The Sound of Music (1965)

The Sound of Music is obviously one of the best movies ever made. It’s been a favorite of mine since I was quite small, although only since adulthood have I appreciated the second half as much as the first. It’s a pleasure to watch a movie you’ve always known and experience it in a completely different manner.

As a kid, the fun of the children singing, the big showpieces and the fantasy beauty of Austria were what I was interested in. I couldn’t have cared less about the romance or the Nazis.

A few years ago, I dug out my old VHS copy of The Sound of Music and watched it again. I’ve watched it at least a dozen times since then. As an adult, it was fun rediscovering the drama and excitement of this story. Now, I think Christopher Plummer is dashing and the dance between Maria and Captain Von Trapp is amazingly charged. As a kid, Edelweiss and Something Good were two songs I routinely zoned out during. Now, I get choked up when the audience at the folk festival joins in with Edelweiss and I'm struck by the beauty behind the sentiment “Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.”

Today, I had the odd experience of watching this movie with someone who had never seen it before (and she’s almost thirty!). How she managed a lifetime of Easters and Christmases without catching it on TV, I can’t imagine. I’m happy to report, she enjoyed it – although she did seem a bit irritated at the vast number of reprises we get near the end.

The Sound of Music is phenomenal and I only wish movies with such power and beauty were still being made on a regular basis.