Slum clearance is a major issue in West Side StoryI knew that it was based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Julietbut I was not aware of the urban aspect of the story. In the 1950s, when several buildings in New York are being demolished to make way for the Lincoln Center, a gang of young white men fight against a gang of Puerto Ricans for control of an ever-shrinking territory.
Of course instead of Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story has Tony (Ansel Egort) and María (Rachel Zegler), and instead of the Montague and Capulet families, there are the gangs Sharks and Jets. The members of the two gangs hate each other so much that they would rather fight each other at a dance than dance with the beautiful women there.
In 2021, Steven Spielberg released West Side Storywhich he directed. It was described as “Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story”, which made me wonder if this film was actually Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story or Stephen Sondheim’s West Side Story or Jerome Robbins West Side StoryAnd it actually is, although Spielberg took some liberties with the source material and Justin Peck created a completely new choreography (but Jerome Robbins is still credited).
Tony and María meet at a dance and immediately fall head over heels in love. But to be honest, I don’t really believe they are in love. I find it easier to believe that Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman are in love in Star Wars Episodes II and III. It helps Christiansen and Portman that they don’t have to sing facing each other while declaring their eternal love. And I suspect that in a Broadway production, Egort and Zegler wouldn’t have to do that on stage either, but facing the audience.
The story says that María and Tony are in love, and that’s true. And of course, that creates problems for both of them. Even though Tony is half Puerto Rican, he is socialized as a white man, and Riff (Mike Faist), the leader of the Jets, expects Tony to help the Jets in a “rumble” against the Sharks. And the leader of the Sharks is Bernardo (David Alvarez), who happens to be María’s brother.
The fight is planned for the following night and Riff goes to buy a gun. How odd. Only one gun for the whole gang, instead of several guns for each gang member. Tony tries in vain to dissuade Riff from taking part in the fight.
María works in a department store with Anita (Ariana de Bose), Bernardo’s girlfriend. Most of María’s coworkers think María is mentally ill, not in love. One of the coworkers mentions that he would get a check to move. It is not really said whether the check is enough to actually move out of the neighborhood and somewhere nicer or at least more appropriate.
The film contains the famous song “America,” which addresses some social issues.
I like being in America,
OK for me in America,
In America everything is free –For a small fee in America.
(…)
Buying on credit is so nice.
One look at us is enough and they demand double.
(…)
Many new apartments with more space.
Many doors are slammed in our faces.(…)
Life in America can be beautiful.
If you can fight in America.
Life in America is fine.
If you are a pure white person in America.
It annoys me a little when it’s casually mentioned that Puerto Rico owes money, which I hear from Puerto Ricans and others in real life. I don’t hear anyone complaining that Kentucky or Tennessee owes money, to pick two red states.
The film is visually stunning, as you would expect from any Steven Spielberg production, the cast is talented throughout, and the orchestral musicians, led by Gustavo Dudamel, play impeccably. And yet… something is missing. The whole is not greater than the sum of its parts. But as a vehicle for Leonard Bernstein’s music, it is flawless.
The film lasts 2 hours and 37 minutes, and although I feel that some of the songs and dance numbers that I expected in this film are missing, it still feels long to me. I actually watched it in four sittings, during Oppenheimer I only watched it in two sittings because I started too late at night.
I rate the film ★★★☆☆. The DVD has no extras, as is the case with most DVDs these days. It would not have hurt to include at least a short making-of featurette with background information on the history of New York and the history of the musical, so I give the DVD ★★☆☆☆.
The English subtitles on the DVD intentionally omit most of the dialogue in Spanish, often simply writing “speaking in Spanish.” A few lines in Spanish are subtitled, and care has been taken to ensure that all accents are on the correct syllables and pointing in the correct direction, but the inverted question marks on the few Spanish questions quoted in the subtitles have been neglected.
West Side Story is rated PG-13 by the MPAA “for strong violence, strong language, thematic content, suggestive material, and brief smoking scenes.”
Really, PG-13? A lot more people die in every Terminator movie, but the few deaths in this one are much more emotional, even if you barely thought about the dead while they were alive and even though you foresee their deaths from the first act. I suppose the folks at the MPAA feel that if a fighter pirouettes in front of his enemy, it somehow diminishes the realism of the violence and pushes it into the realm of fantasy violence.
Parents watching this film with their children should also talk about how today’s firearms are far more damaging and deadly than the two weapons shown in this film. In the 1950s, the NRA had not yet invented the fiction of the Second Amendment as an unfettered individual right unencumbered by obligations to a state’s militia.
But the most important thing that parents watching this film with their children should talk about is that the American dream is unattainable for most people, even those who work very hard.
