OSCARS 2022: West Side Story (2021)

Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim's “West Side Story” is perhaps the most beloved musical of the last sixty-five years. The 1961 film adaptation is a classic and also considered one of the greatest movie musicals of all time. Though “West Side Story” has been reinterpreted on-stage countless times, remaking such an adored motion picture couldn't help but breed intense skepticism... Except Steven Spielberg was making it. And when Spielberg wants to make a movie, you assume he has a good reason for doing so. Like all the movie brats, Spielberg has been wanting to make a musical forever. He's been talking about directing “West Side Story” since at least 2014, taking his time developing this one. When released last year, Spielberg's “West Side Story” was a critical success and is now nominated for several Academy Awards.

Like all versions of “West Side Story,” Spielberg's film is loosely inspired by Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet.” Set in the San Juan Hill community of Manhattan's Upper West Side, which is about to be demolished, it concerns a feud between street gangs. The Jets are all white while the Sharks are made up of Puerto Rican youths. The rivalry especially heats up when Tony, former leader of the Jets, is released from prison. While at a mixed party, he meets Maria, the younger sister of Bernardo, the Sharks' leader. The two instantly fall in love, immediately creating even more tension between the warring factions. As Tony and Maria try and stay together, the violence in the West Side grows.

Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins' “West Side Story” is a wonderful film. The direction, choreography, and songs are all fantastic. The colorful visuals and sets create a wonderfully dream-like atmosphere. The characters are exaggerated, frequently existing as cartoonish caricatures, which works for the movie. Spielberg's version immediately sets itself apart from the original by going for a more grounded approach. The intentionally artificial sound stages are traded out for more realistic settings. There's a natural grit to the city streets and apartments we see here. The dance-fighting of the original is traded out for naturalistic movement while the characters are more realistic. The result is a “West Side Story” that feels like it could exist in our world, even with all the singing and dancing. 

The original “West Side Story” was groundbreaking, at the time, for its honest depiction of racism. The Jets openly despised the Puerto Rican Sharks, using slurs against them. The prejudice they faced, an systemic element of society, was frankly discussed. Yet the movie ultimately falls back on a wishy-washy moral of all prejudice being bad, depicting the Sharks are equally racist against their white rivals. The remake, smartly, approaches this topic more sensitively. Yes, the message here is still one against intolerance in all its forms. Yet it also acknowledges that people of color are at a far worst disadvantage than even poor white folks. Lieutenant Schrank, and the police force he represents, still treats the Jets a lot more fairly than the Puerto Ricans. It's a film that's a bit more honest about the issues realistically facing this story than the undeniably dated original.

As opposed to the aerial pans over the city that open Robert Wise's “West Side Story,” Spielberg's begins with a series of intoxicating movements over the decimated community. That's the first example of the film's fantastic cinematography. A scene that went viral a while back is just the movie's most stunning moment. That's when a crane shot swoops over the dance floor, effortlessly moving in and out and around the dancers as they move. It's like the camera itself is dancing, Spielberg involving the audience's point-of-view in the musical numbers too. Yet “West Side Story” features plenty of the traditional spectacle we associate with musicals too. The kinetic movements of the performers bring such a tremendous energy to the movie. The spinning and leaping in “America” is such a showstopper. “Cool” becomes a energizing series of leaps, throws, spins, and cuts. In “Gee, Officer Krupke,” a swoop of the legs sends a spiral of papers into the air. And you can't argue with those songs either, each one a classic.   

The cast is expertly selected. At times, I questioned whether Ansel Elgort really has the pipes to pull off the singing necessary. Yet, ultimately, he proves to be a passionate and romantic Tony. He manages to bring an unexpected soul to this guy. (I wish the same could be said about Elgort himself.) Rachel Ziegler is a magnificent singer. She never comes off as melodramatic or false, all of her emotions being honest and earned. Mike Faist is fittingly squirrelly and unhinged as Riff, seeming dangerous and unpredictable. Ariana DeBose also has an incredible power behind her singing voice, which she pairs with an effortless charm . David Alvarez as Bernardo is appropriately intense. Bringing Rita Moreno back was a wonderful idea, as she adds an extra layer of gravitas to the role of Doc.

Spielberg's “West Side Story” debuted to underwhelming box office. There's a number of factor to consider why the musical didn't connect with audiences – the pandemic, too many huge movies coming out too close together, Disney's unwillingness to actually promote movies made by Fox – but it didn't stop critics from taking notice of the film. It's the sort of virtuoso filmmaking from a master of the form that demands to be taken notice of. While it's hard to say if Spielberg's “West Side Story” can ever dethrone the 1961 film as the definitive version of the musical in the public's mind, I have no doubt in mine that he improved upon it. “West Side Story” achieves everything movies are meant to do. [9/10]