West Side Story (1961)

Well, this is a tough one... Whereas many of the songs in West Side Story are widely recognizable (thanks to an excellent work by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim), not so many people have actually watched the movie. In fact, Ebert himself finishes his Great Movie review by saying that this is a film that comes short of its full potential. So why did he give West Side Story its 5th star by including it in that selective list? The dancing itself, says he. Well, I respectfully disagree...

The movie spans a 2-day interval, telling the doomed love story of the Puerto Rican immigrant Maria (Natalie Wood) and a local guy, named Tony (Richard Beymer). It so happens that Tony was a founding member of the Jets, whose rival gang so happens to be the Sharks, whose leader is Maria's brother Bernardo (George Chakiris) -- thus setting the stage for one of many adaptations of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. As far as adaptations go, I would say this is a pretty good modernization of the bard's classic. Actually, it doesn't bother me too much that the ending of the story has been changed; what does bother me is the fact that I don't see both gangs being at war as a huge barrier between Tony and Maria, as their parents probably don't give a damn about their kids' petty disagreements. On top of that, Tony, a church-going, hard-working guy, wants to marry Maria, not simply to date her, which is monumentally different for a catholic family such as Maria's. 

Anita (Rita Moreno)

With the main "struggle" of the movie leaving me indifferent, its supporting cast is reason enough for watching it time and time again. What I really liked about West Side Story, and the reason why I would recommend it, is Rita Moreno's Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend. Every second of screen time she has is a joy to watch, which makes me believe that the movie could have been much better had the writers dropped Tony and Maria's love story entirely and focused instead on Anita and Bernardo's hardships as they try a new life in the US. Actually, it's theirs the best song in the movie, America, when the girls can only see the bright side of living in the US, while the guys can only see the downsides. For me, the confrontation of such extreme views on the same topic, beautifully symbolized by their dancing, is the second best scene in the movie. The best scene is again Anita's, when she goes to the Jet's meeting place to bring a message to Tony from Maria, being treated so awfully that, in a fit of rage, she shouts that tony will never see Maria again because she had been shot dead, which does not make Shakespeare's plot device feel tacked in. In fact it is hers on of West Side Story's 10 (!) Oscars.

Stills from West Side Story illustrating its masterful use of color for scene composition

I also really like the way color is employed throughout the movie, both in set and costume design (also one Oscar each). A perfect illustration for that can be seen in the images above: notice how, in the first frame, both characters are highlighted from the red background, with Riff convincing Tony to go to the dance that night, when Riff would then challenge Bernardo to a final confrontation. The predominance of red in this scene can be seen both as a hint of the bloody aftermath of that confrontation, as well as an indication of Tony's meeting the love of his life in that dance (as red is also commonly associated with passion). Either way, we get the impression the events in that dance will be crucial for those two characters. Afterwards, right before the fight between the Jets and the Sharks, we get a shot of a very similar alley now bathed with the red light of the sunset (shown in the center), again foreboding tragedy. Finally, after the fight, where Bernardo killed Riff and was then killed by Tony, again we see the alleys, now covered in dark, as also are the hearts of all characters.

The Sharks, dancing menacingly

Now for the things I didn't quite enjoy. Again, back to the topic of dancing, I am not prejudiced against it when I feel it's appropriate. For example, the choreography in the America song is very well placed, as is the one in the dancing hall. However, the opening scene, as well as in the Cool song, with all its finger-snapping and ballet-style choreography, feels rather silly and outdated...It's hard for me to explain why... probably the same reason why I really enjoyed the Greased Lightning scene in Grease (1978) and the To Life scene in Fiddler on the Roof (1961), while I completely hated the Lonesome Polecat scene in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), which for me felt totally out of place... I honestly think that, even though well-loved by Ebert, ballet numbers like those are the main reason why West Side Story feels outdated now and, as a consequence, is not nearly as watched as its contemporary (or even older) musicals.

Maria (Natalie Woods)

Besides, it is hard to like a movie when you don't feel empathy toward the main couple. I have nothing against love-at-first-sight stories. Actually, I am living proof that such love does exist, as my parents were struck by the cupid's arrow when they first met, marrying a few months later and having been together for over 30 years. I simply cannot like neither Maria nor Tony. As for Maria, since she shares half of her scenes with Anita, she is easily outshined by Rita Moreno. Also, the scene when she meets Tony after having found out he killed her brother is rather pathetic, with her screaming, "killer killer killer killer killer"... Also, she is a horrible, horrible person, as she is able to have sex with the man who killed her brother right after the fact! In Shakespeare's play, Juliet is never seen interacting with Tybalt, her cousin who is killed by Romeo; Bernardo is Maria's brother, who spent the whole movie looking after her, yet she manages to have sex right after discovering he had been killed... and with his killer!!! How heartless is that?!? Furthermore, although lyrical voices fit perfectly in "period" musicals such as The King and I (1956) and My Fair Lady (1964), I am not a fan of their use in "contemporary" musicals. Since Maria's voice (dubbed by Marni Nixon) is the only lyrical voice in the entire movie, that makes it even more out of place.

And then there's Tony. Like Richard Burton's Mark Anthony in Cleopatra (1963), Tony is such a bland character that it makes you want to hit him in the face nearly every time he's onscreen. The scene that better illustrates how utterly gutless he is, is when, after having killed Bernardo, Tony meets Maria and tells her he is going to give himself up to the police, to which she says no and he then replies, "Whatever you want, I'll do", even if that means putting himself in the wanted list for murder, facing a long term in jail and even the death penalty in some states. Way to go, Tony...

Summarizing it:

Liked	Didn't like
Rita Moreno's Anita. West Side Story would have been a much better movie if it had her as a lead	The main couple. More than once I wanted so much to punch them in the face.
Brilliant set design, with a very clever use of colors.	Most of the dancing feels silly and contributes for the movie to feel outdated (IMHO).

It could have been a much, much better movie had these two being the lead couple:

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Great Movie review by Roger Ebert here.

If you liked this movie, then maybe try watching Franco Zeffirelli's much, much better (storywise) Romeo and Juliet (1968), or George Cukor's highly superior (musical-wise) My Fair Lady (1964).

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