**Movie reviews are back. Expect a whole bunch this week.**
I watched The Sound of Music this afternoon (at a big sing-along. Great fun. This theater gives you a goodie bag of props at their sing-alongs and suggestions of characters to cheer or boo***). Of course I've seen it a thousand times (and I'm guessing you have too. Spoilers abound in this review) but I love it every time.
Synopsis (even though you probably know): a young nun-to-be keeps getting into the trouble in just barely prewar Austria. The Mother Superior decides maybe this isn't the best place for her and sends her to be the governess for a family with seven children. She reintroduces music into the stuffy home she is working in and accidentally falls in love with the father. When the father's new fiancée points the love situation out to her, she runs back to the abbey. The kids are sad, the dad is sad, she is sad. She comes back, the dad realizes he's in love, the fiancée leaves, the family is happy for like a minute and then the Nazis come in. They sing a bunch and then run away.
The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, came out in 1965, which is why you may have seen a special performance at the 2015 Oscars by Lady Gaga commemorating it. It's 50 this year, so everyone is kind of excited.
As I said, at this sing-along they suggested cheers and boos. Specifically, they said to hiss at the Baroness (the Captain's fiancée). On paper this makes sense. When you think about the plot, the Baroness seems like the almost evil stepmother and the thing that was keeping the Captain and Maria apart. The thing is, that's not true.
The Baroness is a friendly and, I think, genuinely sweet and kind woman. She's shallow, she's very interested in money, and she's not a great match for the Captain or the children, but she. Is. Not. Evil.
She. Is. Not. The. Villain. Of. This. Movie.
(That would be the Nazis)
The Baroness is uninterested in being mother to seven children (and I don't know that we can really blame her for that. Parenting seven kids sounds like quite a big thing. And the kids range in age from 5 to 16. That's a huge endeavor. You really can't hate on someone who doesn't want that) and says she'll send them to boarding school. You can be down on her for the boarding school thing (because when you marry a single parent you marry their children too), but she seems to truly care for the Captain. She shouldn't marry him but THAT DOESN'T MAKE HER BAD.
In fact, if it weren't for her, Maria and the Captain would never figure out they were into each other. It takes her telling Maria after the big party scene for Maria to realize and the Captain knows something is missing but can't even figure out that he misses Maria until Maria comes back and the Baroness points out that he likes her.
If the Captain hadn't been courting the Baroness when the movie opened, Maria would never have even gotten the children singing. Remember, the morning after Maria arrives, the Captain heads off to Vienna to spend time with the Baroness and then bring her back to Saltzburg. If he'd been in the house with Maria and the kids, she wouldn't have been able to loosen up the rules and discipline.
Basically, the Baroness, while the wrong woman for the Captain, is not the villain people make her out to be. She may be foolish. She may have the wrong goals, but she is not bad.
Other things about this movie: Maria transforms personality completely when she gets married. It's weird and kind of blech. Ignore the characterizations and look at the pretty Austrian countryside and listen to the pretty music. You'll be happier.
And seriously just stop with the ant-Baroness thing. She's isn't the bad guy.
***If you're curious: we had a card with a picture of Maria on one side and the word "flippertyjibbit" on the other, a card with a question mark and a will of the wisp on either side, an invitation to the Captain and Baroness's party, a swatch of curtain fabric, a plastic twig of white flowers, and a champagne popper to celebrate Maria and the Captain kissing*
*Obligatory special shout out to my parents, brother, aunt, and cousin for chilling with me and waving our little Edelweisses high as we sang*
*Little house keeping note, November kind of wiped me, as did a variety of life-type things this month. My New Years resolution is 3-5 movie reviews each week though, so keep your eyes out for me. As always, if you have a movie suggestion or request, comment (here), tweet (@wendywatchmovie), or email (wendywatchesmovies@gmail.com) me. Happy watching!*
