Tarantino admits – Quentin Tarantino has said he’s never watched the 1965 musical The Sound of Music, despite his reputation for obsessively studying cinema—from ’50s sci-fi and martial arts to blockbusters. The film’s box-office run, major stars, and enduring songs make the adm
Quentin Tarantino has made a career out of seeing movies the way some people read novels: closely, endlessly, and with a map of references tucked behind every frame. In interviews, he’s talked like someone who could rattle off forgotten B-movies and major studio hits with the same confidence.
But even for a director built on cinematic memory, there’s one glaring gap. Tarantino has said he’s never seen the classic 1965 musical The Sound of Music.
The admission comes with an odd kind of gravity because The Sound of Music is the opposite of obscure. The film was consistently number one at the box office for months, grossing $287.8million. Julie Andrews plays Maria, a governess who looks after the seven von Trapp children before marrying their father. The story unfolds against the backdrop of the Anschluss in Austria.
Its songs are now woven into pop culture—‘My Favourite Things’. ‘Do-Re-Mi’. and ‘So Long. Farewell’ are still recognizable decades later. For a filmmaker who’s often praised for his dense film-history fingerprints. it feels almost impossible that The Sound of Music hasn’t made it into his personal watch list.
Tarantino isn’t portrayed as someone who avoids musicals. Years ago, he called Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story “a true cinematic spectacle,” and the comparison makes people assume he’s seen more than enough of Spielberg’s work to follow the reference back to its roots.
Still, when he was asked by Jimmy Kimmel to name the biggest movie he has never seen, Tarantino answered plainly: “I’ve never seen The Sound of Music.”
For most viewers, cinematic blind spots are normal. There are simply too many films. too many decades. too many opportunities to miss one title that later becomes a household name. But with Tarantino—who worked in a video rental store during the 1980s while trying to break into the industry. and who surrounded himself with “endless rows of movies waiting to be watched”—the gap reads differently. The space where The Sound of Music should be is what makes the story stick.
The fact that he has deep, lifelong immersion in film history is part of why this particular omission lands. He’s built a reputation on chasing what’s rare, what’s overlooked, and what’s revered. Yet the one 1965 musical so many people treat as essential remains, by his own words, something he hasn’t experienced.
And in the end, that’s the tension at the heart of it: Tarantino’s greatest strength is film obsession. The admission is what happens when even obsession runs into one big, famously beloved title it never picked up.
Quentin Tarantino The Sound of Music Jimmy Kimmel Julie Andrews 1965 musical box office Maria von Trapp children Anschluss My Favourite Things Do-Re-Mi So Long Farewell