The movie that I chose to review for this assignment was West Side Story. This is a tragic story of two star crossed lovers from totally different backgrounds and because of this have to keep their love a secret from the world, sound familiar? This play/movie is based, in great length off the Shakespearian play Romeo and Juliet. This movie was more appealing to me personally then the Romeo and Juliet films I have seen in the past because it was set in a more common era (1950’s) and has modern day dialect, which makes it far easier to understand.
What made this movie enjoyable for me was the many dance sequences throughout the film, beginning with the opening scene of the Jets and the Sharks dance, hop, and skip to instill fear in the hearts of the rival gang. The battle scenes in this movie are more interpretative and less violent then I had originally anticipated them being, take one of the first scenes for example, they are on the playground and they begin to fight, however, I don’t notice actual contact being made in the scene, it was all just beautifully choreographed to look like an actual fight scene. The whole movie is basically one dance flowing into another song and dance with minimal talking in between; I guess that’s why they call it a musical.
The characters chosen to play the main characters of Maria (Wood) and Tony (Beymer) were perfect for their roles; Maria (Wood) with her thick Puerto Rican accent and her attitude towards life in general was just magnificent. I especially loved the way that she showed such emotion and such attachment to the role in the last scene of the film. Tony (Beymer) was what I would call your typical American boy who has such drive and ambition to change his life for the better and love whomever he pleases without being ridiculed for doing so.
The directors Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise used a lot of low key lighting for this film which may have been a tool to foreshadow the tragic end, but also I think it added to the seriousness of the situations that were taking place during the film as well, the 1950’s were a time of great racial disputes in America and the idea that a Puerto Rican and an American could fall in love and be happy was unheard of at this time. The low key lighting throughout the entire movie adds to intensity of the racial issues that these characters face.
In my opinion, West Side Story is the best remake of the tragedy that was Shakespeare’s Romeo and Julie, I did love the acting and the plot itself as well, however I thought at times that the dance sequences and songs were a little overdone and frequent. I may be that I’m not one for musicals, but I haven’t seen enough to know for sure. I do know that I did for the most part enjoy this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone that loves the original story of Romeo and Juliet, or someone who takes pleasure in watching musicals or musical theater.
What made this movie enjoyable for me was the many dance sequences throughout the film, beginning with the opening scene of the Jets and the Sharks dance, hop, and skip to instill fear in the hearts of the rival gang. The battle scenes in this movie are more interpretative and less violent then I had originally anticipated them being, take one of the first scenes for example, they are on the playground and they begin to fight, however, I don’t notice actual contact being made in the scene, it was all just beautifully choreographed to look like an actual fight scene. The whole movie is basically one dance flowing into another song and dance with minimal talking in between; I guess that’s why they call it a musical.
The characters chosen to play the main characters of Maria (Wood) and Tony (Beymer) were perfect for their roles; Maria (Wood) with her thick Puerto Rican accent and her attitude towards life in general was just magnificent. I especially loved the way that she showed such emotion and such attachment to the role in the last scene of the film. Tony (Beymer) was what I would call your typical American boy who has such drive and ambition to change his life for the better and love whomever he pleases without being ridiculed for doing so.
The directors Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise used a lot of low key lighting for this film which may have been a tool to foreshadow the tragic end, but also I think it added to the seriousness of the situations that were taking place during the film as well, the 1950’s were a time of great racial disputes in America and the idea that a Puerto Rican and an American could fall in love and be happy was unheard of at this time. The low key lighting throughout the entire movie adds to intensity of the racial issues that these characters face.
In my opinion, West Side Story is the best remake of the tragedy that was Shakespeare’s Romeo and Julie, I did love the acting and the plot itself as well, however I thought at times that the dance sequences and songs were a little overdone and frequent. I may be that I’m not one for musicals, but I haven’t seen enough to know for sure. I do know that I did for the most part enjoy this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone that loves the original story of Romeo and Juliet, or someone who takes pleasure in watching musicals or musical theater.
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