Narratives in The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein - Movie Review Example

Running Head: Narrative. Name Course Instructor Date NARRATIVE Narratives are found in countless forms all in a wide variety of genres where each streams out to different types of media. It is therefore channeled through oral or written articulated language, pictures which may be still or moving, or a blend of all these (Wingstedt, 2004,). It is also important to note that narrative is actually found in a wide sphere of items like legends, fables myths, history, epics, tragedy, suspense drama, short stories, movies, conversations and many others. Even in the face of all these countless forms, it is present always, everywhere and in all social settings, thus portraying itself through history, internationally and cutting through the cultures (Kress, G. & Van Leeuwen, 2006). The most common form of narrative that crosses our minds is chiefly through stories written in books. By perusing them, the reader is able to deduce the message conveyed by the writer and thus the intention of the narrative will be put across chiefly by analyzing the different aspects that the writer employs. Different writers may use different styles or mechanisms in order to put the points they intend to put across to their readers putting into consideration the target cache of readers. Besides the books, narratives are a very common feature in films since films too employ the tact of a storyline. It is worthwhile noting that a wide class of films is as well developed from the ideologies of written fiction, that is, books. In this case therefore, the movie as a narrative is said to take a collaborative form (Wingstedt, 2004). The style and prose the director of the film employs thus depicts the situational context of the fictitious book and hence the film is as well said to be a narrative. In the light of this perspective therefore, films are known to be iconic storytelling instruments and most importantly, many audiences tend to seek this aspect once they go to the movies. They usually seek to identify themselves with the characters as well as the captivating plot with its twists. The genre of the movie notwithstanding, its main framework is all about the content of the story within it. This story is blended so well with the aspects of the characters and thus its structure as well as its design actually brings forth its narrative structure. In this respect therefore, the narrative structure of a movie lies squarely on two main fundamental pillars, namely the plot and the story. The story is all about the content which flows chronologically in a movie dramatically while the form is all about the structure or the storytelling form that is followed. The agents used therefore are the characters who evoke the desired emotions on the audience as the story builds. ‘The Sound of Music’ by Rodgers and Hammerstein, 1965, is a family drama genre whose narrative depicts a social-political collision thus bringing inducing emotional response to the audience in order to pass an important social statement. Revolving around the political tensions and family crisis, the narrative is produced in such a way that a blend to the real social crisis as well as triumph of love is raised. The fragmented and non linear narrative structure approach, as seen in the film, is a calculated move to reveal relationships slowly amongst the characters thus revolving the narrative back to an important preceding event (Wingstedt, J. 2004,). In the case of this film, it is the dance with the captain (Van Trap) with the new governess (Maria), a character full of life. This structure is quite important as it places the audience into the shoes of the protagonist, that is, the character thus making them probe the situation as confronted by the character. This aspect of struggling to add pieces together in order to come up with a clear picture threaded from all these pieces from the viewer’s perspective is a strong point of driving the narrative across to the audience(Wingstedt, 2004,). To really look into the narrative structure of this film, there are distinct questions that should always arise. For instance, the character choice is of great importance here where the story and the plot are conveniently used to evoke mixed reactions to the presented situations and conditions. The choice of characters in a movie should be a well calculated move since the success of the narrative depends on the identification of a particular character’s personality within the film(Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006). For instance, in a situation involving a rough and uncouth scenario, a character whose personality appears soft and harmless will not work well for the narrative. Movies to a great extent, and especially The Sound of Music, have characters ranging from children to adults whom the director has used so well to blend the family-social scenario in his narrative. The characters often use indirect characterization as opposed to direct characterization since the plot of the narrative slowly brings to the open the character’s personality. The personality of the character is usually judged on a benchmark revolving around what the character says and how, looking into the feelings as well as private thoughts of the character, the effect the character causes to the others, the behavior of the character and finally the overall outlook of the character. This distinct characteristic is very important in bringing out the message of the narrative to the audience. For instance, Captain Van Trapp’s character personality helps display the sense of a no- nonsense family many having being wounded by the loss of o much loved spouse. His sharp and serious instructions with little or no sense of humour at the beginning is truly in line with the difficult situation in which he was living thus working so well for the intended purpose of that character in the narrative. His reaction to the new governess (Maria) as well as a serious and tyrannical style of running his home is well used to show this form of frustration. On the other hand, the easy going and ever-jovial Maria, who at the beginning is shown as one who is full of life overlooks all these difficult situations as raised by the captain to win the heart of the attention- seeking children and eventually their father. The introduction of romance, well done through music, introduces another chapter of Van Trapp’s character. The genre in this case blends so well with the characterization to further push the narrative ahead to serve its purpose. In a nutshell, characterization is a major player in conveying the intended message in the narrative which the characters themselves are used to piece together to a complete package. But just as important as they are, the location of the story setting and the event that commences the story are also important structures of the narrative. The story is further built on the sudden happenings to the characters as they face conflict and the rewards of this conflict. Looking at The Sound of Music, the narrative begins from the setting of a carefree nun singing in the mountains progressively growing to the challenges the family faces culminating into the triumph of love above all these challenges. As the story wraps, there is a complete overhaul of the family setting as they escape from the political woes facing the captain. One can also argue out that the movie is also a classical narrative structure which is very common with majority of movies from Hollywood due to the three- act format basis that is employed to organize the narrative (Paul, 1984,). The first act, also regarded as the set up introduces the main characters to the audience and a slight protraction of the journey they encounter. In the case of The Sound of Music, the audience is introduced to Maria, a nun and her passion for life as protracted in her love for music and nature who through this changes the course of the Van Trapp family. The second act in this structure, also regarded as the development, has complications coming up into the plot as audience is introduced into fresh obstacles facing the character (Paul, 1984,). I this act, cause- effect relationships push the characters ahead, which are in actual sense situations that compel a reaction from the character culminating into a fresh action and reaction too(Peggy, 2003). The narrative here points towards a necessary climax which may as well be inline towards fulfilling a greater part of the purpose or intention. It’s worth noting too that at this point the conflict is at its development. There are significant points that create suspense, as witnessed when the Van Trapp family sought refuge at the convent and subsequent escape for instance. The last act in this structure is all about resolution of the conflict once the film reaches a dramatic confrontation, otherwise referred to as the climax(Paul,1984,). The climax gives a leeway to the closure into the story where major issues are resolved. The narration form of this film, which heavily lies on the characterization operates smoothly with the its romantic genre to raise various ideologies on the face of the conflicts faced by the main protagonists. Though emotional but not tense, the sociological theme is an opening to values that the audience could subscribe to (Luwisch, F.E. ,2001). For instance, the Van Trapp Family choir towards the closing of the movie is an implausible event well conveyed through music theme and above all transmitting the message of love for family to the audience. Through the choice of words as well as incorporation of music themes, the message of the narrative purposed can be well achieved. The film as well identifies with the audience directly through its articulate communication (Denning, S,2002,). References Cohen, C., Tyson, D. (2002). “Teaching Blind Men to See the Elephant: Using narrative in assessment and change management.” Knowledge Directions, Fall/Winter Vol. 3, No. 2: pp66-75. Denning, S. (2002). “The Narrative Lens: Storytelling in 21st Century Organizations”. Knowledge Directions, Fall/Winter, Vol. 3 No 2, pp92-101. Hannabuss, S. (2000). “Narrative knowledge: eliciting organisational knowledge from storytelling.” ASLIB Proceedings, 52(10), 402-413. Kress, G. & Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, (2nd edition). London: Routledge. Luwisch, F.E. (2001). “Understanding what goes on in the heart and the mind: learning about diversity and co-existence through storytelling.” Teaching and teacher education, 17(2), 133-146. Paul Ricoeur,1984 Time and Narrative: Volume 1 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press), 42-43. Peggy Phelan, 2003“Performance, Live Culture and Things of the Heart,” Journal Of Visual Culture, Vol. 2(3): 291-302. Wingstedt, J. (2004). ‘Narrative Functions of Film Music in a Relational Perspective’, paper presented at ISME – Sound Worlds to Discover, Santa Cruz, Tenerife Read More