The “Romeo and Juliet”-esque love story of a Caucasian American and a young woman of Hispanic heritage has been given an updated treatment by the acclaimed director, while retaining the authenticity of 1950s New York in terms of style, sensibility, pride and prejudice.
The rivalry between two street gangs – the Jets, comprising white New Yorkers, and the Sharks, made up of Puerto Ricans – is presented to dizzying effect through slick choreography and upbeat musical numbers… at least for the first two thirds of the film.
Caught in the middle of the warring factions are the charming Tony (Ansel Elgort), fresh out of prison and determined to make a new life for himself; and Maria (Rachel Zegler), little sister of the Sharks’ leader Bernardo (David Alvarez).
Leonard Bernstein’s score infuses jazz with Latin rhythms, and is augmented with the occasional electric guitar to sound fresh and contemporary despite being 65 years old. Discordant yet tuneful, punctuated by irregular rhythms and syncopation, the soundtrack is rich and complex while being accessible enough for the casual listener.
Standout songs include “America”, led by Ariana DeBose’s Anita, reflecting the young Puerto Ricans’ divided perspectives in a land they can’t call home. One outlook is filled with promise and unbridled optimism, the other jaded by the prospect of perpetual disadvantage.
The leading lovebirds are given the bulk of solo and duet numbers, from Tony’s hopeful “Something’s Coming” – right before he meets Maria – to the eponymous song of his lady love after their giddying first encounter during a social event that ends up with the young couple kissing under the bleachers while a dance battle takes place on the gym floor.
Later, as Tony climbs Maria’s balcony in another nod to R&J, they burst into an exuberant celebration of “Tonight”, another standout from the score.
High angles and dark elongated shadows reflect the rundown world and conflict between the gangs. Washed-out colour becomes almost imperceptibly more vibrant at key moments: during Anita’s paean of praise to “America”; and, most strikingly, when Tony and Maria first set eyes on each other at the dance – both in stark clarity while dancers blur around them amid a melange of noise and colour. Stunning.
Pleasant but unremarkable
The young cast who make up the various gang members are collectively engaging, though individually many of them are mere set pieces with little to no characterisation or distinct personality.
Still, their job is to be an ensemble, and they pull this off to great effect. The lads are convincingly testosterone-driven, overflowing with unearned machismo and swagger, constantly spoiling for a fight to protect their respective turfs.
As the lead couple, Elgort and Zegler are pleasant, albeit unremarkable. Elgort sings beautifully but doesn’t always “pop” on screen, despite his character being one of good looks and charm. Zegler fares slightly better as the sweet, seemingly naive Maria, and her soprano is divine.
“West Side Story” succeeds as a story about discrimination, injustice and the yearning for a better life. The Jets want their streets, their people, their lifestyle to be maintained; the Sharks want to be able to call this section of the world their own, fighting against a system that makes them the underdog.
At one point someone says it isn’t about skin colour but territory, though there’s no denying the significance of race in the conflict. Tony straddles the divide by being the one who falls in love with “the other”, while Rita Moreno plays a newly conceived character, Valentina, who runs a drug store and who “fell in love with a Gringo” (white person).
Authenticity and disbelief
Spielberg delivers in his intent to respect the material, and his performers, by casting only Latinx actors for these roles, in contrast with the whitewashed/brownfaced 1960s version of the film.
To even greater effect, his decision not to provide subtitles for the Spanish dialogue adds to the authenticity of the setting. It is a marvel how much one is able to infer from what is being said but not understood.
Curiously, where “West Side Story” doesn’t work quite as well is as a love story. Events take place over a span of just over 24 hours, from the moment Tony and Maria meet to when they fall in love, declare their undying devotion, get engaged, spend the night together, and demonstrate that they would literally take a bullet for each other.
It requires suspension of disbelief, in a movie where gruff guys fight through pirouettes and plié; and is made even harder to swallow when you consider that Tony and Maria end up in bed not long after she finds out he killed her brother.
It’s all, of course, very Shakespearean and might work in times of yore but, viewing it in the present day, the narrative buckles towards the end under the weight of incredulity.
In this version, Moreno’s Valentina sings the musical’s affecting ballad “Somewhere”, a lament of intense yearning for a different time and place which, in the original film, was sung by Tony and Maria in the tearful aftermath of Bernardo’s death.
Its previous placement perhaps conveyed more effectively the intensity of the lovers’ passion, making their feelings more believable despite the tragedy, than it does in Spielberg’s version. Though it’s not like anyone can fault him – you can’t cast American treasure Moreno, who played Anita and is the sole performer from the first film, and not give her a musical moment of her own.
There is, of course, a certain magic in the escapist idea that love can develop so quickly and be so strong it overcomes even murder. Perhaps a less cynical viewer might hold to the moment Valentina says “life matters more than love” and Tony replies “it’s the same thing”, and be truly convinced a whirlwind romance could lead to immense joy, followed by irreparable heartbreak, in such a New York minute.
‘West Side Story’ is screening in cinemas throughout Malaysia.