“West Side Story” must be familiar to anyone who likes musicals and movies. And this award-winning classic Broadway song and dance will once again hit the big screen in 2022.
It is gratifying that the director is actually a legend in the sci-fi film industry – Steven Spielberg.
In his lens, we see the heroine Rachel Zegler transformed into a 1950s New York girl, entangled between racial hatred and fiery love.
Related Post: “West Side Story” recreates the song and dance with a rich singing play that turns a classic into a classic.
Highlight 1: Love intertwined with beautiful melodies
I still remember the soulful performances of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in “La La Land”, through the beautiful melody and brisk dancing “interweaving” every picture, it is so romantic but real.
And “West Side Story” makes people fall in love with it, too.
However, compared to the hero and heroine who gave up love for their dreams in “La La Land”, “West Side Story” takes us back to New York in 1957, when there was nothing but each other.
If this love is destined to be a tragedy, would you still love me?
Maria and Tony in “West Side Story”, one is the daughter of Latino immigrants, and the other is a local predominantly white American Jet teenager.
In New York, where racial conflicts continue, two people with different backgrounds meet this unblessed love.
They are “Roméo Juliette” from the 1950s, one of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies.
Highlight 2: Adaptation of a Broadway classic from “Roméo Juliette”
In 1949, three legendary masters of Broadway musicals – choreographer Jerome Robbins, musician Leonard Bernstein and playwright Arthur Laurents, embarked on a journey to adapt Shakespeare’s “Roméo Juliette”.
With the cooperation of the three, “West Side Story” has become one of the most classic musicals on Broadway. Many popular songs such as “Tonight”, “Maria”, and “Something’s Coming” are still being sung continuously.
In 1961, “West Side Story” was put on the big screen for the first time, and won “10 awards” at the Academy Awards the following year. This crazy record ranks second in Oscar history, second only to “Titanic”. ” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”.
However, the most heart-wrenching scene is the iron railings of the New York apartment where Maria and Tony have their first date, singing “Tonight”. Does it also remind you of the most poignant “balconies” of “Roméo Juliette”?
From 1961’s “West Side Story” to the stories under Spielberg’s lens in 2022, “Roméo Juliette” has been played into another kind of love, romantic and timeless that can be rewritten in different eras.
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Highlight 3: Spielberg’s childhood dream
“Jaws” (1975), “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982), “Jurassic Park” (1993) were all record-breaking films from the legendary Hollywood director.
However, you would never guess that his childhood dream was to shoot a musical?
He said frankly in an exclusive interview: “When I was 10 years old, when I listened to the soundtrack of “West Side Story”, it was deeply imprinted in my heart and I can’t forget it. At that time, I wrote a dream, I want to make this film Movie!”
“West Side Story” is Spielberg’s first musical film. At the age of 75, he finally fulfilled this “childhood dream”.
Not only that, but Spielberg invited the actor Rita Moreno who played “Anita” in the 1961 version of “West Side Story” to return!
The 90-year-old Anita is still as graceful as ever, and her best supporting actress Oscar for “West Side Story” also brings blessings to Spielberg’s first musical.
At the 2022 Golden Globe Awards, “West Side Story” won three awards: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress in Music and Comedy.
Highlight 4: The heroine is “Snow White”
Before the release of “West Side Story”, the heroine Rachel Zegler, who was selected by Spielberg from thousands of auditions, has been appointed by Disney as the heroine of the live-action version of “Snow White”.
It takes a lot of courage to break the stereotype of Disney fairy tales with a Latino complexion.
However, Rachel Zegler is not timid. In addition to being favored by the legendary director, her singing ability also makes her qualified to be proud!
She has recorded self-playing and singing works online in the past, and she reinterprets many classics in “West Side Story”, with a soft but thick voice, which is really charming.
With Spielberg’s affection and the chance to star in the live-action version of Disney’s “Snow White”, her life was a Hollywood girl’s dream.
However, in addition to talent and luck, what you don’t know is that Rachel has accumulated a lot of acting experience since she was a child, and she also played Cosette in the stage version of “Les Misérables”. Such step-by-step efforts are not accidental.
Highlight 5: Alternate background and social issues
“West Side Story” recreates the differences between Puerto Rican immigrants in the 1950s from “Interracial Love”, but it is not just racial discrimination and cultural generation gap, from the hero “Tony” and the heroine’s brother “Bernardo” Representing teen gangs – Jet and Sharks, we also see the issue of crime arising from the marginalization of teens.
Under the “West Side Story” overhead story, the most realistic social appearance, in fact, no matter the background of the era, has a core that can be insinuated.
Today, we may not be able to “empathize” with the entanglement of interracial love, or the embarrassment of juvenile delinquent marginalization, but we can still understand that in a world where there is nothing but love, family and friendship, every little thing about each other is important. It is something worth protecting for a lifetime.
The song, dance and love in “West Side Story” is beautiful, but it is also a sad past and a realism that is of concern.
Related Post: Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ Releases Trailer , It’s Coming to Disney+ March 2nd.
