My Favorite Things

Credit: filmquadposters.co.uk

I recently re-read and re-watched The Sound of Music – a book written by Maria Augusta von Trapp and the 1965 musical film based on it.

The film was a big favourite of the 10-something years old me. I remember watching it again and again and singing along the songs in Hungarian with my siblings (a little off-topic, but the songs are quite good in Hungarian – though they weren’t dubbed but left in English in the film, the musical features them in Hungarian). After seeing my enthusiasm, my parents presented me with the book as a Christmas gift. And – as it used to be with these kind adaptations – I was a little disappointed with the book and the real-life von Trapp family.

The love story of the Captain and Maria wasn’t as romantic as it was depicted in the film, if it can be called a ‘love story’ at all. They got married out of convenience: the Captain needed a mother for his children, while Maria – although she writes that she really intended to be a nun – wasn’t sure about whether dedicating her whole life to Christ is a good idea. And one must admit that marrying a wealthy, distinguished former naval officer from the Austrian nobility who is considered to be a war hero – well, it isn’t a bad option at all. And even though I think that they came to be in love at the end, there’s nothing romantic about how they became a married couple.

This was the smaller reason why I disliked the book. The main reason was that the most of it told how they settled, struggled and got famous in the United States – it indeed can be interesting, but not for me who wanted to re-live the film and get to know the (non-existing) love story of Georg and Maria von Trapp.

Credit: galleryhip.com

And accordingly, the reasons for me loving the film are the way it depicts the von Trapp family and the interactions between the Captain and Maria. (And because I simply love Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. They were the perfect choices for these roles, especially Plummer – despite that the film-Captain was nothing like the real Georg von Trapp, Plummer made a great Captain, manly, elegant and sarcastic who keeps the distance, yet warm-hearted and kind.) My favourite scene is when they dance the Ländler, but I like how they communicate only with their eyes and small gestures after they got married. I also welcome the idea of adding the Baroness’ character. She was meant to be an antagonist, however, I kind of like her and liked her even in my childhood. She loves the Captain in her own way and isn’t afraid to admit and can accept that she has lost.

Usually I cannot make peace with fundamental alterations to the original story or characters, but The Sound of Music belongs to the few exceptions. I like that the makers of the musical and the film altered the details of the von Trapp children, making it possible to present a relationship between Maria and Liesl that is friendship-like and also a mother-daughter connection at the same time. And by making Maria the governess to all of the children, as opposed to the reality where she only tutored the sick younger Maria, the film allows her to get close to all of the seven children. While reading the book I somehow got the feeling that the real-file Maria never had a true mother-child relationship with her elder stepchildren.

 

The real Georg von Trapp. Credit: Wikipedia

The real Captain Georg von Trapp was a deeply religious man. In contrast to the film, it was unimaginable in the Trapp house to not to pray before meals. And while von Trapp did love his homeland wholeheartedly, he didn’t refuse to accept his commission as a Kriegsmarine officer only because of his patriotism. He did so because he firmly believed that the Nazi regime and Nazism as an ideology is against God and Christianity. (This is one of my two favourite parts from the book [in my translation from Hungarian – sorry, I couldn’t get hold of the original English copy]: “No, I cannot accept it. I swore an oath to the old flag: With God for Emperor and Fatherland. This would be against God and Fatherland. I would break my first oath.”)

It seems that being a devoted believer doesn’t suit the image of the Captain in the film (and musical), therefore the makers focused on his patriotism and even made it a recurring motive. Just as we enter the Trapp house, we meet the Captain wearing an Austrian-style costume, when he sings for the first time after many years, he chose a patriotic song and during the ball a huge Austrian flag is on display in the hall. It is as clear as the water of the Alpine streams that the Captain is in love with Austria, and considering how he is introduced as a cold-hearted character, it simply amuses me how a tough man, who doesn’t pay attention even to his own children, can love his homeland so much. Not fanatically like many of the Nazis, but with a quiet, deep passion which I imagine to be the strongest love a man can feel. I only understood his feelings now, as an adult, when he sings Edelweiss at the festival – this scene and when the whole arena joins him gives me goosebumps and bring me tears every time I watch it. If only every man could love like him...

Re-watching the film also highlighted that how much details a child misses or how your point of view changes on what is important and what is not. For example, as a child I didn’t appreciate the national costumes nor that one particular sentence when it is mentioned that the Captain got his medal from the Emperor and I didn’t try to catch every look and small gesture that shows what the children think and how they feel about Maria. Noticing these small and new details made me feel that I was watching a new film which is, on the other hand, is familiar like a friend whom you haven’t met since you were little kids, and while both of you have changed in many ways, so much that you are almost strangers, but deep in your heart you know that in spite of all the changes, the other person is still the same old friend who means a part of your childhood.  

Alla

And a bonus: Some days ago I found a German adaptation of the story. It is based on the real-life Trapp family, but some elements were changed in order to be more romantic and syrupy. You can watch it here with English subs.