The Sound of Music Movie Review

PLOT

The film, based on a real family and their true events, tells the story of a young postulate, Maria (Julie Andrews), who, after proving too high-spirited for the Mother Abess and other nuns, is sent off to work as a governess to seven unruly children.

The Von Trapp family is run, in military style, by the seemingly cold-hearted Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), a lonely widowed naval officer. Seeing how badly he and his children need companionship, he proposes to the Baroness Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), a calculating, mutual friend of beloved family friend Max Detweiler (Richard Haydn). It is the baroness who soon realizes that it’s Maria–with her warmth and love for the children–the captain really loves. It is nearly bliss for the newly formed family who loves to sing together–except for the cloud looming over their beloved Austrian horizon: Hitler is ascending to power, forcing Von Trapp to decide whether to join the Nazi party–which he loathes–or force his family to leave their home forever.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sound of music

Julie Andrews plays Maria, a novice nun, who loves to sing, and adores the hills and adventures. Their mother superior thinks that she still needs to explore the world and find out if being in the convent is her destiny. She’s soon set out to take charge of a big family of seven rowdy children. They’re mischievous kids who are seeking for their father’s attention. But Maria captured the hearts, not only the kids’, as well as their father’s. Maria brought back music into their lives.

My story

The songs of the Sound of Music keep on playing in my head. The Sound of Music is a classic movie which will never grow old. I saw this film when I was a little kid around 5 years old, and never grew tired of watching it from start to end. I’ve watched it sooo many times that I can’t keep track anymore.

Being the little kid that I was, my most favorite parts are the singing.. and of course the puppet show. I used to sleep on the conversational parts esp the part when the Baroness, Captain Von Trapp and Uncle Max were driving home. That’s too boring for me. And during the time when Maria had to go back to the convent to seek for the Mother Superior’s advice.

But when I watched it when I was older, I realized that those ‘boring’ parts were actually important. They contain a lot of lessons that you can execute in the real world.

My favorite scenes and how I see it:
Maria took the 7 kids out into the hills, marketplace, train, rode bikes, climb trees, taught them to sing (when the Captain went to see the Baroness). When the Captain saw them on trees, he made a comment that those kids are so rowdy not knowing that these were his kids.

The family that ‘sings’ together, stays together.
- Maria brought back the music into this family since Captain von Trapp doesn’t want to remember his dead wife so playing and singing in the house is prohibited. But Maria, being the jolly, music lover, persistent person that she is stayed on her belief and succeeded.

Maria is like my eldest brother who plays and sings with us. But he can separate that character from being the playful kid at the right time and when to be strict to us.

Music really does make wonder and magic

In this movie, they’ve shown it in many ways. When the kids were scared because of the thunder, Maria sang to them, entertained them, and said that there’s nothing to fear. Just think about happy thoughts – the things that make you happy. (My Favorite things)

When the kids were really down because Maria left without saying goodbye, the 7 children sang My Favorite Things sadly. It showed how much they’re longing for Maria and they felt it’s time to sing to make them feel better.

The 7 children sang The Sound of Music like a professional choir for the Baroness. A welcome song that Maria taught them. this is also the time that the Captain had mixed feelings – shocked because he didn’t think that his kids can sing, proud and happy.

The Captain sang Edelweiss as part of their little presentation. This song is about love for one’s country..But it turned out that this song is dedicated to Maria.. as if the Captain is serenading her. Maria looks enchanting with her blue dress.(my hair is always standing up watching this moment) I also dig the duet of Captain and Liesl. They blended perfectly.

The Lonely Goatherd sang by Maria and the kids during their puppet show. For me it means that music is for everybody, and we sing because we’re happy. The puppet show is about family, getting married and raising a kid.

The most wonderful part was the dance, when Captain saw Maria that she can dance.. They held hands and everything was centered to them. Maria blushed after dancing. The Baroness was of course jealous.

Somewhere in my Youth sang by Maria and Captain. I love this moment. They were like young lovers in the gazeebo. In this place also was when Liesl, the eldest child met up with her boyfriend Rolf sang Sixteen going on Seventeen and danced.

So Long, Farewell Song by the seven children to say goodnight to the guests of the Captain. It was fun and entertaining and a good way to say goodnight even though they don’t want to leave the party yet.

Maria and the Captain are two very different people. I like the part when they were arguing how to raise kids. Captain is practicing tough love on his kids maybe because of him being on an army, while Maria is such a outspoken yet a sweet  person.

Maria’s character as a happy-go-lucky go person was shown all through out her single life, depicted in the Song, Maria, sang by the nuns – running all around like a kid, getting tripped but didn’t mind it..
Looking through the Captain’s hall room when she first entered the mansion, singing and playing, but still you can tell that she’s in control.

The story also happened during the World War 1. Because Captain Von Trapp doesn’t want to concede to Hitler, they are forced to leave the country. This is the climatic part of the story, when they had to keep low and escape. I won’t be telling now how they escaped, but it’s very sneaky.

How much we (me, my parents, brother, sister, cousins.. I mean, everybody) love The Sound of Music is way beyond words. Can I just say that we have copies of this timeless movie? From the Betamax, to VCD and DVD.. no we didn’t have the VHS copy, sad to say.

If you’re a music lover and just want to sit back and relax while watching, then this movie is perfect. This is not only about fun and entertainment. This movie also depicts love for one’s country.

It has a lot of singing, dancing, romance, and breath taking sceneries. All in all this is a fantastic movie suited for all ages.

The family that ‘sings’ together, stays together.

Tagged as: julie andrews, movie review, sound of music, von trapp