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The Sound of Music (Robert Wise, 1965)

An quirky nun has to take care of seven aristocratic kids and falls in love with their father.


Two or three of the musical numbers of this film immediately stuck: The title tune, and the "Maria" song. Friends and me have discussed which of the other songs deserves to be called great. But nevertheless, the whole movie is upbeat and happy - even the Nazis don't look too sinister in it.

The camera work is simply astounding. Starting with the wonderful opening shots, flying over the Austrian countryside and the amazing sets, there are many beautiful and very colorful pictures to marvel at. The use of a soft diffusion filter was a bit over the top, more of a zeitgeist thing from the 60s.

I have never read into Julie Andrews' career but she works well for this film, with her boyish, slightly naive straightforwardness. I must have seen her films on television, because despite being presented this film on a glorious screen, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that I was watching the TV on Saturday afternoon, while eating stolen cookies. Undoubtedly this is as sweet as a memory can get and the movie fits the sentiment nicely.

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