Since Rosemary Harris is one of my favorite actresses, I knew I would have no trouble making it through this movie. Even if she wasn't the actress portraying Agathe von Trapp in her elder years, I still would have made it to the end, because the story was interesting and the Nazi violence was limited. (I have absolutely had it with watching violent Nazi behavior in movies, and this may be last movie I ever watch with Nazis.)
Agathe's older teenage niece gets angry with her father at a Christmas gathering, and runs off to return to her mother's home. Agathe catches up with her at the train station and tells her niece about her life in Austria. Her mother died when she was 10, and she took over running the family home and taking care of family members, along with the help of multiple servants. She loved doing so and was very resentful when her father later married a nun novice, who was sent from a convent as a temporary governess.
Everyone familiar with "The Sound of Music" will know that nun was named Maria. This movie is a much more realistic view of Maria and Captain Von Trapp, a WWI war hero. He was not some cold disciplinarian, but a warm, loving father. Maria was not a perky person begging the Captain to show his children affection. (If you read her autobiography, she was actually married off to the Captain by her Mother Superior. She had no interest whatsoever in getting married, but intended on returning to the convent to continue her religious life.)
This movie doesn't focus much on Maria, but on Agathe and how she deals with her mother's death and the changing world outside their home. (Talking about homes, their homes are as cute and colorful as can be, and so are their clothes!) With the Nazis trying to take over Austria, life gets more dangerous and Agathe has to deal with another death of someone very close to her.
As the elder Agathe speaks at the train station, her niece realizes others have suffered much more than she has as a child of divorce. If you don't mind some of your "Sound Of Music" images being shattered, certainly watch this film for a more realistic view of the von Trapp family. Not everything in the movie happened as shown, but it's still more realistic than "The Sound of Music".
