Instead of going to the theatre this week for our 6th blog assignment, I’m going to talk about one of my all-time favorite epic films, The Sound of Music, directed by Robert Wise. While most of the protagonist’s journey is not strictly physical but rather psychological, I think that this movie is special in the way that the family takes over Maria’ role in a sense, becoming as one unit representative of Austrians rejecting Socialist rule and military involvement. Their final escape from the musical festival is a high-stakes adventure, and the final few minutes of their travel through the Austrian countryside to freedom in Switzerland serves as a kind of microcosm of an epic journey.
The panoramic shots of the mountains and fields of Austria are often what come to mind for me when I first think of epic cinematography. What makes this epic film especially memorable I believe is the way it not only has a sweeping, exciting score but also is a dramatic and comedic musical whose lyrics and sound rise to the same scale as the landscape and and the same complexity as the political regime of the time. This film, at the very least deserving of the title “epic” due to its length, and one of the few epics focusing on a female lead, is often criticized for its lack of historical accuracy and so can be considered a fantasy in a sense. I will always think this film is impressive for the way it brings together comedy, romance, politics, religion, family dynamics, and gender in one fell swoop–which certainly gives it an ambition unique among most epics.