For those who’re questioning why The Sound of Music received 5 Academy Awards and was nominated for 5 extra, you in all probability haven’t seen the movie.
Directed by Robert Sensible, this three-hour musical is among the most immersive experiences of music and love.
Based mostly on the memoir by Maria von Trapp, The Sound of Music is a musical drama that follows Maria’s (Julie Andrews) time in Nazi-occupied Austria, the place she serves as a governess to the seven kids of the widowed naval officer Captain von Trapp (Christopher Plummer), with whom she in the end falls in love.
For followers of the movie, one of many peak highlights is its opening—Maria’s introduction, set in opposition to the sprawling hills, singing “The Sound of Music,” as she claims a merger of her existence with nature.
On this article, we’re going to research how this one scene did a lot for your entire movie.
The Scene
The opening sequence of The Sound of Music stays one in every of cinema’s handiest character introductions, instantly establishing Maria’s essence by each visible spectacle and symbolic which means.
The digital camera glides by clouds above snow-covered alpine peaks, descending regularly towards the valleys beneath. Because the digital camera descends in direction of the bottom, a complete completely different world is unveiled earlier than your eyes.
The snow is now changed with lush inexperienced forests, and a blue river flows quietly between the hills. Below the brilliant solar, every little thing glistens like gold, and the air is stuffed with the smooth chirping of birds.
The digital camera sweeps by forests and meadows with fluid, purposeful motion, drawing viewers into the panorama. Quickly, you attain an abbey—it is an archaic architectural magnificence. You whiz previous it, speeding towards the plush inexperienced meadows.
As you squint your eyes, you see that there’s anyone already there: a younger nun. Her arms are unfold extensive as if she is making an attempt to hug the hills and the wind. She begins singing in bliss:
The hills are alive with the sound of music,
With songs they’ve sung for a thousand years.
As she sings joyfully, it strikes you that Maria resides our dream. (On the time, I used to be hell-bent on turning into an actress, all set to journey round to stunning locations and shoot stunning sequences, till I found I’m profoundly camera-shy.)
Whereas the opening is momentous, the music holds a deeper which means, because it reappears within the movie at a heart-warming second. We’ll get to that shortly.
‘The Sound of Music’Credit score: twentieth Century Fox
Behind The Scenes
Whereas the situation within the story is Austria, the scene was really shot about 10 kilometers into Bavaria, Germany.
At the moment, the land was owned by personal farmers. At present, a well-known mountain climber owns the place and doesn’t actually recognize outsiders (particularly followers) on his property, based on ABC Information.
Robert Sensible had deliberate a six-week shoot, however infamous Salzburg rains prolonged manufacturing by 5 weeks. The climate delays considerably impacted the finances because of the substantial prices of housing and transporting the crew.
Taking pictures the music “The Sound of Music” was not a cakewalk. In her memoir, Residence: A Memoir of My Early Years, Julie Andrews reminisces about how the enduring scene was shot.
She recalled how they might go as much as the situation, hoisted atop large open ox-pulled carts, and she or he would sit atop the digital camera tools. The climate was unhealthy, it was freezing chilly, and there have been no loos for miles.
Even technically, the scene was demanding. It needed to be shot from a helicopter, and the timing needed to be completely good. It was extraordinarily troublesome for Andrews to carry out in opposition to the sturdy downward drafts of the helicopter. The sturdy wind from the helicopter blades would throw her to the bottom every time the helicopter stooped low to take its place.
Moreover, it was extraordinarily hazardous for the digital camera operator, as the one method to shoot with out casting shadows was to rig the digital camera to the operator outdoors the helicopter, utilizing solely straps. When the unique digital camera operator refused to take the shot as a result of security issues, with nobody else to fill the place, DP Paul Beeson stepped up.
Regardless of his vertigo, even within the absence of security protocols, the passionate cameraman rigged himself to the digital camera to shoot a scene that made historical past.
The birch bushes had been introduced as much as the mountain for the scene, and the flowing brook was synthetic. Lastly, on the final day of the shoot in that location, the crew managed to seize Andrews’ iconic shot in just below 20 minutes of daylight.
Themes and Symbolism
What fascinates me about this opening, and the music, is that they collectively paint a crystal clear image of Maria for the viewers.
To me, it is among the most iconic character introductions—not solely visually liberating however a honest peek into the center and thoughts of the character. I like how the digital camera stays static whereas solely she, the wind, and the brook circulate within the scene. One music and scene later, you’ll haven’t any questions on Maria’s essence.
Later, Maria appears to be an irresponsible and negligent novice nun who’s not reduce out for the life she has chosen for herself.
However whenever you place her on this scene, you notice she is a type of who imagine in grace and divinity past the buildings of faith. She reveres the divine by its creations and prefers connecting with it within the Alps fairly than inside an abbey.
‘The Sound of Music’ Credit score: twentieth Century Fox
The scene was handled so powerfully that it leaves an indelible impression on our minds till the tip of the musical. When Maria is launched to the seven motherless kids as their governess, each events are battling their points.
The kids are defensive, craving for love, whereas Maria, a troubled nun, struggles to decide on between her spiritual duties and her need for a lifetime of her personal. Georg von Trapp is a chilly and distant man who runs the family with strict self-discipline.
Over time, with love and using music to heal them, Maria wins over the kids and brings them collectively as a household. By this time, she’s grown near them and began considering of them as her personal kids.
The reappearance of the music “The Sound of Music” at this level within the movie marks the completion of the character arcs. Every character within the film has reached their full potential.
Georg walks into the home, following “the sound of music”. He sees his kids, standing in a choir, singing “The Sound of Music.” His coronary heart is full. Quickly, he joins in; Maria walks in from the opposite room, listening to the captain’s voice. She watches him end the music along with his kids from the brink.
The music ends, and the youngsters hug their father. The picture is straightforward however highly effective—the household is lastly reunited. Their love transcends the display screen, amplified by the music. The second additionally reveals how a lot she has fallen in love with this man.
I watch this musical typically after I’m unhappy, however I do not know why. The completely happy ending all the time makes me really feel higher afterward.
Whereas most individuals tear up when Maria and Georg lastly get married, I normally cry at this cathartic “The Sound of Music” scene, the place the kids are lastly again with their father—the von Trapp household turns into entire once more.
Which is your favourite scene from the musical?
