So yesterday, I finally watched the Sound of Music for the first time. I was a bit skeptical in the beginning because for some reason, old movies fail to engage me. But this... I can see why this is a classic. It is heartwarming and cute without being overly cheesy. Julie Andrews and her charisma make this entire movie. The very first song establishes Maria as a ‘unique’ & ‘quirky’ girl, a character that is still prevalent in a lot of movies. She isn’t like the rest. She likes to sing in green meadows. This ‘I’m not like other girls’ girl is someone I am not very fond of. But Andrews’ portrayal makes this character endearing and not irritating. Both the nuanced writing and Andrews’ acting make it very clear that Maria is not quirky for the sake of being different. That’s just who she is. Maria is still very much capable of communicating with people who are different from her, is very empathetic and also selfless. It was so refreshing to see this, which is weird considering this was a 1965 release. Newer movies have reduced this off-beat girl to a trope, with lazy writing. She is one-dimensional and solely exists to change the lead actor/ audience’s ‘perspective on life’ (read: ‘manic pixie dream girl’). It was simultaneously sad and amusing to see how different attempts at recreating Maria throughout the years have mostly failed.
The music is obviously brilliant. Tunes so catchy and powerful that they are still around, even if they have been repurposed into richgirl anthems. Each song is sung beautifully by the actors and really help establish the tone of the scene. What I particularly loved is that the tunes helped move the plot forward without actually just being singing narrations. It really annoys me when characters in musicals just sing the entire plot and I’m so happy it doesn’t happen here. For example, ‘Doe a deer’ is just a super catchy song about musical notes but it moves the plot forward by showing the audience how Maria and the kids are bonding.
Talking about the actual plot and narration, I love it. It is a wholesome movie but that does not mean it lacks seriousness or depth. Intertwining family and music with themes of war and identity is awesome. The last 30 minutes of the movie are filmed so well. They change the entire tone of the movie from happy and bright to chilling but somehow still make it belong with the rest of the movie. It is the same bond in the Von Trapp family that we see throughout the movie, just placed in a darker context. The scene where we see Rolfe threatening Georg is amazing. There is so much to be said about the lack of an identity and a false sense of confidence that pushes Rolfe into serving the Third Reich. From the very beginning we see how he, at the tender age of 17, thinks that he has answers to everything and can protect Liesl. But is simultaneously scared shitless when Georg catches him throwing rocks at Liesl’s window, revealing his true age. This why, despite what he says, he surrenders the gun to Georg. But it is too late for him to change what he has been indoctrinated to become.
Also also, Baroness Schraeder and Uncle Max’s characters were brilliant. She was subtly nasty but also had enough self-respect to know when to step away. Uncle Max is the perfect portrayal of most people in society; a classic businessman. Focused, shrewd, manipulative, cowardly. His half-hearted and sheepish ‘Heil Hitler’ is one the best scenes of the movie.
Super happy that I finally got the time to watch this classic. <3
