Here, the opening is just not up to the mark. It quickly tells us who the Jets and the Sharks are, and feels exactly like how actual street thugs would dance. The 1961 film’s opening sequence is a fabulous piece of work. The virtuosity of the choreography, staging and direction of most of the song sequences in the 1961 film are simply better the stage musical’s director-choreographer Jerome Robbins returned to design the dances in the 1961 film, while Robert Wise directed the dramatic parts. Especially, opposite Zegler, Elgort is a flop. His romantic declarations fall flat, as the power of the lines doesn’t reach Elgort’s eyes. He comes across as too plain and glazed to seem like a man deeply in love. Mike Faist is great as Riff.Īnsel Elgort is miscast as Tony. The first-time actor throws herself into the role and is a scene-stealer at every turn.
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She is played by Rita Moreno, who played Bernardo’s romantic interest, Anita, in the 1961 film.Īmong the performances, Rachel Zegler stands out as a superb Maria. I liked Spielberg-Kushner’s replacement of Tony’s father-like boss with the new character Valentina.
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Here, Anybodys gets a scene to shine, which is great, but, again, the film is too conservative to actually delve deep into issues of gender. I had hoped that the new film would seriously engage with what I think is the musical’s most underrated character: Anybodys, a Jet woman who sees herself as a man and wants to roll with the boys but is constantly ignored. Here, he is a nerd, and that gives him an interesting dimension. Chino, Bernardo’s preferred romantic partner for his sister, was just another tough guy in the 1961 film. The build-up to the pivotal “rumble” fight between the Jets and the Sharks is better-written here. The staging and direction of the song Maria in the new film is better as well. Here, the song is brought to the streets and allowed to breathe, soaking in the sights, sounds, and smells of its subject matter. The superb song America, which was a playful but sharp take on the minority experience in the United States, played out on a rooftop in the 1961 film. But the parts that were absolutely top-notch remain second to none. The parts in the 1961 version which could have been improved at the level of choreography and staging are indeed better in Spielberg's film. The end result is a safe celebration of the musical. Spielberg-Kushner are just fiercely faithful to the text. Had they fully embraced the text’s untapped potential to produce a politically charged coming-of-age story, we could have had a bold and radical film. Here, the Jets and Sharks are again fighting over territory in the Upper West Side of New York, but this time, both groups are threatened by the authorities demolishing their neighbourhood to make way for the Lincoln Center cultural complex.īut Spielberg and Kushner don’t go all the way.
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Spielberg and Kushner do flirt with the material’s obvious undercurrent of the need for cross-racial working-class unity to make a last stand against the American political establishment. The original musical, although inspired by the rise in juvenile delinquency in American cities in the late 1950s, carried timeless themes of racial hatred and young-adult angst. When Tony (Ansel Elgort), Riff’s best friend, and Maria (Rachel Zegler), Bernardo’s sister, fall in love, all hell breaks loose. David Alvarez plays Bernardo, the Sharks’ leader. In the new Spielberg film, Riff, the leader of the Jets is played by Mike Faist. Set in working-class New York, the story, inspired by Romeo and Juliet, follows the rivalry between the street gangs Jets, comprising white teenagers, and the Sharks, a Puerto-Rican group.
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The stage musical written by Arthur Laurents and directed by Jerome Robbins, featuring lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and music by Leonard Bernstein was considered a game-changer among musicals for its innovative choreography and dark themes that audiences were unaccustomed to seeing in musical theatre at the time. Unlike the acclaimed 1961 film adaptation, the Puerto Rican characters in Spielberg’s film are played by Latinx actors, keeping in mind the demand for race-appropriate casting today.īut despite these cosmetic changes, the new West Side Story is light on social and political depth, much like the original 1957 Broadway production and the 1961 film. To that effect, screenwriter Tony Kushner slightly updates some of the dialogue to highlight contemporary discourse about ethnic conflict, economic precarity, and police violence in the United States. Prior to the India release of the new West Side Story, its director Steven Spielberg said that his take on the classic musical is in “direct conversation” with young people of the world right now.