Retrospective Film Review

The Sound of Music (1965) • 60 Years Later — embracing a world of music, magic, and happy endings

A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.

We all know the opening shot: an aerial view of the pristine Austrian Alps, with birdsong, babbling brooks, and snowy peaks. Suddenly, a melodic Richard Rodgers’ score swells as we slowly pan up a hill and see a distant figure walking towards us, impossibly small amid the giant natural world surrounding her. This is the opening to the film version of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s award-winning stage musical The Sound of Music.

In its 60th year, The Sound of Music continues to enchant audiences worldwide — a testament not only to its memorable tunes and breathtaking landscapes but also to its unapologetic embrace of a unique kind of “unrealism.” Critics over the decades have labelled the film as overly sweet and saccharine, dismissing its clean moral lines and fairytale resolutions as unrealistic. Yet it’s…