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The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music (2015)
Director: Ben Verbong
Cast: Eliza Bennett, Yvonne Catterfeld, Cornelius Obonya
Genre: Drama
Director Ben Verbong brings to the screen the story of Agathe von Trapp, who was the oldest daughter of that well known musical family that The Sound of Music (1965) was based on. The real Agathe von Trapp was portrayed as Liesl in The Sound of Music. This film is based on Agatha's novel: Agathe von Trapp: Memories Before and After The Sound of Music, and tells the von Trapp story from her viewpoint.
Eliza Bennett, plays Agatha and does an amazing job at being personable while we forget about the famous Julie Andrews vehicle and begin to care about Agatha's plight. The story line is familiar to anyone who's seen The Sound of Music, it's the true story of how the von Trapp family who were gifted musical in Austria come to accept a new woman into their lifes, Maria (Yvonne Catterfeld), who works as a nanny and marries Georg. And of course as history unfolds the Nazis come to Austria and the von Trapps flee to safety.
After her mother passes, Agatha becomes the lady of the house and takes care of the other children and dolts on her father....
....tensions rise when the the father marries the nanny Maria and Agatha resents her new mother.
The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music (2015)
Cast: Eliza Bennett, Yvonne Catterfeld, Cornelius Obonya
Genre: Drama
Director Ben Verbong brings to the screen the story of Agathe von Trapp, who was the oldest daughter of that well known musical family that The Sound of Music (1965) was based on. The real Agathe von Trapp was portrayed as Liesl in The Sound of Music. This film is based on Agatha's novel: Agathe von Trapp: Memories Before and After The Sound of Music, and tells the von Trapp story from her viewpoint.
Eliza Bennett, plays Agatha and does an amazing job at being personable while we forget about the famous Julie Andrews vehicle and begin to care about Agatha's plight. The story line is familiar to anyone who's seen The Sound of Music, it's the true story of how the von Trapp family who were gifted musical in Austria come to accept a new woman into their lifes, Maria (Yvonne Catterfeld), who works as a nanny and marries Georg. And of course as history unfolds the Nazis come to Austria and the von Trapps flee to safety.
After her mother passes, Agatha becomes the lady of the house and takes care of the other children and dolts on her father....
....tensions rise when the the father marries the nanny Maria and Agatha resents her new mother.
Much of the filming was done on location in the Alps. This was filmed in Salzburg, Austria and in Bavaria Germany. The cinematography and the sets are gorgeous. The costumes are done in a combination of late 1930's style for Maria, and for Agatha she wears traditionally Austrian Alpine clothing.
I found this very nicely done. I enjoyed it, in fact I liked the story better than the one in The Sound of Music. This is not a musical even though there are a couple of times where Agatha and also the children sing. If there's one thing I didn't care for it was the multiple time line set in the present with the elderly Agatha giving advice to a great granddaughter. However those present day scenes are few and far between.
A must see for fans of The Sound of Music.
A must see for fans of The Sound of Music.