The von Trapp Family: A Life of Music

IN 1938, THE VON TRAPP FAMILY FLED FROM AUSTRIA TO THE US,

WHERE THEY BECAME WORLD FAMOUS AS THE "TRAPP FAMILY SINGERS".

THIS FILM TELLS THE STORY OF THOSE DRAMATIC YEARS

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ELDEST DAUGHTER, AGATHE.

THE TRAPP FAMILY A LIFE OF MUSIC

Hey. - (DOORBELL RINGS)

I'll get it.

SALZBURG CHAMBER CHOIR TRAPP

BASED ON THE BOOK

"MEMORIES BEFORE AND AFTER THE SOUND OF MUSIC" BY AGATHE VON TRAPP

Kirsty?

Do you know where Kirsty is?

Uh, yeah. She's sulking upstairs.

Why?

We had a talk about her attitude.

She isn't in her room, Marcus.

- Oh? - And her backpack has gone.

She'll have gone to her mother's, which is where she wanted to be.

- Stop her. - I won't pander to her.

- She's being childish. - But you're her father.

Are you really not going to go?

It's Christmas Eve. - No.

And you think she's being childish.

What a ridiculous man.

- Give me the car keys. - No.

I'll go, dear.

Aunt Agathe. What are you doing here?

Waiting for your train?

Yeah.

Is three days such a long time to be with us?

- No. - So?

- I want to be with my mother. - Is that true?

Or is it that you just don't want to be with your father?

- You wouldn't understand. - Is that so?

And what exactly do you know about me

and what I would or wouldn't understand, young lady?

Mhm, precisely.

Nothing.

You just see a boring old woman, and nothing else.

I wanted to run away once.

- When I was young. - Yeah, right.

You are quite a tiresome little thing.

Look, thanks for coming down.

- But you don't have to stay. - Mmm.

I've nothing better to do.

So, do you want to know

why I was so miserable?

Or are you too busy wallowing in your own self-pity?

I do remember what it's like

to think I was unwanted.

I grew up in a fairytale landscape...

In a fairytale house.

I was a mischievous little goblin.

Let's look for the next one.

Oh, but a very happy little goblin.

Come on, quickly!

Agathe!

Sigi, now sit down here.

Hold this. My own grandson's a thief.

What a shame. Now you sit here and think about what you've done, understand?

Sigi. Sigi!

Sigi?

One for you, one for me.

And one for Mama.

Mama.

Are you alright?

A little tired.

But I'll be just fine.

- Are you being a good girl? - Yes.

He'll need your help.

While I'm poorly.

Shall I sing for you?

I'd like that.

Thank you.

Where's Agathe?

(WHISPERING) Mama.

There you are.

- I'm sorry. - It's alright.

I wanted to give her my present.

But she's asleep. I put it next to her.

That's good.

I'll make sure she gets it.

Now come on, everyone's waiting for you.

(VON TRAPP CHILDREN SING "SILENT NIGHT" IN GERMAN)

There you go.

You might want to put it here.

Up there? I don't like it.

- Mama! Agathe, come.

- Where are they taking her? - The hospital.

What's going on? - They're taking Mama away.

- Papa? - Mama's going to hospital.

- So she can get better. - We didn't say goodbye.

No need to worry. You'll see her again soon.

- (AGATHE SOBS) - (MATHILDE GROANS)

Mama! Mama!

She didn't open the present.

I'm sorry. You can give it to her when she comes back.

- Will she be coming back? - Yes, of course.

- Promise? - Promise.

Come on.

It was the last time I saw her.

Our last Christmas together.

- (SNIFFS) - I'm so sorry.

She had such wonderful eyes, you know?

So beautiful...

So full of love.

It was terrible to think that I would never

feel her gaze on me again.

- I didn't mean to upset you. - Oh...

You didn't, dear.

It's just that I still find it as puzzling...

and upsetting...

as the day I did

we buried her.

(CHILDREN'S CHOIR SINGING "NUN RUHEN ALLE WÄLDER" BY PAUL GERHARDT)

You sang beautifully, Agathe. You always do.

I shall never sing again. That was the last time.

Agathe. Agathe.

Agathe!

You promised she'd come back. You lied.

Never again. I promise.

That was another promise he couldn't keep.

I didn't sing again.

For over ten years.

That's why you wanted to run away?

Oh, no. No, that was much later.

My father thought a move would be better for all of us.

And he was right.

Zell Erlhof was just too full of memories.

Particularly for him.

But also for me.

(CHILDREN'S VOICES AND SOUNDS OF OBJECTS BEING MOVED)

Where's your granny? I want to say goodbye.

She's locked herself in the bathroom.

- Can't stop crying. - Oh no.

- Should I? - No. She hates goodbyes.

- Don't be sad. - We're leaving Mama behind.

No, we're not.

Your mama is not in there, she's here.

She's always with us, wherever we are.

Goodbye, Sigi.

Come and visit!

And so away we went.

To start a new life. In Salzburg.

We didn't know that they would be our happiest years.

Agathe, what's for lunch?

Do I look like the cook?

You're doing the nanny's job. Why not the cook's too?

Hedwig, your coat does not belong on the floor.

Shoes, Martina.

Hang it up... Under the stairs.

See, that wasn't too difficult, was it?

Werner, why is your shirt so filthy?

It isn't. - Werner...

May I be excused?

Of course. When you've finished your lunch.

What's the problem?

She's only four years older than me.

- Why does she boss me around? - So I don't have to.

My father wasn't

interested in running a household.

And so, with my mother gone, it fell to me,

as the oldest daughter, to take the reins.

And... I loved it.

From top to bottom, everything came through me.

- Your tea, Papa. - Thank you.

So, you've done it again.

What?

That's the fourth nanny in eleven months.

- What's it got to do with me? - You know what.

It's you they find difficult.

I'll be advertising for another.

- Why? I can manage. - You're 16 years old.

It's not fair on you.

You need time for yourself. To read, play the piano, go for walks, concerts.

You're not the children's mother.

So you're looking for a new mother?

Not that again. That's not what I said, and not what I meant.

How can we afford it? Salzburg is more expensive.

That is none of your concern.

You know nothing about this family's finances,

and if you did, I'd like to know how.

Looking back, I think I was extremely selfish.

Why?

You were looking after everyone.

I never gave my father's situation a second thought.

He was a traditional man of the Austro-Hungarian empire,

and that had gone, divvied up,

after the First World War.

He was a naval man living in a country

that had lost its coastal areas.

He no longer felt he had a place in the world.

And, on top of that,

he had lost his wife.

He no longer knew what his role was.

Oh, it's unimaginable,