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Jewish World Review June 15, 2005 / 8 Sivan, 5765 Why we're still high on a hill with von Trapps By Lenore Skenazy http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | In a world where the new "Gilligan's Island" features sexual tension between Mary Ann and Ginger, where "The Longest Yard" remake makes "Platoon" look pleasant, where Nicole Kidman can star in the big screen "Bewitched" even though she can barely wiggle her nose, let us do the world a favor: Let us brook no remake of "The Sound of Music." After all, it's not like the 1965 version is boring audiences in its current incarnation. Just mention this movie and people start smiling. Or singing. Or both. Then they start remembering their favorite things ... er ... scenes: The boat trip where Maria and the kids fall overboard. The folk dance at the big party. The baroness remarking that, "Somewhere out there is a lady who I think will never be a nun." (I hope I'm not giving anything away.) This month marked the movie's 40th anniversary, and it remains the No.3 box office winner of all time, bested only by No.1 "Gone with The Wind" (another movie wherein the star proves her pluck by making clothing out of curtains) and No.2 "Star Wars" (wherein the star proves her pluck by enduring the same double-cinnamon-bun hairdo as Gretl von Trapp.) So what is it that makes "The Sound of Music" so enchanting, despite the fact it is basically a movie about the Nazis taking over Europe? Some say it's the scenery — mountains, fountains, etc. Some say it's the kids: Well-behaved but still mischievous. Then, of course, there's Julie Andrews, who sounds as if she was as delightful on the set as she is on the screen. In the scene where she and the Captain finally confess their love, she supposedly found it so funny to be singing so close to his face that she couldn't stop laughing. In the end, the director shot part of the song in silhouette, just to hide her giggles. Another plus on a mega — or is it meta? — level, is that everyone in the film undergoes an extreme makeover: From misfit nun to happy mother, absent father to lovable dad, lonely brats to beloved kids. Even amoral Max eventually does the right thing. But what really makes this movie sing (as it were) is the music. Music always has a subtext — a secret message your heart implicitly understands. So when you hear a ditty like, "Do Re Mi," you know it's not just about kids learning to sing. It's about kids learning to live and love again. Another little song, "Edelweiss," is about a flower that blooms and grows. But it's also survival of the human spirit. "Edelweiss" is the last song Oscar Hammerstein wrote. In a way it is "The Sound of Music" in miniature: Powerful in its seeming simplicity. It needs no fancy remix. Some things are perfect the way they are. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Lenore Skenazy is a columnist for The New York Daily News. Comment by clicking here. Lenore Skenazy Archives © 2005, NY Daily News

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