Movie Project - Day 32: The Sound of Music

How do you manage to put together a story about a family, a nun, political turmoil, and put it all to music? That's the genius behind Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein's The Sound of Music. You can watch it dozens of times, and still enjoy it as much as the first. Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, this classic was the first movie to supersede Gone With The Wind as the biggest box office movie of all time. But adjusted for inflation, it's the 3rd highest grossing movie of all time, right behind Gone With The Wind and Star Wars.

Does my daughter agree with film history? I would say yes. At least the first half. She acted scared and cuddled up with me on the couch during the thunderstorm (My Favourite Things) and was trying to sing along during "Do-Re-Mi." I'm never quite sure what my daughter understands to be dancing, because when she asks me to get up and dance, she usually runs around in a circle or spins on her snurrig. Even during the dance at the von Trapp home at the end of Act I, she would just wander around.

The second half didn't hold much interest for her. It was just a bunch of people moping around and being in love. Not all that exciting for her. When they're escaping from the Gestapo, that was when her attention piqued, and she watched for a few moments. She came back when the family was climbing the mountains to escape to Switzerland, which was a bit of a goof, since the closest mountains to Salzburg border on Germany.

With the amount of technical goofs that you could find in the movie, there are many other fantastic moments that just leave you amazed. And laughing.

Gretl: "I hurt my finger!"
Maria: "What happened?"
Gretl: "It got caught in something."
Maria: "What did it get caught in?"
Gretl: "Fredrik's teeth."

The little children also kept Erini's attention for most of the movie. I would have loved to watch the special features with her, but seeing that she can barely stand to watch the exposition of the characters, I'm certain she wouldn't even spend two seconds watching the actors talk about making the movie!

Need to keep reminding myself that she's not quite four years old. I'm sure she didn't even notice the Nazis in the movie. Oddly enough, I got a bit of a chill when Rolf first said Heil, Hitler! [Shudder]

While the true events of the van Trapp family were adjusted to play on film, Georg was very much Anti-Nazi, and for that reason he fled the country with his family. Watching these movies with my daughter faces me with ideas that I have never before considered. Would I have done the same if my family where in the same predicament?

There's the question parents love to ask their teenagers, with numerous twists, "If all your friends decided to jump off a bridge, would you do it too?" Imagine instead, "If the entire country decided to jump off a bridge, would you do it too?" Going along with public opinion, keeping things calm, maintaining the status quo will only go so far before you reach a breaking point.

While this movie didn't really stress the importance of looking for shifts in political waters, there key tone was the importance of family, faith, and music. My favourite song, "Climb Every Mountain," does not address each of those elements directly, but conveys the important message to never give up.



Goodness knows, when I try to get my daughter to eat her dinner, brush her teeth, or even sit still, it can be a epic battle of wills. Much like climbing a mountain, it can be a struggle, and sometimes you wonder if the top can ever be reached.

At my wife's 'suggestion', I'm going to take a step away from 'war' movies.
Next up: Pete's Dragon.