Having shunned this venerable genre for the past few decades with a few exceptions, Hollywood saw a noticeable resurgence of affection for the musical film in 2021. During the past year, we have thus been entitled to the worst, either Dear Evan Hansen (Cher Evan Hansen), to very good, that is to say In the Heights (Where we come from), as at best, see Tick, Tick… Boom !. However, the prize goes to West Side Story, a cover of the already adapted Broadway classic, with the Oscar for best film, exactly 60 years ago. Steven Spielberg signs the achievement, one of his best.
He who had so far dabbled in almost all genres except this one, Spielberg finds almost a second youth. It is true that the filmmaker was able to surround himself with a brilliant cast, mostly in his twenties.
For the record, the original 1957 show, with libretto by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and choreography by Jerome Robbins, is freely inspired by Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare. The plot is set in New York City, in the summer, and pits two rival street gangs against each other: the Jets, who are white, and the Sharks, who are Puerto Rican.
Random dance, Tony (Ansel Elgort), a former founding member of the Jets, falls in love at first sight, and vice versa, for Maria (Rachel Zegler), the younger sister of Bernardo (David Alvarez), leader of the Sharks. Once discovered, this forbidden love will serve as a pretext for a clash between the two clans.
More convincing
With the help of playwright and screenwriter Tony Kushner (Angels in America, Munich), Steven Spielberg takes up the original story that he keeps stuck in the 1950s, but that he updates here and there, especially in the dialogue that readily differs from the original libretto. Maria and her sister-in-law Anita (Ariana DeBose) stand up to macho Bernardo, the character of Anybodys is no longer a “ tomboy »But identifies himself explicitly as a boy (in the guise of the non-binary performer Iris Menas), the assault on Anita is designated as rape, the street violence is more raw …
As an original backdrop: unbridled gentrification and characters reduced to dancing on ruins; striking visions.
Significantly, the cast respects the multicultural character of the story. This was not the case in 1961, and this is one of the elements that made the film aged badly, with the dubbing of the singing voices of the stars. After white actors with dark makeup had played the characters of Puerto Rican origin, it was the turn of interpreters of Latin American heritage to stick to them, with a lot of replicas in spanish (not subtitled, without understanding suffering).
The result is much more convincing, especially since the theme of racism is prevalent in West Side Story – even more so in Spielberg’s version.
Homage and reinvention
Indeed, if the larger theme of hatred is named in Maria’s famous final monologue, it is that of racism, specifically, that runs through the story. Because in the eyes of the authorities, embodied by Lieutenant Schrank (Corey Stoll), the Jets and the Sharks are not equal. On more than one occasion, the policeman tries to convince the former to denounce the latter, which he is in a much greater hurry to get rid of.
Overall, however, this new incarnation proves to be a tribute to the Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins show and film. The “color expressionism” side is abandoned in favor of magnified realism (superb photo direction by Janusz Kamiński), but winks abound.
Oscar winner for best supporting actress for the original film and the first Latin American woman to be awarded in this way, Rita Moreno is back, this time in the role of Valentina (originally Doc), Tony’s boss and landlady. Entering popular culture, melodies stroke the ear (Something’s Coming, Tonight) while the choreographies, which stood out in their time, are seen a bit accelerated.
In this regard, the numbers wow, even that The Dance at the Gym and America (moved to the street) supplant their models.
Virtuoso, the staging of Steven Spielberg proves that at 74 years old, 72 at the time of filming, the artist has lost nothing of his ardor or his brilliance. Perfectly in tune with each other, the narrative and formal streams transport the audience into a past that distinctly challenges the present. From the big cinema, from the big Spielberg.
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