West Side Story: A Magnificent Surprise

 

To do a remake of the beloved Oscar winning 1961 film West Side Story (original Broadway production was in1957) takes guts. Maybe only a director with the standing of Steven Spielberg could get a way with tackling such a risky project.

Many of my friends who fervently love the original film have pledged not to see the remake.  How can you improve on a classic? Despite the negative talk, Spielberg has been dedicated to this idea for many years.

The film was shot in New York in the summer of 2019 but was just released on December 10, 2021. It’s the perfect movie to bring you back into a movie theater.

Let me begin by saying that I rank West Side Story as one of the greatest Broadway musicals of all time. I have great respect and love for this piece of theater. Transferring it to yet another film is a delicate process.

I guess I just didn’t understand the great artistry of Steven Spielberg or his love for musicals. From the very first minutes of the film, I was captivated. The look of the film is urban and gritty. The actors swagger across the screen like tough, 50s, street-gang guys and not like ballet dancers - an improvement over the ’61 version. 

Spielberg hired one of America’s most celebrated playwright/ screenwriters to adapt the script – Tony Kushner.  He is known for collaborating with Spielberg in writing the screenplay for Lincoln and Munich, and for the Pulitzer Prize winning play, Angels in America.

The original play tells the story of two competing gangs fighting for territory, but Kushner has added another element that adds a surprising amount of texture to story. The Manhattan neighborhood both gangs inhabit is being destroyed to build the Lincoln Center Performing Arts Center. So, this story line and physical backdrop of demolished housing, creates a heightened tension to the overall action of the film.

As is his style, Spielberg fills the screen with dramatic angles, creative set-ups, and realistic acting from his cast. Lots of colorful laundry is always visible on clotheslines hung between the tentaments and the smooth flow of the cinematography enhances the story and the music.  

Spielberg wanted to have only Latin actors play the Puerto Ricans which gives the film an authentic feel. There are many scenes spoken in Spanish which strengthens the validity of the story. In contrast, in the original movie Natalie Wood (a huge movie star at the time) lip-synched the voice of Marni Nixon in the lead role of Maria.

No corners were cut in this movie.  The music was provided (mostly) by the New York Philharmonic with Gustavo Dudamel conducting.  The sound was full and rich.

The reason West Side Story is such a masterpiece is that every aspect of the show was created at the highest artistic level- Lyrics were written the very young Stephen Sondheim, music by Leonard Bernstein (who accepted the conductorship of the NY Phil the same year it opened), choreographer and director was the theater and ballet superstar Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents wrote the script.

Spielberg’s production paid homage to these four masters by adding depth to the story, but not changing it very much. The dancing has been updated quite a bit and some backstories were added to flesh out the characters better.  Clearly, Spielberg was looking to give his version the most dramatic impact possible.

And indeed, he did. Even if you know every word and lyric of this show, I guarantee that you will feel an emotional impact watching it. Even after 60 years, West Side Story remains powerful and intense.

The shining star of the movie is the sparkling Rachel Zegler as Maria who is both young and radiant. The audience BELIEVES her. When she first meets Tony (her future lover from the opposing gang), her expressive eyes and face are palpable. Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) is excellent as Tony, but Zegler takes over the screen whenever she appears. Her voice is a light and lovely soprano that communicates those classic songs (“A Boy Like That”, “I Feel Pretty”, “Tonight”).

Spielberg could have sold more tickets if he would have chosen “movie stars” for the lead roles, as most movie musicals do, but these young talented actors look and feel right and embody their characters.

But the genius of this adaptation is the use of 90-year-old Rita Moreno.  Moreno won the Oscar for her portrayal of Anita in the ’61 movie, Maria’s best friend and girlfriend of Bernardo the gang’s leader. Here, Kushner rewrote the role of Doc who owns the drugstore and the gang’s hangout.  Now she is Valentina who is Doc’s wife. In the role, Moreno gives the role pathos and a depth that is unexpectedly powerful.

She is the soul of the play and when she sings “Somewhere” at the end, it shatters you.

Another standout is Ariana DeBose as the new Anita. She is a strong and charismatic dancer and also has the dramatic chops to give Anita the layers the character deserves.

Excellent work was also shown by David Alverez as Bernardo and Mike Faist as Riff.

Even though this classic musical is filled with upbeat numbers like the “Dance at the Gym”, “America” and “Officer Krupke”, West Side Story is a serious and dark drama.  It is far more realistic than the Rogers and Hammerstein shows of the 50s. But this musical play is a brilliant amalgam of music, plot(borrowed from Romeo and Juliet), lyrics and dance to tell a rich and hard-hitting story.  

FURTHER COMMENTARY

When West Side Story was first written back in 1957, it was a current story. The violence between the ethnic street gangs in New York was contemporary and urgent. It was, and remains, one of the few musicals that deals with real-time story lines.

We now view it as almost a period piece, but Spielberg and Kushner had to massage the plot line to make is honest to 1957 but also make it relevant to our present time. Quite an undertaking. Although street gangs operate in different ways today, the ethnic hatred is sadly still with us and was retained in this movie. 

Although West Side Story is now considered an iconic Broadway show, it was not a huge hit when it first appeared on the scene.  Remarkably, Music Man (a revival now appearing on Broadway) won the Tony award for music (beating Bernstein? Wow!) and for the total production. It didn’t really become popular until the movie came out, which won many Academy Awards.