The best thing Steven Spielberg did in "West Side Story" was to let Latino actors play Puerto Rican roles in musicals. It's not just for representation. Today, unlike the previous feature film adaptation of the show that was made 60 years ago, today, the correct choice of race is a given. However, specifically, the selection of Ariana Debos, David Alvarez and Rachel Ziegler as Anita, Bernardo and Maria constitutes the largest part of the 2021 film version .
Unfortunately, the casting of this film revival was not entirely successful. In fact, the decisions of some actors are one of the worst elements in the new adaptation. In particular, there is one that even ruined the entire movie: Ansel Elgort as the protagonist of Tony, who lacks personality, charm and expression. He didn't leave the audience with anything to catch or care about the character. His shortcomings extend to his chemical reaction with Ziegler, which hurts the romantic narrative at the core of the West Side story.
Set in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in the late 1950s, this musical is based on the famous update of Romeo and Juliet (or, for the ancients, Piramos and Tisby), it tells the story of opposing sides in the gang war. The story of star-studded lovers. Tony is a former member of the Jets, which is a group of young criminals who are proud of white people; after working for Sing Sing for two years, he almost killed another boy, and he is trying to improve his life. Maria is Bernardo’s sister, and Bernardo is a hot-headed boxer who directs a group of Puerto Rican locals known as the Sharks. She is now 18 years old, ready to prove that she is an adult in mind and soul.
Tony and Maria met at a nearby dance party, I think it was love at first sight-of course, she was cute, and he, uh, intriguingly dense-but their first meeting was too hasty and incoherent to be Change the course of the spark life and plot line. The problem with the scene is not just in Elgort's dramatic incompetence. While his eyes locked with hers, a dazzling dance sequence took place. What's more distracting was the violent impact of the lens flare, eclipsing everything else in the picture.
The couple's interest in each other immediately gave Bernardo, who disapproved, a reason to agree to a battle with the jets. He mainly just wanted to fight Tony. The Jets are led by the aggressive but militant Riff (Mike Faist), who wants to keep the Sharks away from their turf. However, they claim that this has nothing to do with race, but just the xenophobia of the old American "we came here first". The Jets have also become rapists, which has always been a problem for a musical that happily treats these people through singing and dancing.
It's also difficult to get Faist to play the role of Riff, although this is certainly not as common as the dislike of Elgort's Tony. At least Faist is an amazing performer-like many supporting actors in the movie, he is best known as an outstanding stage actor-and watching on the screen is a treat. He is just not suitable for this role, nor suitable for the tone of this adaptation, especially in the scene opposite to Elgort, he looks special, and when he is supposed to be a tough guy, he is considered a moody When the puppy.
There is little investment in the Jets, they are like kids playing gangsters when defending their sand. Considering how long West Side Story has paid attention to them, this is a shame. In addition, the new choreography attempts (provided by Justin Parker) are not new or different in their numbers, so that fans do not want Jerome Robbins to come out of the original Broadway and movie versions. The reset performance of "Oh, Officer Krupke" looks interesting and worth mentioning.
At the same time, everything involving Maria, Bernardo and his girlfriend Anita is very compelling. As far as she is concerned, especially in the scene with Elgort, Zegler is both bright and gentle in her portrayal. She sometimes seems too childish, good or bad as far as the core love story is concerned. However, in her scene with Alvarez and DeBose, the three of them have a convincing influence as family members, roommates, and cultural and social relatives. Their work is rooted in the world of "West Side Story", even when—especially when—they sing. I could have watched a whole movie about their interaction in their apartment.
DeBose is the most impressive. The role of Anita has attracted the most awards attention in the stage and screen production of "West Side Story", and this is for a reason. She has the best songs, especially as a complement to her character development, the brightest musical numbers and the most emotional arcs-in this version, she may be the only truly emotional person. DeBose will definitely leave this experience again with its greatest legacy. Maybe one day, she will play another role in another "West Side Story" remake, serious and skilled, just like Anita, Rita Moreno (Anita, Rita Moreno) in the 1961 movie did here Like that.
If only Debos and other good actors were enough to make all this a worthwhile effort. I will definitely not stop anyone from watching it, and may even suggest you to watch some performances and some musicals (you still can't go wrong with the tunes of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim) and some film photography by Janusz Kamiński — If it weren't for the headache blitz with lens flare, then the visual effect is very retro. (In his first musical, Spielberg pursued such a retro aesthetic, it was as full of nostalgia as Ghostbusters: The Afterlife.)
But we can't classify "West Side Story" as a musical. The overall story of a movie drives all the other components, so it is very inadequate. Without magnetic clues—or at least a better Tony—their romance has no weight. Without that weight, the audience has no reason to care about what happens to them. If there were no such worries, the rest of the film would be plain. In particular, the ending failed, not as strong as it was written, and can be traced back thousands of years in past incarnations.
Related topics: West Side Story