Perhaps I'm biased because I'm a musician and a singer and I wish life itself could be a musical—I'm motivated to break into song on multiple occasions throughout any given day (and do...)—but I firmly believe The Sound of Music is the best piece of cinema ever created. In fact, I believe it's God's Favorite Movie, as well: the Matins, the nuns, and the gorgeous church wedding...good defeating evil!! It must be in His Top 10, at least.
The visuals are stunning. The Tyrolean Alps provide breathtaking panoramic and aerial shots and the village of Salzburg is a playground of sights. The music, while iconoclastic, gains deeper meaning and deeper delight within the context of the movie. The nuns’ expressions are priceless during “Maria”. “My Favorite Things”, despite achieving radio airplay at Christmas Time, is not truly complete unless accompanied by a rainstorm! "Do-Re-Mi" is purely clever, as is the puppet scene of "The Lonely Goatherd," and I tear up each time Mother Superior extols the virtues of following one's heart in "Climb Ev'ry Mountain." The music is, in short, charming, engrossing and highly sing-able!
The casting is genius. I can't imagine anyone portraying Maria besides Julie Andrews. Her heartfelt rendering of Maria and her amazing vocalizations are a joy to see and to hear. It’s a pleasure to watch the maturational journey upon which Maria embarks, beginning as a young, carefree postulant and ending as a wife and mother. There are many layers within the story, one of which is the love story of the Captain and Maria, which is nothing short of a fairy tale, complete with an enormous cathedral wedding! The seven "children von Trapp" are a delight—adorable, funny, entertaining.
The Sound of Music is also historically significant and portrays an interesting period: pre-Anschluss Austria. At times, the film evokes an odd and eerie feeling, given the viewer's hindsight knowledge of the ungodly havoc that is about to befall Austria and the world. The feeling of unity the movie conveys—that of a family, a community, and a nation—joining together to fight that which is quintessential evil is quietly awe-inspiring and reverent. It is that reverence that abounds when Captain von Trapp, and eventually the entire audience of the Music Festival, sings "Edelweiss". A beautiful scene.
The Sound of Music is a movie to be watched alone (belting out the songs within the safety of one’s living room), with family, at a Sing-a-Long viewing…but it is a movie to be watched, many times, and to be enjoyed. It is “the will of the Lord.” After all, it is His Favorite Movie!
