Date Night: The Sound of Music

In which I review a movie that's streamable on Netflix.

I know that I'm cheating on this, but my back's against a wall at the moment.  It turns out that Becky is a lot more resistant to watching Daredevil than I thought that she would be, meaning that I haven't gotten any further in the series than I was last week.  On top of that, all of my other viewing has been DVD or theater-based lately, meaning that I have little to tap into for this week's Date Night.

But you know what Becky and I did end up seeing earlier tonight?  The Sound of Music.  And while it sadly wasn't on Netflix, it was a Fathom Event, meaning that it was made available all this week at AMCs across the country.  And it was an actual date night that we went on to see it, so the spirit of the thing is there, even if it doesn't measure up to what it's supposed to be.

When the Reverend Mother of an Austrian convent begins harboring doubts about one of her nuns-to-be, she decides to send her out into the world doing God's work in order to give her a better perspective on what she's giving up by taking her vows.  Maria is charged with acting as the governess of seven unruly children whose mother has long since died and whose father is emotionally unequipped to raise them.  Despite her best efforts to the contrary, however, she falls in love with the man and his children.

As a general rule, I've never been a fan of musicals, especially the ones from the 1950s and 60s.  I've always found the singing to be more intrusive to the story than it was intended to be and the invariable dance numbers to be tedious at best.  The fact that they generally adopted a lighter tone and family friendly sensibilities sealed the genre's fate for me.

Despite this, however,  have always loved The Sound of Music, although it wasn't until just now that  understood exactly why that is.  Yes, it's a 3-hour, G-rated musical.  Yes, it hits all of the expected narrative breaks and dance numbers.  And yes, it does feature Julie Andrews of Mary Poppins fame playing what essentially amounts to the Austrian equivalent of that same character.

The difference, however, is two-fold.  While it does have just as many musical numbers as other movies in its genre, it presents them in an entirely a-typical fashion (one that has only in recent years been popularized).  Rather than having the characters break into random song when dialog itself would work just as well, most songs are presented as just that: songs.  They are music lessons, performances put on for other characters or the invocations of nuns and monks.

We aren't asked to suspend disbelief in order to buy the idea of characters singing together with rehearsed perfection.  All we're asked to do is to sit back and watch a group of children showing off what they learned to their father, his fiancee and festival-goers.  The same goes for the obligatory dance numbers.  Rather than having to sit through a non-sensical scene where characters dance long after the song in question has run out of lyrics, it's part of a formalized folk dance at a party: equal parts instruction and plot-advancing patriotism.

The second thing that sets The Sound of Music apart from the up-tempo fluff pieces that I generally can't stand is that it's plot is actually meaty enough without its melodic window dressings.  It's the true account of an upper class family trying to escape the Nazis.  Sure, there's singing and dancing thrown into the mix for good measure, but it's actually a very strong historical drama when left to its own devices, and the family's riveting escape into Switzerland is one of the finest scenes ever committed to film.

Beyond that, it has an absolutely superb cast.  Julie Andrews was a risky choice (her only movie was the then-unfinished Mary Poppins), but she held her own splendidly against the exquisite Christopher Plumber.  What's more, the children - all of the children - were just as good.  When you remember that the bane of any good movie is the strength of the child actors that it's forced to work with, it's an absolute miracle that this movie ever recovered from working with seven of them.

What's more is that there's actually nothing to complain about with the movie.  The musical numbers are absolutely sublime, the cast is resplendent and the writing is top-notch (varying hysterical and heart-felt).  Although it was aimed at the broadest possible audience (as evidence by its G-rating), it dealt with the decidedly adult issues of patriotism, conformity and Nazis.  While the movie is upwards of three hours long, its paced so perfectly that it almost seems to end too soon.

The Sound of Music is unquestionably the greatest Classic Hollywood musical, and easily ranks among the greatest Classic Hollywood movies period.  Fans of the genre, the period or simply quality movies in general will find this cinematic gem to be an absolute gem.

Rating:  8.5/10

Buy on BluRay:  Yes

So what is your favorite musical?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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