The Sound of Music (Single Disc Widescreen Edition) [DVD]

Versatile director Robert Wise ("The Set-Up", "The Day The Earth Stood Still", "Somebody Up There Likes Me", "I Want To Live!", "The Haunting") had a surprisingly winning way with stage to screen musical adaptations in the 1960's. "West Side Story" (1961), co-directed by Wise and choreographer Jerome Robbins, was an enormous popular and critical success; winning eleven Academy Awards."The Sound Of Music" (1965), loosely "inspired by" the saga of the Austrian Trapp Family and the memoirs of the rather formidable Maria Von Trapp, achieved an astonishing, almost incomprehensible success. To this day-- nearly 60 years later-- it is not so much "watched" as it is "felt" and, above all, "experienced." Critics are quick to dismiss and deride the film for its "saccharine sentimentality." But a closer, more thoughtful analysis reveals the film is far more relevant, resonant, bittersweet, and painfully poignant than saccharine. Wise and his creative team masterfully transformed Rodgers and Hammerstein's final stage musical into a worldwide cinematic phenomenon.Ernest Lehman's screenplay is a vast improvement on the original stage libretto by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Wise's decision to film for several months on location in Austria was particularly genius and inspired. Cinematographer Ted McCord's beautiful location photography gives more strength and drama to the story and songs. From the opening sequence-- as the camera flies over the majestic Austrian Alps and zooms down to reveal Julie Andrews as Maria singing joyously in a mountainside meadow-- we are enchanted, and a bit breathless.Maria aspires to be a devout nun, but her impetuous nature drives the nuns at Nonnberg Abbey to distraction. The Mother Abbess (Peggy Wood) sends Maria out for several months to serve as governess to the seven children of widower Captain Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer). Maria is a blessing to the seven neglected children and, initially, an irritant to the Captain himself, who is swiftly off to Vienna to visit his cosmopolitan girlfriend Elsa Schrader (Eleanor Parker) and seemingly gay friend, musical impresario Max Detweiler (Richard Hayden).Maria loves music and nature, and Julie Andrews portrays her as an effervescent force of nature. Also, her teaching the children to sing is a not so subtle act of subversion. "Father doesn't like us to sing," the children protest. "Well, perhaps we can change his mind," Maria replies, with firm determination. Maria and the children then cavort all over Salzburg, as they sing up, down and around the "Do Re Mi" musical scale in a brilliantly edited montage sequence.Christopher Plummer (who for years referred to the film as "The Sound Of Mucus", until he mellowed out in older age) maintains a sarcastic and snarky demeanor throughout, and has has his best moments in the Captain's heated exchanges with Hitler devotee Herr Zeller (Ben Wright). "If the Nazis do take over Austria, Herr Zeller," the Captain says, "I've no doubt you will be their entire trumpet section.""You flatter me, Captain", Zeller responds. "Oh, how clumsy of me," Plummer replies with a perfectly snarky hiss, "I meant to accuse you!"When Elsa notices the romantic sparks between Maria and the Captain, she makes a dignified exit. Maria and the Captain are married, and the family finally comes together as Austria falls apart in the dreadful Nazi Anschluss of 1938. Shortly after the Captain rips a Nazi flag from the wall of his Villa, he receives a commission to serve in the naval forces of the Third Reich. "Refusing them would be fatal for all of us," he says, "and joining them would be unthinkable."The film received ten Academy Award nominations; winning in five categories; including "Best Picture" (1965), "Best Film Editing", "Best Director": Robert Wise, and "Best Musical Scoring": Irwin Kostal.

Just wonderful!!! Absolutely wonderful!!! For the timeframe of when I remember this enchanting musical, I cannot think of anything better to bring you back to when this movie was first released. How it went from a film that would be considered overbudget and a risk to one of the most beloved of all time!!Everyone pretty much knows the screen adaptation of the life of Maria Augusta Von Trapp, who went from a postulate with a true desire to give her life in service to God, to becoming the mother of 7 children plus 3 more of her own.But without taking away from any of the beauty and majesty of this film, there is a harshness in the reality of Maria's real life that is presented in the second disc of this 2-disc offering. That was the part that I became intensely interested in because what Hollywood tends to do is take "creative" license with any story and fit it into whatever fits the mold they want, regardless of the truth. The truth here was rather sobering, and even though I absolutely love this movie, I now know how far away the reality was taken, and how much Hollywood created.The packaging is of 2 DVD's with the first being the movie itself. Vivid, pure colors with incredible sound. The majesty of the Austrian mountains and villages as well as the story that pulls on the heartstrings and gives you moments to pause and admire. Disc one starts with a commercial about DVD piracy, then goes into a short commercial about purchasing other musical classics available. You are given a short introduction by the ever-elegant Ms. Andrews, who is as gracious and beautiful and charming as always, and then you are brought to the movie.But it is in the second DVD that we are given much more to enjoy and ponder in both how the movie was made and the realities of how real life was tranformed into reel life.It goes as such:1) My favorite things: Julie Andrews remembers2) Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer reminiscence3) On location with The Sound of Music4) From Liesl to Gretl: A 40th anniversary reunion5) When you know the notes to sing: a sing-a-long phenomenon6) A&E Biography: The Von Trapp Family, Harmony and Discord7) Restoration comparison8) Mia Farrow screen test9) Trailers and TV spots10) Still galleriesIt is in this second DVD that you you are treated to how this magnificent, family-friendly movie was made from start to finish. What a story you will be given! Just to mention one story without giving away much, I had always heard that Christopher Plummer had been difficult during the filming, and that he didn't really like working with kids, but because it was rumor, you couldn't pay it much mind. Well, in this documentary, he admits that he was "a boor... difficult" during the initial part of the filming, and that he agreed with W.C. Fields in that he also liked children....cooked. He also had initial disdain for the movie in that he called it "The Sound of Mucas". During this documentary, the fact that he didn't try to hide behind the truth was an interesting insight. Even in the interview that was done with the children, now as adults, they said they knew even back then, that Plummer didn't like them. But Plummer did save himself during the interview, in saying that he eventually came to appreciate the kids. How nice.For me, the most incredible part of the second disc was the A&E Biography. The Maria in the movie was just a slight shadow of the personality of the real-life Maria Von Trapp, who seemed to be a tortured soul all her life. When Maria's mother died at the fragile age of three, and her father abandoned her, she was left with her guardian uncle, who was physically abusive. She became a precocious child who lived carefree, but one day, she decided to go into a church near her home, and wondering what people were doing who were going into the confessional, found her salvation after three hours of talking to the priest. Wanting to become a nun, and finally feel the life of being within a "family", she tried to live the life of a postulate, but the Reverand Mother realizing Maria's zeal for life, turned her instead to the role of governess for the Von Trapp family. Her love for the Captain, and his desire to support the family, were immensely distorted in the film. Also, Maria's issues with control, and the childrens issues with their subserviance to her, led to a great deal of sadness and despair, which makes for the sobering reality of the real life of Maria Von Trapp. It does not change the beauty of the movie, but you certainly realize how far removed the movie was from the truth. Suffice it to say that liberal license was taken with the story.This movie itself is pure joy and comfort, and it is just perfect. But it is the insight into how it was made, and the story of the real Maria, that makes for a more pensive thought.