The Sound of Music: Robert Wise

It's always been a joke among my friends that even though I'm a huge film buff, I've never actually seen Robert Wise's The Sound of Music. Well, that's not entirely true. I remember growing up as a child and catching snippets of it every time we would visit my grandmother's house in Florida. But my attention span was even more pathetic than it is nowadays and I could never survive more than the first few musical numbers. But I'm older now and my attention span has grown to a point where I can watch entire Ozu movies in one sitting! This summer I find myself living with my grandmother in California, so I thought that it would be the perfect time to try and watch the whole film with her from start to finish. She only had an old, two-tape VHS version of the film, so I found myself battling with a VCR for the first time in years...literally. But once the film got started I was mesmerized by one of the most beautiful and magnificent American musicals ever made. I don't think I need to go into specifics about the plot or the music. Everything that can be said about them has already been said. The only thing I can add to the discourse is my own personal experience watching it. Watching my grandmother's eyes light up when Julie Andrews sang "I Have Confidence," laughing with her at lines I had missed as a child ("Yes, but seven!!"), and even taking a break as we swapped VHS tapes like we were back in the 90s...these are the memories that are precious to me. And I wouldn't trade them for anything.

I love you, Baba.

10/10