West Side Story
I have been weirdly, probably inappropriately, awaiting this movie for two years. (Dang COVID) It did NOT disappoint, though. From the time I first heard about this movie remake until probably about a week ago, I was all thinking that the 1961 version was almost a perfect film, winning 10 Academy Awards including best picture, so I didn’t understand remaking it. “The only way you can go is down,” I thought. Boy was I wrong. I have heard Steven Spielberg say that this story needs to be known by the public generationally and I completely agree. For anyone that doesn’t know, this is basically a retelling of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, so it’s not a happy story but it helps people mentally prepare for the horrors and trials that happen in life. It’s especially during this
time of the world that is filled with such negativity, and where people think the worst about somebody, or a situation, without knowing the context, it is wonderful to be taken back and reminded of a time where the world was filled with such optimism and pride. Maybe we can get back to that time. I doubt it. It’s a nice thought, though.
I loved how there was such an emphasis on the music! The score is so iconic and well-known by everyone and so I was happy to see the music not take a back seat in this remake. The version of “America” was just breathtaking. I was sitting in the theater watching and smiling all throughout this number. It was wonderful! This reminds me, the cinematography throughout the film was just amazing. My dad, who I wouldn’t say is a film expert, but he appreciates good film techniques commented on how nice the cinematography was. There are just countless uses of light and uses of other objects that make the shots interesting to look at. Some that have stayed in my mind are the scenes in the gym, at the dance, just beautiful, the shot is Anita on the balcony at the beginning of “America,” and the shots of Maria and Tony on the balcony during “Tonight.” The use of the costume design color choice really added to the cinematography. You have the Jets with their duller, white and blue color pallet and then you have the Sharks with the more reds, yellows, and oranges. You can see the difference in the gym, during the dance quite a bit and it is so effective! (The use of deep colors also just makes the numbers, like “America"
just more fascinating to watch.)
The cast, I thought, was excellent. Getting Rachel Zegler to play Maria was just a stroke of genius by Mr. Spielberg. She brings the naivety and innocence with her, as this is her first film role, that Maria needs to have. (And her voice is beautiful! Oof! It’s like butter.) Ansel Elgort as Tony, I thought, was good. He definitely is the weakest cast member, singing wise, but he has a great voice. His voice wasn’t distracting or anything and he did a great acting job! It has been proven in past movies that audience members cannot look at a piece of art and judge it aside from the artist's personal life actions. There are allegations out about Ansel Elgort soliciting a girl who was under the age of 18. I definitely think that is wrong but I think the worth of the piece of art he helped to create should not be clouded by his past deeds. Ariana DeBose who played Anita did it so perfectly. She has been on Broadway in the original Broadway cast of Hamilton, A Bronx Tale, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, as well as in “The Prom'' on Netflix and Apple TV+ Schmigadoon. I was absolutely floored by her performance. I heard in one of the many reviews I read for this movie that Anita is just a great part and I have to agree. It is the part that won Rita Moreno her Academy Award back in the 1960’s and I bet it will win Ariana DeBose her Oscar this time around. Mike Faist, who plays Riff, was great. I have seen the 1961 version of the film many times, and never cared about Riff. This time around, though, we do get to see more of Riff and his relationship with Tony. It helps add some context and some emotion to the film as we follow Riff through the film. He was also the original Connor in “Dear Evan Hansen” on Broadway, so that is probably why I have more of a fondness for Riff now. I like musicals! What can I do?!
Okay, bear with me, there is just a vocal quality that trained singers have. Rachel Zegler had it, Ariana DeBose had it, Mike Faist had it, but Ansel Elgort did not. It’s like his voice sounds hollow or something while the trained singers put more of their souls into their singing or something.
I won’t give anything away but I’ve heard some kickback about Maria forgiving Tony over something he does toward the end of the film. All I have to say is that there was a song sung between Anita and Maria where they express their sadness as well as there is a scene where Maria expresses her frustration to Tony. Also, I think that speaks more toward the time. Latin people had been conditioned to believe that their lives didn’t mean as much as white people and that they should almost be grateful to white people for allowing them to live in their land. So could she rightfully be angry and resentful toward Tony? I don’t know, this is just one novice's opinion on the matter.
I, weirdly, love the last scene, how it doesn’t end on a happy note, or like a glimpse at the
characters in the future. We always get stuff like that and it takes some of the humanity out of the characters. There is something beautiful about just having this be a story. Letting the characters just walk off and ending the film adds some emotion and some real life quality that I think we all appreciate, even if we think we don’t.
Steven Spielberg really directed the crap out of this film! You can see it was a passion project for him and that he loves the source material as he takes very little away, he mainly just adds art to the film. Ahh! I loved it! Please see it! I want this film to be a big box office hit! I don’t know why I care so much, I just feel kind of possessive about it.
Comments