West Side Story
By Charlotte Dekle
When you’re a jet, you’re the jet all the way from your first cigarette to your last dying day. I could keep going on, I know all the lyrics to all the songs and that is indeed a flex. Stephen Sondheim lyrics, Leonard Bernstein score, Jerome Robbins choreography, and Robert Wise direction, what more could you want? Most movie adaptations of famous works don’t do well. But this is the exception. I mean, it won 10 Oscars. A movie version of a musical based off of Romeo and Juliet. The movie actually put the musical on the map which is odd for properties like this. But with songs like “America”, “Maria”, and “Tonight” becoming staples at karaoke bars, you can’t help but love it. Every song is wonderful and it all conveys the underlying love that Tony, a Jet, and Maria, a Shark, feel for each other. This movie is genuine perfection and maybe it’s because I go through life with musical-tinted goggles on, but it’s actually amazing. The movie made some well needed changes to the stage version, mostly the placement of songs that make the plot flow better. It started my obsessions with Russ Tamblyn and Rita Moreno, which never really stopped. The movie is better than the stage version in many ways. If you exclude the fact that Maria (who is supposed to be Puerto Rican) is played by Natalie Wood (a white woman) and her singing voice is Marni Nixon (also white) who is the ghost voice of golden age musical, this movie has aged surprisingly well. When Maria said “All of you! You all killed him! And my brother, and Riff. Not with bullets, or guns, with hate. Well now I can kill, too, because now I have hate!" that same anger still carries today. What has withstood the test of time? The “threatening” ballet? The snapping? The hummable score? Or the undeniable message that your love is your love? Perhaps all of the above? In lieu of the 2020 Stephen Spielberg adaptation coming up, you should give this one a watch. Remember that when you’re a Jet, better do what they can, you’ve got brothers around you’re a family man. Seriously, I can keep going. In short, this movie is AMAZING. Can you tell I love it?
logline: Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
Source: IMDb
My Favorite Characters:
Rita Moreno as Anita: Rita Moreno steals the show. That’s a fact. Anita is the best character in both the movie and the show. She is the voice of reason for most of it and often spouts witty one-liners. Moreno plays the role perfectly. She plays the arc of hope to cynicism to a point where she fades into Anita. During the song, America, she has unrivaled passion and hope for what being in America means. She has no reason to feel that America will welcome her with open arms, but she has hope. This hope slowly fades as terrible things happen to the people she loves and the idea of America as a place of hope slowly dwindles. She can also sing and dance like it’s nobody’s business. Moreno won an Oscar for this role and it helped her become an EGOT winner.
Russ Tamblyn as Riff: the sheer abundance of energy he has is enough to make him one of my favorite characters. For any Shakespeare fans, Riff is the Mercutio of the show. He is Romeo (Tony)’s best friend. If you know what happens to Mercutio, I’m not going to spoil it. But Tamblyn’s athleticism gets me so jealous. He is leaping and bounding about as if gravity doesn’t exist. His acting is also pretty good too, if not a little too much. But he’s just so dang cool that you can’t help but love him. As the leader of the Jets, he guides them through the perilous New York streets by snapping and ballet. Tamblyn is pure joy as Riff and he’s a highlight of the movie for sure.
My Favorite Part: THE OPENING SEQUENCE. If I could marry choreography that tells a story, I would marry this whole show but especially the opening sequence. It’s roughly 10 minutes long with no dialogue but it illustrates the relationship between the Jets and the Sharks perfectly. Not a word is spoken, unless you count taunting, but you know what’s happening. The pure unrivaled athleticism of these guys is great too. The music also wonderfully shows the story. The first thing you hear in the movie is a motif that is sprinkled throughout. Now I’m not into music theory, but this motif tells the entire story in three notes and that’s genius. Who knew ballet could be so threatening and bada*s? Well, Jerome Robbins did, and thank god for him.
This movie is rated PG-13. Here’s why:
Frightening and Intense Scenes
Language (Including Racial Slurs)
Mild Violence and Gore
Where to Watch: Netflix and for rent or purchase on all major platforms
Image Source: Film Art Gallery