Review of The Sound of Music (1965) by Filipeneto — 17 Mar 2020

A cultural icon.

This is probably one of the most iconic musical films of all time. It is not just a film, it is a reference for those who like cinema, it is a cultural landmark of indisputable value, which has been copied, parodied, praised, admired, satirized, repeated and remastigated over and over again in the cinema, in the theater, on TV, in advertising, in literature, on the radio ... It is the film that forever immortalized Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, two actors who made great cinematographic careers afterwards. The impact of this film on culture and cinematographic art is immense and difficult to calculate. It has become a huge box office and critical success, and is still regularly shown on TV, especially around Easter.

The story of the film, based on real events and a family that exists in real life, couldn't be sweeter and is known to most people, so I think it is very difficult to spoil here: a young novice is sent to a mansion in an Austrian aristocrat, a former naval officer from the First World War, as the tutor of his seven children. The cheerful and understanding way she presents conquers the little ones and ends up, in time, also conquering the rigid military, for whom discipline was fundamental. All of this happens, however, in the late Thirties, with Austria on the verge of annexation by the Third Reich. Captain Von Trapp's exacerbated nationalism will eventually conflict with the new order of things and motivate the family to flee.

The film is dominated by Julie Andrews. She is great in every way and does everything in an almost perfect way. Not to mention he has a beautiful voice and sings very well. Children are equally good and do everything very well, especially Charmian Carr and Kym Karath. Plummer is impeccable and makes an excellent pair with Andrews. Good dialogues help. In the secondary cast, I would highlight the good performance of Peggy Wood and Richard Haydn.

At a technical level, the excellent choice of filming locations, all or almost all in the Salzburg region in Austria, stands out. It doesn't matter the reality here. The film did not seek to be a documentary about the real Trapp family and therefore did not want to go to the real places where everything happened, but wanted to tell a story with glamor, with sweetness, based on their lives. And the film uses very beautiful and charming places to acquire great visual beauty. But even more interesting are the songs in the film. Almost all of them are worthy of memory and can be heard very easily, but I would especially highlight the title song "Sound of Music", as well as "So Long, Farewell", "How to Solve a Problem like Maria", "Edelweiss" and "Sixteen going on Seventeen". They are incredible.

Nominated for ten Oscars, he won five statuettes (Best Film, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Edition and Best Adapted Soundtrack), but the best award will certainly be the status of cultural icon that he has acquired over time.