I think it’s safe to say that we all have movie blind spots.
In the last AFI article, I had talked about how I had watched The Apartment for the first time. And while it’s a great movie and famous movie, it’s one, I’d guess, that most people hadn’t seen either. I’d even guess most younger people who aren’t movie fanatics wouldn’t even know of its existence. No embarrassment there.
But the one I’m covering this week is one that I feel most people have seen, along with Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, and Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo. The songs in it are so familiar, though, and parts of it are so iconic that in many ways, through pop culture, I have seen it.
Inspired by my love for the last movie and the message behind it, I am hitting up the films I feel I should have seen but haven’t yet. So here I am into my first voyage into 1962’s The Sound of Music, written by Howard Lindsay and directed by Robert Wise.
Viewing these movies for the first time, I’m experiencing the message in real time, figuring it out as I watch. I do take the risk, since I’m not as familiar with the movie, of getting it totally wrong.
However with The Sound of Music, I got a message loud and clear: music is greatness.
Having seen a few musicals, this becomes such an interesting message. Usually the music in a musical is part of the format, but not necessarily part of the message. “Suddenly Semore” in Little Shop of Horrors reinforces the message the theme of asking if we have control over our lives or if outside influences do (especially within the force that Seymour breaks into song). But the fact that he’s singing doesn’t directly contribute to the message–it just makes it more fun
Here it’s different.
The fact that the characters are breaking into song is a big piece of what the film’s message.
Maria’s life is set around music. She uses it to express with her emotions, like “Sixteen going on Seventeen,” or to bond with the children, like in “My Favorite Things.”
The Colonel is a good guy, but strict and unhappy through most of the movie. This is partly because music is so important to him, but it has been stripped from his life. He isn’t that impressed with Maria until she starts singing. It’s at that point, he reawakens to his love for it.
The children are also taken on a journey with it, all of them finding way more enjoyment in their lives once Maria and music enter.
And, of course, music even has the power to fight the Nazis. Take that Indiana Jones (never even heard him sing one song).
But, of course, music isn’t simply music in the film. Music is representative of something great: joy and love.
It’s this joy that enters all the character’s lives with the music.
It’s this joy that touches the nun, and makes her decide that Maria should pursue love.
It’s this love that lights the Colonel up and makes him want to leave the sexy baroness and be with Maria instead who imbues it.
It’s that joy and love that allows them to escape evil. And, as a side note, the Nazis seem captivated by it, so it might even have the power to make evil people less evil.
And, of course, it’s this joy and love that’s a safe haven for them at the end. They are in Sweden, a place one could argue that has the most joy and love. Especially here where the hills are alive with it.
Being familiar with almost all the music from the film, I’ve gotten to experience the joy and love before, but seeing it put in the context of the movie takes it to a whole new level.
And I think it’s true. Music has the power to bring people together. It has the power to make us more creative and want to build things. It can inspire, transform, teach, and unify. Whoever the first cavemen were that discovered beating on rocks could do so much, made one of the greatest discoveries ever (to rival the wheel!).
A question I always have for the movies I haven’t seen is what makes it great and resonate with so many people. And for this one I believe it’ thes celebration of the joy, love, and wonder of music. How that specific sound has the power to make everything better.
Thanks for reading!
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