Review of The Sound of Music (1965) by Jared S — 26 Jan 2017

First off, this movie is over 3 hours long, but how refreshing it was for a movie of this length to have an intermission! Now I actually have a reason to leave my seat! Anyways, I've been putting this one off for quite some time.

I mean, first off its 3 hrs long, and I just didn't have the time for that, but I'm glad I watched it, because this movie is nearly perfect. In 1930s Austria, a young nun is sent out to be a sitter for a handful of children born of a handsome rich aristocrat and his deceased wife.

This is one of those rare films that are just, pleasant. Hollywood doesn't make these anymore. The main character of Maria, who is played by Julie Andrews, who is... YOU know what, every single performance is absolutely perfect, even the child actors were as real as anyone.

Maria is a quirky optimist who loves music, something the father will now allow after his wife passed. Something I particularly love about the narrative structure is that the beginning of this film makes it out to be very predictable, but it finishes one character arch then moves on to another.

Let's talk about the musical elements such as song sequences, etc. They are fucking brilliant. The audio dubbing is never noticeable, beautiful long shots of singing and dancing with catchy and iconic lyrics, very enthusiastic choreography, and throughout the movie, just downright gorgeous cinematography and shot structure with beautifully unique angles, film noir style silhouette pan-outs, which are especially good in the romance scenes between the captain and Maria.

My flaws with this movie are nearly nonexistent. The third act transition felt a tiny bit rushed, and there was a bit of a quick character wrap up, but if you take into account some firmly established metaphors about fate, that scene might come together nicely if you look at it that way.

Overall, this film is a classic musical, from the dazzling era packed with them, but this stands out as one of my favorite films of the 1960s, and I give this film a 10/10. So... if you made it this far, I want you to leave in the comments what movie you think I haven't watched.

Thx!