from the Nazis who plan to take Captain Von Trapp away, the family hides in a cemetery in the abbey. The abbey nuns open one of the gates at the back of the cemetery and the family ducks behind the large tombstones, which barely cover them. It isn’t long before the Nazis arrive. Unable to enter the now locked gate, they move from tombstone to tombstone testing each gate and peering beyond the gates with a torch.

There is no music. The only thing we can hear is the clanging of each gate and the sound of footsteps. As the Nazis get closer to the Von Trapps’ gate, the clanging gets louder building the tension and bringing us to the edges of our seats. The torch seems to linger for ages on the hiding family’s stone and almost seems to be able to bend around corners as it roams such is the excellent use of light and shadows. We wonder if the young children will be able to cope with the stress of the situation. Surely one of them will make a noise?

Finally, the Nazis leave but Rolfe, previously Liesl’s friend and now a Nazi, stays behind. Unaware of his presence, the Von Trapp’s emerge from their hiding place. Rolfe confronts them and draws his gun. In another very tense sequence, Captain Von Trapp is able to persuade Rolfe to give up his gun. But just as we think the Von Trapps are finally safe, Rolfe calls for his superiors. This perhaps illustrates how deep Nazism has sucked Rolfe in. Rolfe seems well on his way to completing almost the opposite emotional change to what Captain Von Trapp has experienced over the course of the film. He may have missed his last chance for redemption and escape from Nazism by not helping the Von Trapps.

The Von Trapps narrowly escape, as the Nazis’ car is not working. The scene ends with a humorous moment as the nuns show the Mother Abbess that they have sabotaged the car. This lightens the intense mood and prepares us for the joyous moment when we see the Von Trapp family escaping over the Alps.