Wednesday, June 19, 2013

The Sound Of Music And Me

A local dvd library was closing down and I heard they were selling off stock cheaply. I went with my heart set on getting The Sound Of Music to watch with DD. But I'd missed it - the shop was shut. I was so disappointed - TSOM was so much a part of my childhood. Of course I'd had it on video once but the videos are long gone along with the VCR. I wandered into an expensive book shop and browsed at the dvds. And there it was. So I bought it for a stupid amount of money, only slashing the cost by a quarter by buying a second dvd at half price (Shrek 2 if you're interested).

I remember being taken to the West End to see TSOM, it must have been about 1969. I wore my best clothes, patent shoes, a hat and gloves with my best coat. I think it was the Christmas holidays. I thought  Liesl was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and I wanted to be her. I wanted hair like Brigitta. And when I grew up was going to have seven children and live in a palace next to a lake in the Alps. Much of the story apart from the singing went right over my head.

Then TSOM came to television. We watched every Christmas Day and/or Easter and other bank holidays when you had to be in front of the tv at the stated time or miss it. We had a cassette of all the songs and sang along with them from London to Wales/Scotland/Switzerland/Italy with a caravan in tow. It was one of the first films we taped on video when VCRs became de riguer. (Haven't seen 'de riguer' used much recently - it was everywhere a few years ago. Funny that.)

So I put it on yesterday afternoon for DD and I to watch together. I explained a bit to her about what was going to happen as I knew she'd get bored with the beginning if she wasn't excited about meeting the children. I caught her beaming at the screen when the children started singing and dancing.

This is how I wanted to spend our summers
I, on the other hand found myself crying through much of it. I could only see seven children without a mummy. A man who'd lost his beloved wife. A family who were about to leave everything they knew and owned as they fled the Nazis. A Baroness who wasn't quite good enough for the man she loved. A beautiful palace by a lake that I would never live in. Julie Andrews with a figure and a voice that I would never have. A rich husband and seven children that I won't have either. A lifestyle that pretty much died with the 1930s but the life I would have ordered had I been invited to place an order when I was seven.

DD: Why are you crying Mummy?
Me: Because it's sad.
DD: It's not making me cry.

After kindergarten today I asked DD if she'd like to watch Shrek 2 this time. "No, I want that one again with the children."
Me: What's your favourite bit?
DD: When they take those things.
Me: What things?
DD: Those things out of the car so the bad people can't chase them.
Me (surprised): Oh.

8 comments:

  1. What a lovely post - I have fond memories of watching this at my nan and grandads house as it was always on, like you say, around xmas/easter. I never seem to watch it from start to finish though! But like you I did watch it over xmas or bits of it and thought urgh him getting off with a nun etc - you certainly look at it through different eyes as an adult xx

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    1. I remember thinking that the Baroness was the wicked witch of the story when i was little - but she's not, she's just sad.

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  2. Loved this post. We always watched this along with Oliver and The Wizard of Oz on Christmas Day. My nostalgia for all 3 films is very strong because of the ritual and guarantee that they would be shown every year.

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    1. I'd forgotten about Oliver - love that film but I also remember it going on a bit too long (Dickens fault I think) and tbh, The Wizard of Oz is a bit dated and a tad boring these days. I loved them then though.

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  3. Such a lovely film. Funny how we notice different things when we re-watch them though. I have seen tourists re-enacting TSOM in Salzburg. Just so you know for future holidays? :)

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    1. LOL - that sounds exactly like the sort of wally thing I'd do.

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  4. Does DD get scared at all? What about the Nazi's etc. - does she watch all of it with you? my 5 year old knows most of the songs (in English plus a few in Hebrew), but I am worried it will be too scary for her. We watched the 1970s version of charlie and the chocolate factory, and we had to stop because she got scared, and she had nightmares after. Same with Wizard of Oz...

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    1. She did the first few times but now she's blase as she knows the ending. She says, "uh oh, the bads are coming!" when they march through Salzburg. I remember having nightmares as a child that the Nazis were marching down our road and I had to hide before they cam into the house to search for us. Now I wonder if I got the idea from this film - how else would I have known about Nazis at such a young age?
      On the ohter hand, we can no longer watch Bambi as she's scared of the mother dying. I have a no nonsense view about these things - they're just films.

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