Score : 9/10
Year : 1961
Country : USA
Language : English and Spanish
Duration : 2h33
Writers : Ernest Lehman (screenplay) ; Arthur Laurents (book) ;
Jerome Robbins (play) ; William Shakespear (play Romeo and Juliet, uncredited)
Full cast : IMDB
Today, I decided to be adventurous in watching a movie I'd never tried before and accepted my wife's warning that I might not like the songs, as I don't tend to like musicals and have to be in the mood for their silly numbers...
However, dance and songs, sometimes with grave, sometimes with humerus lyrics, had sociopolitical comments, which the other musicals I'd watched didn't approach. This and the overall dramatic moments and acting actually agreeably surprised me for an unexpected quality and I remained entertained throughout the film.
The story starts with two rival street gangs, the Puerto Rican Sharks and the American Jets, in New York City. Behind this racial tension and a brawl scheduled between the two gangs to gain control of the neighbourhood, two youngsters from these respective clans fall in love, adding to their strenuous interaction.
Based on a Broadway musical of the same, both are inspired from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, announcing drama and tragedy at stake as these rival fight - either physically, verbally or through interpenetrative dance.
The crew evidently chose colour palettes for the gangs' environments and costumes, with deliberate tones and shifts as the story and evolution of the characters progresses from start to finish. These add to the cinematography, camera angles and occasional special effects, where characters are blurred to concentrate on others, very intelligently.
Dialogues and scenes naturally flow from one to the next, well written and delivered ; the angsts as well as social, gender and political comments emerge clearly and without hiding the desired effect, and in many ways, the story remains sadly truer in modern days, especially in American society, but also elsewhere in the world where racism keeps its grips on societies.
Although the cast pulls off their roles, but not everyone sings all their parts, some none at all, which for a musical should have been paramount. (I do know that other musicals have this same issue). Despite this, I recommend watching - did I even say that about a musical ?
Starring :Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno,George Chakiris, Russ Tumblyn, et al.
(including uncredited voice actors for the songs), see full list on IMDB in above link
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West Side Story...in the media
We currently own just the zone 2 DVD with EAN 8712626028406 presenting the movie in color, 2.35:1 aspect ratio, ''recreated from the original 65mm material'" with the following details :
Sound : Dolby digital 5.1 for English, Mono for German, French, Italian and Spanish dubs,
Subtitles : English, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Polish
Bonus material : Original Trailer.
The dvd has interactive menus with direct access to chapters.
Image and sound quality are good but the bonus is scarce.
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