This claim will no doubt be controversial, but I stand by it: Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” is superior to the 1961 version directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Whenever I share this opinion with folks they react as if I’ve gone insane, but I genuinely believe it to be true. Let me be clear: I’m not saying the 1961 version is bad! Indeed, the ’61 film is one of the best musicals ever made. And yet … Spielberg’s is better. (Even the show’s lyricist, the late, great Stephen Sondheim, said he preferred Spielberg’s version.)
Spielberg dabbled with making a musical for most of his career, and it’s easy to understand why: very few modern filmmakers understand blocking and camera movement like he does, and these are essential elements to any great movie musical. Most musicals released in the last 20 years fail to capture what makes the genre so special, mostly because so many of today’s directors have no real grasp on where to put the camera. This isn’t a problem with Spielberg, who long wanted to make his own take on “West Side Story.” “I’ve been looking for a musical to adapt and direct for many years and I’ve considered a number of possibilities [but] I kept coming back to ‘West Side Story,'” the filmmaker said, and he finally got his chance, releasing the film in 2021.
While Spielberg’s “West Side Story” garnered positive reviews and got plenty of awards season attention (and landed Ariana DeBose a Best Supporting Actress Oscar), the film itself was a box office flop. Which is a damn shame, because not only is it a great movie, it’s one of Spielberg’s best movies. If you’ve missed watching it up until now, now is the perfect time to finally check it out.
West Side Story is one of Steven Spielberg’s best movies
“West Side Story” is a take on “Romeo & Juliet,” updating the action to 1950s New York, where street gangs the Jets (made up of white kids) and the Sharks (comprised of Puerto Rican immigrants) war over a neighborhood that’s in the process of being torn down. One of the key differences between Spielberg’s film and the ’61 version is in the casting: Spielberg made sure to cast actual Latino and Latina actors to play the Puerto Rican characters, which wasn’t the case for the Wise and Robbins film.
At the center of it all is a doomed love story between Tony (Ansel Elgort), who runs with the Jets, and Maria (Rachel Zegler), sister of Sharks leader Bernardo (David Alvarez). There’s been some criticism that Elgort is too stiff for the film, but I don’t actually agree (note: Elgort has been accused of sexual assault, which he denies, so I’m sure that didn’t help a lot of people’s interpretations of his performance). Yet while I don’t think Elgort is as bad as people say, he’s the weakest part of an otherwise wonderful cast. The best of the bunch is Mike Faist, who is a revelation here as Tony’s buddy Riff, a hot-head seemingly ready for violence at all times.
Spielberg follows this story with his unique directorial style, aided by a smart script by Tony Kushner that actually improves on the material by recontextualizing many details. Spielberg himself said this approach “resulted in what some might consider to be a more realistic or even darker version of ‘West Side Story.'” Or at least as realistic as a movie about singing, dancing street gangs can be. “West Side Story” is currently streaming on Disney+. Go watch it.
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