#addendum: It closes with bells [the way it opened wow full circle!]

[johnny1note]

why the wedding scene in The Sound of Music (1965) is perfect:

1. Julie is divinely beautiful with her subtle makeup and simple dress and the set is lit such that she literally looks like a glowing angel. Slay Queen.

2. The way it opens with the sisters helping her get ready, much like a bride's actual sisters would, because they really are like her family of origin! And the Mother Abbess giving her the blessing to go forth and joyfully embrace her true calling 😭

3. The organ introduction with all the stops out slaps and I would really love to incorporate it into something in my own church organ playing if it wasn't so recognizable.

4. The Mother Abbess shutting the gate behind Maria as she enters the church being the visual symbolism of her final break with her former life plan, but all of the nuns still being visible through the iron bars and smiling as a sign that they are still supporting her spiritually as she goes forward to join her new family

5. The counterpoint of the wedding march with "how do you solve a problem like Maria" also slaps and turns the comic deprecatory song of the first act into a solemn declaration of triumph. Genius.

6. Christopher Plummer's VERY subtle smile in his closeups is so perfect for the character.

7. The way the procession is filmed makes very effective use of the horizontal length of the church aisle (and you get to see all of the gorgeous Baroque side altars) and the symbolism of a long nave leading to the sanctuary in church architecture, you feel like you are really following Maria on her spiritual journey.

8. The way that there's like 2000 people at this wedding, it's great demonstration of how marriage (and worship in general) is a public social good as well as a private good.

9. Maria ascending the stairs to the choir like she's literally climbing to God!!!! Symbolizes how the sacrament of marriage is an elevated, holy state of being.

10. The key transposing upwards to a triumphant E-flat, mounting tension as we approach the climax of the scene, and the sisters' voices drop out too, as to suggest that words fail to capture the significance of what is about to take place.

11. Continuing tension mounting as the brass in the orchestration increases and everyone approaches the altar and kneels.

12. The final closeup starting on the bishop and panning upwards on the altarpiece; similarly to point 7, this is great use of the verticality of the space and how church architecture draws our eyes upwards on purpose to suggest that we are there to be elevated to God.

There are three symbols of Christian triumph on the altarpiece which, in context, suggest that the sacrament of marriage itself is a Christian triumph and something that leads us towards God, but these three symbols also specifically relate to the story of The Sound of Music:

a. the risen Christ [Georg 'rose' by resolving his grief, waking up to his children's emotional needs, as well as his own]

b. the coronation of the Virgin [Maria is 'crowned' by being married to Georg and fulfilling her true vocation]

c. Michael spearing Lucifer [foreshadowing Nazi Germany's eventual defeat in WWII? Or maybe just Sr. Berthe and Sr. Margaretta wrecking Col. Schneider's car]

Overall, 11/10. My only potential complaint would be that Richard Haydn (Uncle Max) genuflects with the wrong knee but I choose to forgive this.

#addendum: It closes with bells [the way it opened wow full circle!] #and the bells help release tension from the intense orchestral ending and almost suggest applause/cheering #and with the camera outside of the church as if it burst through the roof after panning up to the ceiling in the previous shot #it suggests that the joy and holiness of the marriage transcend all the beautiful symbolism of the church architecture etc that preceded it