“Doe…a deer, a female deer…la…di, la…di, la.di, la…” There can’t be many who don’t know at least a few lines of most of the songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein phenomenal hit musical “The Sound Of Music.”I remember being taken to see the film by my mother and I was spellbound, both by the music and the breathtaking scenery of “the hills.” (although somewhat less so by the lovey bits.)
The story opens in Salzburg, Austria just before the Nazi occupation. Maria (played, of course, by Julie Andrews) is a postulant in Salzburg Abbey, but her effervescent spirit is being crushed by convent life. The wise Mother Abbess (played by Peggy Wood) realises this, and arranges for Maria to take up a position as governess to the von Trapp children, whose father, Captain von Trapp, a widower, (Christopher Plummer) is having problems finding a suitable person to take charge of his lively brood.
The
Captain runs the household with military precision and the children are models of good behaviour…when he is around. But when their father is not there, they run riot, hence the quick turnover of governesses! But Maria is captivated by the children…in descending order, Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta and Gretl…and soon, they respond to Maria’s love and warm personality. Maria takes the children out into the beautiful Alpine countryside for picnics, during which she teaches them to sing.
Maria and the children stage a puppet show for the Captain and his lover, Baroness Schraeder.It is during the show, as they dance, that Maria and the Captain realise that they have fallen in love. Confused, Maria seeks solace back at the Abbey.Captain von Trapp, believing that she has gone for good, announces his plans to marry the Baroness.The children are inconsolable.
Once again, the wise Mother Abbess comes to the rescue. She advises Maria to “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” to find love, and Maria returns to the von Trapp home, where the Captain confesses his love and breaks off his engagement to the Baroness.Maria and the Captain celebrate their love in the duet “Something Good.”
But storm clouds are on the horizon, and while the Captain and Maria are on honeymoon, the Nazis occupy Austria.Captain von Trapp is called into military service in the German army. Appalled, the Captain decides that the family must flee their beloved homeland, but they are spotted by Nazi stormtroopers! They explain that they are merely on their way to the Salzburg Festival, where the children will be singing. The Nazis escort them there and keep them under close watch.
The Captain goes on stage to sing “Edelweiss”, but he breaks down with emotion and Maria joins him with the children. Then the whole family sings the song “So Long, Farewell” and the irony is that the watching Germans do not realise that the Family are at that very moment about to escape from under their noses.
After the show, the von Trapps are declared the winners…but they are not there to receive their prize…they have fled to a new life.
The soundtrack of the film is outstanding. From the stirring opening bars of “The Sound Of Music”, through the beautiful “Nun’s Chorus”, Maria’s none too convincing “I Have Confidence in Me”, the memorable “My Favourite Things” (sung by Maria to the children to calm them during a thunderstorm) the amusing “Lonely Goatherd”, the Captain’s heartrending singing of “Edelweiss” to the closing bars of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”
“The Sound Of Music” is such a spectacular film that people often forget that it is based on the real-life story of Georg von Trapp, an Austrian naval commander, who was widowed and left with a young family. The real Maria was an indomitable character, who married the Captain and then fled with her new family to America as Hitler came to power.
Although over thirty years old, this film remains as enjoyable today as when it was made. It is a delightful family film, a rarity these days, with no bad language, no sex, no violence, and is suitable for all ages. My ten-year-old nieces loved it! (And yes, I still cried when the Captain sang “Edelweiss”.)
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Music / Performing Arts, Comedy - Director: Trevor Nunn, Geoffrey Posner - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, Parental Guidance - Starring: Duncan Preston, Celia Imrie, Julie Walters, Victoria Wood, Jim Broadbent
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film of all time - Rodgers and Hammerstein'‚´s '‚´The Sound Of Music'‚´. Julie Andrews lights up the screen as Maria the spirited young woman who le...
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The most widely seen movie produced by a Hollywood studio,The Sound of Musicgrows fresher ... more
with each viewing. Though it was planned meticulously in pre-production (save for the scene where Maria and the children take a dipping in an Austrian lake that n...
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film of all time... Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'THE SOUND OF MUSIC'.Julie Andrews lights up the screen as Maria, the spirited young woman who leaves the convent to b...
![The Sound Of Music [DVD] [1965]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78510739.jpg "The Sound Of Music [DVD] [1965]")
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