Patrick B. Mendoza T.F.

09:00 am -10:30 am
CED – 02 – 401A March 16, 2018
Movie Review

The Sound of Music

Title: The Sound of Music

Director: Robert Wise

Year Shown, Length of the movie: 1965 ‧ 2h 54m (174 minutes)

Genre: Drama/Romance/Musical

Movie Thesis/theme/purpose: History, Music and sing-along, Love, War,

Religion, and Family.

The Sound of Music is a tuneful, heartwarming story; it is based on the real life story of

the Von Trapp Family singers from Austria, one of the world's best-known concert

groups before World War II even started. Julie Andrews plays the role of Maria, the

tomboyish postulant at an abbey situated near the Austrian Alps who was

commissioned by her superiors to become a governess in a home of seven children

raised with soldier-like discipline by their father who is a widowed naval captain. Maria

then brings a new love of life and music into the Von Trapp home.

This paper aims to analyze the movie according to the different types of Film Theories

to inspect if most, if not all of the theories are present or has been faintly touched in the

said movie.

1. Film’s Vocabulary (Philosophy of language film analysis)

 2. Ostensive Aspects (Structuralist Film Theory)

3. Representation of fantasy (Psychoanalytic film theory)

4. Formal, or technical, elements of a film (Formalist film theory)

The plot of the movie will also be presented using Freytag’s Pyramid to get a better

understanding of the movie structure.

Discussion

It is said that a movie is a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving

images and shown in a theater or on television; also called a motion picture, on the

other hand a Movie (Film) analysis is the process in which a movie/film is analyzed in

terms of semiotics, narrative structure, cultural context, and mise-en-scene, among

other approaches. Thus, this paper will analyze the movie “The Sound of Music”

through the different theories of movie analysis such as the Philosophy of language film

analysis, Structuralist Film Theory, Psychoanalytic film theory, and Formalist film theory

while the discussion of the dramatic structure of the plot will make use of Freytag’s

Pyramid.

Exposition:

The movie which takes place during the late 1930s, opens on a sweeping view of the

Austrian Alps and a young woman, Maria (played by Julie Andrews), in a complete

frenzy while singing.When she hears the church bells, she then wakes up from her

enchantment and hurries back to the abbey, where she is a postulant, but she arrives

too late for the church service. She tries to explain herself to the Mother Abbess (Peggy

Wood), who tells her that she is to take up a position as governess to the seven children
of the widowed former naval officer Captain Georg von Trapp (Christopher Plummer).

When she arrives to take up her post, she learns that the captain requires military

discipline from his children (ranging in age from 5 to 16) and expects the same from

Maria. After dinner the eldest, Liesl (Charmian Carr), sneaks out to meet with Rolfe

(Daniel Truhitte), a telegraph messenger. Maria’s warmth and kindness quickly win the

children’s affection.

Rising Action:

The following day Captain Von Trapp take his leave for Vienna, with plans of bringing

home with him Baroness Elsa Schraeder (Eleanor Parker), who the captain intends to

marry. While the captain is gone Maria is determined to taught the children to play

outside and to sing, this latter became one of their warm greeting to their visitors. Upon

the return of the captain and the baroness along with their friend Max Detweiler

(Richard Haydn), the captain catches Maria and his children on the lake, the captain,

was so displeased – he and Maria argued, until he fires Maria but things change when

Captain hears his children sing for the baroness. Max then suggests that he enter the

children in the upcoming Salzburg Festival, but the captain refuses. He does agree to

host a ball, however. At the ball the baroness sees the captain dancing with Maria and

realizes that they have feelings for each other. She tells Maria that she thinks that Maria

is in love with the captain. Horrified, Maria packs and returns to the abbey and goes

their in seclusion, but the Mother Abbess tells Maria that she cannot hide from her

feelings and must return to the von Trapps. After her return, the baroness and the

captain breaks off their engagement, and the captain and Maria confesses their love for

each other and gets married in the abbey church.

Climax:

Austria then becomes an annex because Nazi Germany (the Anschluss) while Maria

and the captain are on their honeymoon. While Max is rehearsing the children for the

Salzburg Festival, Rolfe (messenger and Liesl’s love interest) gives Liesl a telegram to

give to her father upon his return. The said telegram tells the captain that he is to report

for duty in the German navy the following day. The captain and Maria decide that the

family must leave Austria that night.

Falling Action:

When they were about to execute their plan of escape the Nazi troops led by Herr Zeller

(Ben Wright) catches them pushing their car away from the house. The captain tells

them that they are on their way to perform in the Salzburg Festival, and the Nazis escort

them the venue. After their well received performance, they escape to the abbey. The

Nazis follow them there, and they hide among the catacombs at the back of the abbey.

Rolfe, who is with the Nazi troops, sees them. He allows them to escape but then calls

out to the soldiers that he has seen them. The von Trapps flee in the caretaker’s car,

the Nazis was unable to catch up because two nuns have sabotaged their cars.

Denouement:

The von Trapps get to say their farewell through a musical goodbye to their beloved

Austria (and pump up some Austrian nationalist sentiments) before escaping into the

Austrian Alps where they walk on foot until they reach the safety and freedom of the

summit, the movie ends with the music playing while showing the rest of the mountains

beauty.
The Film, in terms of vocabulary focuses on the following aspects War, Love, Religion,

and Family, most of the language used are associated with the said aspects, and since

the movies was set in Austria, the film instead of using purely Austrian or German, used

the English language to better acquaint its audience to the actual events that took place

within Austria during its annexing to the Nazi German prior World War II. The movie

showcased variety of rich use of figurative and idiomatic expressions, like simile,

metaphor, hyperbole to name a few, the usage of such is evident not just in dialogues

but in songs as well, samples are "How do you solve a problem like Maria" (simile), “I

suppose you noticed the obvious display of the Austrian flag in the hallway?”

(Synecdoche) and the lyrics to the Do-Re-Mi shows a lot of play on words (pun) just to

mention some. The Structure of the Sound of Music as portrayed in Freytag’s Pyramid

only proves that the story is balance and has not missed any of the five aspects of the

dramatic plot, thus the film was divided into two the first part was the story of the family

and Maria, while the other half foretells about the struggles faced by the protagonist in

the story. Also in examining the structure the four perspectives through four

throughlines are used, the Overall Story Throughline, the Main Character Throughline,

The Relationship Throughline and the Influence Character Throughline.

 Overall Story Throughline is dealt in The wedding, since it provides

details as to how the von Trapp family became whole again and because

this throughline represents the perspective of They, it talks of a more

objective view of the characters.

  Relationship Throughline is demonstrated in the love stories of Liesl and

Rolfe, Baroness Shraeder and Captain Von Trapp though it’s very shallow,

as well as the love of Maria and Captain Von Trapp

 Main Character Throughline and Influence Character Throughline in

this perspective Maria and Captain Georg Von Trapp are the best samples

of the two respectively, Maria being the lead of the story with most lines

and Georg as the strict rules-oriented Captain, thus this two aspects

interchange in the story and does not only rotate with Maria and the

Captain.

In terms of representation the movie Edelwiess, the Mountain, and the Music are the

main symbols. “Edelwiess” is a small white flower that's common in the Austrian

mountains; it's almost considered the national flower. That strong association with the

country is important to Captain Von Trapp. He sings a folksong about it, and one of the

lyrics is "Bless my homeland forever." Definitely this symbol is explicitly stated. The

Mountains like the edelweiss also talks about home, since home is a sign of security

and comfort, this is clearly shown when Maria goes to sing and commune with nature,

to the detriment of her duties at the abbey. When the Reverend Mother worries that she

could get lost up there after dark, Maria declares that she grew up in those hills, so she

could never be lost there. Basically, the hills are a place where she goes to recharge

along with the children when the captain was away. Also, this became their refuge for

their escape when chased by the Nasiz. Lastly, the Music, music is not only meant to be

sang in the film it represents joy and glory, thus without it – sadness and gloom follows.
Music also represents the emotion being portrayed by each character in their respective

scenes from the very beginning of the movie until it ended.

The Sound of Music, technical and formal elements are purely “Straightforward and

Melodic” the film didn’y take too many risks with the whole genre of the musical or with

storytelling. There's the single plot line following Maria's journey from being a

problematic postulant, to a governess, and finally to a stepmother of seven, with the

whole sparks of World War II at bay and the rise of the Nazis power in the background.

The only things that interrupt the narrative are the musical numbers, thus it only adds up

to the rising of the succeeding storyline. The film lasted for almost 3 hours, but being

able to sustain the interest as well as intensity of the story without losing any of it

because of dull moments. The Music and dialogues are arranged in a way that they

interact with one another nothing is misplaced in the story, music are connected or

relevant to the respected scenes where they are meant to be sang by the actors.

Conclusion

The Sound of Music and Its enduring appeal stands on three sturdy legs. The first is

that behind the beautiful scenery and under the charm, something important really is at

stake. The movie may have shed the two most evidently political songs it is still full of

ethical dilemmas, of decisions where people must choose between right and wrong,

good and evil. Finally, of course, there is no doubt that there are the songs – everyone a

classic. Indelible, indestructible, magnificently structured, they make The Sound of

Music a film to be watched over and over again by all ages, and even to sing along with.

And indeed this movie only proves the universal truth the Music is language spoken by
everyone and that it brings people together. The movie has a confidence and a sense of

moral purpose that warms the hardest heart and gives smile and hope to those who

need them.