Always makes me weep

Rating: 10/10 (23 April 2001)

This is by far my favorite movie of all times. I'm a sucker for all Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals, and this one is the best one of all. Perhaps because I was 8 years old when it came out in 1965. My uncle played viola for musicals and I saw it before, but I always loved this movie especially. Boy, did I have a crush on Julie Andrews! Then there's the fact that I come from a musical family, so the film's theme of music overcoming Nazi Germany was a very moving point.
This is a children's, or "family" movie. I am a believer that children need music education and a respect for traditional European music culture. There are many factors that work against children receiving such cultural exposure today: elimination of traditional music education in public schools, the synthesizer revolution taking over the music world causing kids to mess with danceable synth drum tracks instead of learning an orchestral instrument (which is more difficult), emergence of non-European cultures in America creating a resentment toward white-based traditional music education, Modern (atonal) artistic music asserting itself causing more resentment of traditional (usually Romantic based) European music education, the constant emergence of new styles of popular and artistic music causing less & less room for traditional music to hold its ground, etc. etc.
I believe that this is a shame because there is a certain subtle appreciation for music that is instilled in people who are allowed exposure to Romantic Classical music. Of course, classic Broadway music owes much to such Romantic music. Nowhere is this more evident than in this film, which theme essentially asserts the importance of European classical music for children's education, and does so in a manner that makes such music education FUN! Julie Andrews style. Indeed, traditional music education techniques were being challenged at the time of the making of this musical (the emergence of 50s rock & roll). This appears to have been R & H's nostalgic statement for the cause of retaining the old musical values by way of revealing just how fun learning Solfege (Do-re-mi etc.) can be! That is, if you have a really cool governess to play games with in the gardens while you learn the tunes.
God! I wish I could go back to those days!
Read it & weep, baby.