Is it a tradition to air The Sound of Music around Easter? I recall that The Wizard of Oz often ran on Easter, but maybe it was both. Regardless, I’ve recently discovered how much I love The Sound of Music. I’m aware that this is an opinion often shared by middle-aged housewives. Everyone’s mom loves this movie. It’s not typically a favorite of the twenty-something urban set. But it’s not uncommon for me to go a bit against the grain when it comes to my favorite movies (hello, National Treasure, Mrs. Winterbourne, The Mothman Prophecies and several other movies in my collection that garner significant mockery for me).Well, the SoM was on this weekend and I not only watched it, I recorded it. It was appointment television for me. I found myself immediately engrossed in every aspect of this movie – the luscious Austrian countryside, the songs I’d forgotten I knew every word to, the costumes, the history…it all melted my cold, cold heart. According to legend (ie: the trivia section of IMDb) the BBC scheduled the SoM to air following a nuclear strike to lift the nation’s spirits. This is unconfirmed, but I’d believe it. There's more to this movie than meets the eye and it doesn't deserve the its saccharin-saturated family sing-along reputation.
Let’s break this movie down:
Captain von Trapp is hot. He’s a stern, heart-broken music-hater towards the beginning of the movie, relying on whistles and an orderly regime to keep his world from crumbling. But he’s totally dreamy and it’s not long after Maria’s arrival that the two of them are, shall we say, stealing glances.
Mixed in with those storylines focusing on a drapery-clad group of munchkins in need of a nanny lies an epic romance. When I was a kid, the moonlit dalliances of Liesl and Rolfe captured my attention much more than Maria and the Captain. I too wanted to be sixteen, going on seventeen leaping across benches on the arm of a strapping young man (though I could do without the bleached blond hair…and that whole Nazi bit). But upon closer examination, it’s the love that builds between the two adults that holds this movie together. I challenge any modern girl to watch the “Something Good” number and not get as emotionally swept up, if not more, than during any of today’s half-assed rom coms. That silhouetted gazebo kiss is timeless.Let's not forget - the von Trapps are real! You’re learning while watching this movie! Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but it’s interesting to think about what this family really went through. First of all, Captain von Trapp wasn’t as much of a downer as Hollywood made him out to be. Maria, who wasn’t nearly as cute or charming as Julie Andrews, had a little trouble controlling her temper…which seems odd since she had ten children to take care of. Yes, that’s correct…ten yodeling von Trapp urchins, not seven. The Captain had seven kids with his late wife and three more with Maria.
Something they did translate appropriately to the screen was the von Trapps’ hatred of the Nazi party. They did in fact decline to fly the Nazi flag above their house and even refused a request to sing at Hitler’s birthday party (I find that hilarious. Something tells me that a group of kids and their parents bellowing “Happy Birthday, Herr Führer” might not have been Hitler’s jam). The family eventually fled Austria all together, just like in the movie. However, they packed their bags and hopped on a train to Italy rather than hoofing it over the mountains. But that final scene set to the escalating lyrics of “Climb Every Mountain” just wouldn’t be the same if we were watching a trail of steam left behind from a train speeding off into the distance.So revisit a classic and watch the SoM. Yeah, it’s long and a little campy, but it might just end up becoming one of your favorite things.
