The Sound of Music

Far from being the glutinous confection the cynics would have one believe, The Sound of Music has both a genuine stature and an emotional underpinning which other lumpier musicals only aspire to. The emotion derives from the poised counterpoint of Julie Andrews' perky governess to Christopher Plummer's Austrian pater familias, their ripening relationship overshadowed by the Nazi Anschluss of 1938; the stature comes from Wise's magisterial integration of landscape, music and character into a poignant whole, crystallized in one of the most breathtaking opening sequences of the entire 70 mm canon. (National Film Theatre)