(DVD West)
Despite the original West Side Story from 1961 being one of my all-time favorites, I was curious to see what director Steven Spielberg would do in his remake, his first musical film. I, personally, was not disappointed.
Relative unknown Rachel Zegler stars as Maria,
and Ansel Elgort is Tony, this film’s Romeo & Juliet (the Shakespearean
play which is the basis for the storyline). Ariana Debose is Anita, for which
she just won the Academy Award for Supporting Actress, which had also
previously been won in 1961 by Rita Moreno in the same role. David Alvarez is
Maria’s brother Bernardo, leader of the Puerto Rican street gang the Sharks,
and Mike Faist is Riff, Tony’s replacement as the leader of the caucasian
street gang the Jets.
This version of this explosively emotional
film moves around some of the iconic key songs, such as “Gee, Officer Krupke”, “Cool” and “I Feel Pretty”, placing them in
moments that fit better into the story continuity than either the 1961 film or
the stage musical. On the other hand, I’ll admit that some of the 1961
performances are more powerful. The performances in the 2021 are all good to
great, and I love the fact that Rita Moreno, recast as the widow of the local
store owner (Valentina) gets to sing “Somewhere” at the end of the film, while I know
other fans were disappointed in this change, feeling that it’s really a
Maria/Tony song.
The look of the film is tremendous, with much of it set among urban decay in a neighborhood that’s in the process of being torn down for gentrification (historically, it later becomes the location of The Lincoln Center performing arts facility). The dance sequences are marvelous, and the chemistry among the cast is incredible. And I appreciated that most of the Puerto Rican characters are actually played by Latinx performers, unlike the earlier film, which uses white actors in embarrassingly heavy makeup. But the 1961 film is a classic for very good reasons. I just happen to think that the 2021 holds up equally well, and the new film was one of my favorite movies of last year. Your mileage may vary…
(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try
the original West Side Story (1961), directed by Jerome Robbins
and Robert Wise, and starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris,
Russ Taymbln and Rita Moreno. You should also catch a stage production of this
show if you ever have the chance, as the staged version of this musical differs
dramatically from both films. I also highly recommend the soundtrack album to
this new 2021 film, which does a very respectful job of recreating the music
and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, with the addition of “La Borinqueña”, sung in Spanish
by the Sharks gang!)
( Internet Movie Database entry for this film )
| ( official West Side Story (2021) web
site )
Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service
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