The 60th anniversary of The Sound of Music reminds me how many memorable songs are in the film besides the title track. “Do-Re-Mi,” “So Long, Farewell,” “Sixteen Going on 17,” “My Favorite Things” and even (a problem like) “Maria” are just part of the culture now.
It’s easy to see why the film has lasted. Maria (Julie Andrews) teaching the von Trapp children was probably a precursor to the inspirational teacher movie from To Sir wtih Love to Dangerous Minds. The love story between Maria and the Captain (Christopher Plummer) is archetypal and they combine to explore the poignant history of escaping the Nazi party.
The 4K UHD not only takes you to Austria, but back to 1965 when they were recreating 1938. The Todd AO and Deluxe Color distinguishes The Sound of Music from contemporary Technicolor movies, and you can still see the film grain.
The day Maria and the kids spend in Salzburg is stunning. The film boasts strong shaodws in the convent, the vast ballrooms of the von Trapp estate which is otherwise bright and ornate, and many other scenes.
“Sixteen Going on Seventeen” dances in and out of moonlight and lamplight. The film revisits that moonlit courtyard in the third hour when Maria and the Captain confess their love, and their escape attempt. Maria and the Captain also waltz through the shadows in the garden.
The final performance in the amphitheater shines a spotlight on the von Trapp family. Everyone else is in the sahdow but you still see the texture of the stone. There is also exquisite detail in the goat puppets for the marionette yodeling scene.
Fortunately, there have been so many anniversaries of The Sound of Music before the 60th that there are archival features from the 50th, 45th and even earlier including commentary by Andrews, Plummer and director Robert Wise before he died in 2005.