10 Films Alive With the Sound of Music

These aren't strictly musicals, which I certainly could write and about and probably will, but rather ten of my favorite movies in which music plays some sort of integral part...

The Sound of Music - Okay, this one is a musical, but I couldn't list movies about music and not include The Sound of Music. Music is everywhere in this film, starting with the title. It's a celebration of the music of nature, the solemn chanting of nuns in the abbey, Maria's exuberant outbursts, her singing lessons that are so integral in bringing together a fractured family. It's my favorite musical and possibly my favorite movie.

Mr. Holland's Opus - An uplifting film about the joys and sacrifices involved in being a truly dedicated teacher. Mr. Holland - as fantastically portrayed by Richard Dreyfuss - goes from ambitious young composer to defeated retiree, forced to leave the job in which he invested so much time and energy, instilling in decades' worth of students a passion for music. Yet before he goes, he is able to receive the gift of a powerful, tangible representation of his accomplishments. A very moving tribute to exceptional teachers and a testament to the importance of the arts in education.

I Am Sam - This story of a man with limited mental capacities struggling to raise the young daughter he cherishes is notable for many reasons, one of which is the soundtrack consisting entirely of covers of Beatles songs. A great source of comfort to Sam, who named his daughter after the song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, their music is rich with meaning, and the new but faithful interpretations skillfully underline the significance of many crucial scenes.

Forrest Gump - Another story about a simple man trying to make good in the world. Forrest is much more independent than Sam, but he has a way of being swept up in events of far-spread significance of which he has little idea. Music is used in the film to accentuate each step in Forrest's journey, which usually coincides with a notable moment in American history. It is more notable as a narrative device than as directly involving Forrest, but there are several notable music-related moments, him teaching Elvis his hip thrusts, watching Jenny sing and play guitar on stage and joining John Lennon for a talk show interview among them.

Sister Act - A movie about the power of music to uplift and to change lives when performed in the proper spirit. Whoopi Goldberg is very entertaining as a lounge singer who goes into hiding in a convent after witnessing a murder, and the feeble attempts of the choir of nuns to provide stirring anthems on Sundays are hilarious. But once the newly dubbed Sister Mary Clarence puts her talents to work by whipping the sisters into proper singing shape, the film becomes more than comedy. The music becomes a regenerative force amongst the nuns and in their troubled neighborhood, and their performances - particularly the last one before a toe-tapping Pope - are downright inspirational.

Blues Brothers - This riotous movie is packed with cameos of famous singers from Aretha Franklin to Ray Charles, and each has his or her time in the spotlight while kind-hearted criminals Jake and Elwood make their increasingly disastrous way to the concert where they will perform as the Blues Brothers, thereby earning the money needed to keep the Catholic orphanage where they grew up alive. The film's loaded with fantastic performances, but my hands-down favorite is the band's impromptu rendition of the Rawhide theme song, complete with a real whip.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - Okay, so it's definitely not the sort of music you sing along to. But this movie is very much about whalesong, which is haunting but beautiful in its own way. It's a madcap adventure, but a crucial one, recovering these majestic creatures hunted to extinction so that they can sing their song to the probe seeking communication with them and in so doing save the world.

Fantasia - A Disney masterpiece with carefully choreographed animation matched up with the works of great composers to bring modern audiences a new appreciation for classical music. Each piece is accompanied by a short film whose contents accentuate the different moods and themes of the music in beautiful ways. A feast for the eyes and ears accomplished again when several more pieces were undertaken for Fantasia 2000.

Sense and Sensibility - I can't quite decide which film owes a greater debt to the pianoforte, this or the BBC mini-series of Pride and Prejudice. Both feature the instrument prominently, but I think perhaps Sense and Sensibility has the edge, since it is while she is playing this instrument that Marianne is first seen by Colonel Brandon, and when he eventually buys her one and she plays the music he sends her, that is the physical embodiment of her changed feelings for him.

The Lord of the Rings - There aren't nearly as many songs in the movies as in the books, but I appreciate that Jackson made a real effort to integrate Tolkien's love of the lyrical into the films, particularly in the extended editions. We get rowdy hobbit drinking songs, ethereal elf chants, aching human litanies of mourning... The snippets we hear are lovely, and the moment in Return of the King in which Pippin turns a benign old walking song into a haunting elegy is one of the most startling and profound in the trilogy.

An incomplete list, as always, but there are all movies that make my living room alive with the sound of music...