Mostly Disconnected From The Movies

Rating: 7/10 (5 January 2006)

AnschluB means 'joining' or 'connecting', not quite 'annexation'.
Wise succeeds in making a movie out of the external scenery. The composition of landscapes and aerials, and that marvelous facade of the Von Trapp estate are the only cinematic bits. The actors are nicely scaled against the trees, then against the mountains.
Once indoors, all we have are stages.
The children's' farewell to the ball guests mirrors the escape from the Nazis...all it takes is a song to sweep us away.
Julie won us with pure pluck and determination.
Ideal family fare here.
Interesting how comfortable our cinematic notions of the Nazis were then. Their worst perpetration here was impatience at the music festival, and we expected that. By the time of Spielberg's List, we got the psychopaths (which they were) that we expected.
For uncomfortable cinematic notions, consider Polanski's Pianist; the notion that the culture that produced Bach, Beethoven, etc. could bomb the radio station broadcasting Chopin. Later, one of their own is swept away by the Sound of Music.