Untitled

When Steven Spielberg announced a while back that his next project would be a remake of "West Side Story," there were a lot of skeptics. Not that they thought Spielberg was incapable, but that it seemed a project not really worth doing. After all, the original movie, released in 1961, is considered a classic.
I'm here to say that I consider it one of his best films. Granted, you can't go wrong with original music by Leonard Bernstein, but Spielberg brings a fresh eye to the staging of a beloved theater piece and an even more popular movie.
To appreciate the artistry of the production, you need to accept the fact, apparent in both the Broadway version and the earlier film, that warring gangs, the Sharks and Jets, dance like coiled springs. So how tough can these guys really be when they're doing pirouettes? Plenty tough it turns out.
The turf war between the hostile Irish and Italian old guard and the newly-arrived Puerto Ricans sets the tone for the dramatic heart of the story. Although Spielberg makes it plain from the first frame that it's sadly much ado about nothing.
The Upper West Side is being bulldozed to make way for the now-iconic Lincoln Center complex. And where the earlier film opened with aerials of the New York skyline, Spielberg opts for a tracking shot of the detritus of demolished buildings and tilts up to a billboard announcing what amounts to a gentrifying neighborhood.
Progress is really nothing to swoon over if all you've ever known is a down and out, bare-knuckled existence and your next date is with a wrecking ball. It's a fight you can't win, and certainly not with fists and a misplaced fury.
"West Side Story," of course, is an updated version of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." That means--no surprise--this is a story that ends in tears. But getting there is a sumptuous adventure, a Technicolor treat. And the swirling and sinuous "America" was my favorite number.
The music, adapted by David Newman, can't be improved upon, so he does his best to just get out of the way and let it envelop the movie-goer.
Spielberg cast a virtual unknown, Rachel Zegler, as Maria and she is brilliant in the role. Her co-star, Ansel Elgort, is a competent singer, but no competition for Zegler. Doesn't matter, though. They shine as star-crossed lovers.
Some critics, indifferent to Spielberg's endeavor, have asked why he bothered to remake a movie musical, even one with an astonishing pedigree, at a time when musicals in general have fallen out of favor?
For me, it's all about the role of the arts. Where would we be without painters or composers, or dancers or musicians? They add life to life and you can't do much better than a movie that celebrates what binds us with unbridled passion.