West Side Story 2021

 West Side Story 2021

It was the classical story, the story that had to be told. It was the greatest film of all time and some of us will never tire of watching over and over again. It is a story of gang warfare, fierce rivalries, eye ball to eye ball confrontations, personal loathing, bloodthirsty acrimony and, in the end, tragic death. It is quite clearly an adaptation of Shakespeare's famously dark love story Romeo and Juliet. It was the updated version of a film that broke all box office records at the time and will do so again now quite undoubtedly.

West Side Story is one of the most beautifully choreographed films in the history of film making. There will be none to touch it with a barge pole. It is the most fabulously photographed movie ever made. The street dancing and music are truly spellbinding and furthermore it captures the imagination in the way that films are supposed to do. It is a vast and majestic film, a film that takes you on the most spectacular roller coaster ride into a world where the goodies meet the baddies before launching into melodrama and, ultimately, death. 

The original West Side Story, released in 1961, stars the wonderful and even more incredible Rita Moreno in the 2021 incarnation and Natalie Wood as the cute, prim and apple pie innocent Maria, the macho, brave, masculine and fearless Tony. Then there's Rita Moreno, the glorious Valentina in the 2021 production as the owner of a drug store and back in 1961, the Latin, feisty, sexy, arrogant Puerto Rican who doesn't take any nonsense from anybody. 

The story opens amid an unforgettable back drop of a broken and derelict slum clearance site in Manhattan where the buildings that once stood proud in that vibrant part of America are no more than rubble, piles of bricks, and, quite clearly, in a general state of carnage. Here is an America still traumatised  by the Second World War. Then the camera moves quite seamlessly into back to back tenement homes where washing lines of clothing can still be seen hanging sadly in the air and gangs of teenage boys are on the prowl, menacing figures wearing leather jackets and vests, flick knives in their pockets and trouble on their minds. 

And then Puerto Rico meets the United States of America and it all turns distinctly ugly. The Jets and Sharks are two of the most violent, aggressive, frightening looking gangs you're ever likely to set eyes on. They're hard, fearsome, snarling, sneering and very territorial young guys who are, quite frankly, ruthless. They'll punch and brawl, fighting to the bitter end, challenging each other to yet more bitter fights, pinning each other to the ground, before shooting or stabbing their opponents in a cold act of brutality.

Of course West Side Story is a modern day interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet where both die at the end and the quintessential love story ends in tears, heart break and aching anguish. It's hard to know what the great Bard would have made of West Side Story suffice it to say that he would almost certainly have been enormously flattered by this treatment of his celebrated play. He may have downloaded the film onto his Tablet for this is the normal procedure nowadays. Or he might have waited for the Netflix version to come out as soon as it was possible to do so. 

But essentially both the original and contemporary take on West Side Story are quite the most astonishing achievement and you feel sure that the 2021 masterpiece will  break even more phenomenal box office records. It is hard to imagine a more moving, uplifting and life affirming than West Side Story. There is a power and almost musical lyricism about the movie that just lifts you along throughout and only puts you down at the end of the film.

Above all there is dancing, athletic, acrobatic, agile, flexible, men with slicked back black hair jumping into the air with all the effervescent enthusiasm that you might have been expecting and certainly got. They dance, clicking their fingers, leaping over old car tyres, railings, fences, and all over the deeply scarred landscape of Manhattan of the early 1960s. Then the Jets meet the Sharks and before you know it they're at daggers drawn, threatening, angry, spitting, just intent on killing each other. 

In between all the war, conflict and resentment there is the petite Maria played to perfection by Rachel Zegler, a young girl who falls helpless in love with Tony, acted out by Ansel Elgert. To compare the Maria of Natalie Wood in 1961 with the 2021 class of Rachel Zeigler would be grossly unfair but Zeigler is equally as romantic and endlessly winsome, feisty when she has to be. This was a marvellous performance by the latter day Zeigler. 

Then the film takes on a voyage of discovery. In a Manhattan drug store Rita Moreno is splendidly protective and maternal towards her daughter when things become very nasty. Moreno, who is now a remarkable 90, can still act with a consummate class, emerging with her head held high. Playing Valentina with hair net and apron, Moreno gives a masterclass. You can still see her in 1961 strutting her stuff with bravado as the Latin dancer with a wicked sense of humour but in 2021 she can still lend her different role a vintage quality, a model of magnificence. 

And so the tension begins to build and there is something electrifying about the way West Side Story just opens out like a delicate flower and then blossoms into life. Tony tries to calm tempers by offering an olive branch of peace to his Puerto Rican counterpart Bernardo. Bernardo continues to hold up his fists, deliberately provoking Tony and then everything ends in bleeding mouths and faces. The Jets declare war on the Sharks and everything gets too personal. Insults are exchanged, hatred rears its head and bodies lock together in war. Tony ends up with a bloodied face and everybody gets stuck in. 

Now the mood of the film changes dramatically. By now the grudges have been set in stone and violence is about to get completely out of hand. Tony, almost seething with revenge, stalks Bernardo and ultimately stabs him to death. Then Corey Stell as the police lieutenant and officer Krupke aka Brian D'Arcy are drafted into action. There is a classic scene right at the beginning of the film where Stell gives us a rousing lecture to the warring gangs and tries to keep a tight lid on the sound and fury.

Sadly you can almost feel the hostility between the Jets and Sharks. Maria is still deeply in love with Tony but Tony is out to settle some old scores. With a snarling machismo Tony asks Maria to run away with him which almost sounded too tender for words as an expression of their love for each other.  They almost achieve this objective but suddenly realise that there are forces out of their control which may not end up happily ever after. 

And then the film wends its way towards the conclusion most of us are probably familiar with. On a dark night the Jets and Sharks agree to meet up as murderous machines. They circle each other over and over again, they taunt one another relentlessly, then knives and guns appear as if on cue. Tony, now a central figure in this rancorous rumble, is pushed to the front by his closest friends and the whole atmosphere around the film assumes a distinctly darker edge, a grittier feel that is almost tangible and within our reach. 

So the final scene sees Tony walking into the distance clearly relieved that he's survived the worst. Then shots are fired from a gun and Tony falls to the ground, dead on impact. Maria rushes over to her lover, tears gushing from her eyes, emotions in tatters and instantly grief stricken. And that would have been that. Tragedy and death have now met each other in a head on collision. It may have taken 60 years to re-discover the artwork and beauty that have now so immediately illuminated the current day West Side Story. But, boy, was that worth the wait. It's definitely a thumbs up from here. Get your popcorn and be ready for a stunner of a film. You'll love West Side Story.