West Side Story 4K Blu-ray Review
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, March 10, 2022
One of the things that has been discussed, sometimes rabidly, in the wake of this remake of the venerable 1961 film version of
West Side Story
is,
"Should there have even
been
a remake?" After all, would anyone ever attempt to remake
Citizen Kane? (And
please don't tell me if anyone is planning to.) But there's a salient difference at hand with regard to
West Side Story, at least contextually, and that's the fact that it was, not to state the obvious, originally conceived as a theater piece, and any
theater company that
has ever produced the show in the decades since its Broadway premiere in 1957 has in their own way "remade" it. Now, the vagaries of licensing a
musical for stage performance typically mean that not
too many liberties can be taken, but even so, with a "living" entity like a stage
production, there's an almost "built in" at least perception of new if not always improved iterations in the mix, despite the fact that by the very
nature of the
medium, any film adaptation is "set", to use a blocking term of art from the theater.
That said, it was an undeniably audacious
thing for Steven Spielberg to even
suggest that he would
do an updated film version of one of the most beloved film musicals
(and, indeed,
films) of all time, one
which famously broke box office records and won one of the highest number of Academy Awards ever doled out (ten, including an honorary
statuette bestowed upon
choreographer Jerome Robbins), and a film which is still held in incredibly high esteem for both its artistic merit and its visceral emotional impact.
And yet perhaps unsurprisingly there have been naysayers with regard to the Robert Wise classic, especially in more "PC" times looking back to the
casting of various
characters who were supposed to be Puerto Rican but who, at least in the form of Natalie Wood, most decidedly
weren't. (While George
Chakiris was also not Puerto Rican, he at least had some history with the stage version, having portrayed Riff on the West End for almost two
years.) Other
curmudgeons have also lamented the fact that the two leads in the 1961 version did not do their own singing (Jimmy Bryant sang for Richard
Beymer and the legendary Marni Nixon subbed for Natalie Wood). Those issues have been addressed at least in some fashion in this remake, and
scenarist Tony Kushner and director Steven Spielberg have also added a number of other tweaks which may or may not find favor with those
familiar with the original stage version and the 1961 film.
Note: If anyone needs a recap of the plot dynamics of
West Side Story by this point, I'd suggest starting with a little play some
may have heard of called
Romeo and Juliet. For my
thoughts on the first film version of
West Side Story, you can consult
my now long ago
West Side Story Blu-ray review
of the first Blu-ray release of the 1961 version.
One of the inherent hurdles Spielberg and his team had for this remake is that it is simply inarguable what a stylistic jolt the Wise - Robbins effort
was for a film that came out in 1961, as I discuss in some detail in the above linked review. Until then, film musicals had often become increasingly
stodgy, and when considering the 1961 film, even
aside and apart from Robbins' spectacularly athletic ballet sequences, elements like the overhead shots of Manhattan or the brilliant segue into the
dance sequence (interestingly just one of several uses of filters that would seem to belie the typically disparaged use of them in the then relatively
recent film version of
South Pacific) prove what an
incredible achievement the "first"
West Side Story was on purely visual merits alone. And so, in a way, this effort would seem to be
very
much like someone announcing a remake of
Citizen Kane, simply in terms of having to banish memories of an indelible visual style.
Both the stylistic and casting aspects provide interesting entrance points to this version, at least from a certain "meta" standpoint. It's been highly
publicized, to say the least, that this version
offers ostensibly more "accurate" casting with regard to some of the Puerto Rican characters. That includes Rachel Zegler as Maria, Ariana DeBose
as Anita (Academy Award nominated for this performance), and David Alvarez as Bernardo. However, it should also be noted that even these
apparent steps toward "appropriateness" (if that's even the right term) have been questioned by some, with intense discussions about just
how
Puerto Rican some of the performers are, as if some kind of DNA test were required, though of course years of under representation or outright
misrepresentation has to be factored into how various people have responded. This controversy brings to mind a kind of hilarious (to
me, anyway) quote by a professional actor friend of mine reacting to what some might term woke attempts to cancel portrayals by performers
not deemed to be of the
"type" being portrayed, "Actors need to promise to
never pretend to be something they're not." Putting aside whatever qualifiers this
approach almost automatically engenders, I found there to be an undeniable sweetness to Zegler's portrayal, and some remarkable ferocity in the
work of both
DeBose in particular and Alvarez. On the decidedly Caucasian front, Mike Faist makes for a compelling Riff, with a kind of snarkiness that is
reminiscent of but still different from Russ Tamblyn's approach.
As I mention in my review of the 1961 version, Richard Beymer's Tony often bore the brunt of negative critical
assessment at the time, and while I'm not sure Ansel Elgort brings any more perceived "authenticity" to his portrayal (especially since Tony is now
an ex-con in this version), he is a likable and accessible presence in the film. Rita Moreno, who of course won one of the first film version's many
Academy Awards for
her portrayal of Anita, is famously on hand here again in this film's version of the store owner who employs Tony, in
this case Pop's Puerto Rican widow Valentina. One of the more noticeable changes from the original which won't be spoiled here (but which is
already pretty generally known) was obviously designed to give Moreno her own solo singing moment, and while it's touching if probably
unavoidably self reflexive, I'm not sure it was
really needed, especially since the emotional brunt of the moment seems more overtly
generalized now rather than having the specificity it did in the stage and first film versions, a specificity about two characters that nonetheless
suggested a more general yearning without hitting the audience over the head with it.
Stylistically, Spielberg offers his own take on things, and they're often impressive, but I have to say for me personally, as someone who was literally
dragged to repeated viewings of the original
West Side Story by my elder sisters when I was a kid, they most decidedly did
not
banish memories of the original. The mere fact that Spielberg even considered doing this, though, unabashedly impresses me and his reimaginings
of now iconic moments in the original are often masterful and almost always visually interesting (although I had to wonder what was up with what
I'm assuming were
artificial lens flares scattered ubiquitously throughout the film but especially noticeable during the dance at the gym sequence). All of this said, for
anyone who
loves the 1961
West Side Story, comparisons
kind of inevitably will come into play.
Tony Kushner's additions, subtractions and revisions to the original are a mixed bag, in my estimation. He probably wisely develops the character
of Chino (Josh Andrés Rivera), Maria's would be suitor, which probably gives the tragic finale a bit more subtext, especially in terms of an
underlying element suggesting basically "good boys" can give in to violence. The introduction of Valentina, a Puerto Rican who had married a
"gringo" (in her words), obviously gives Moreno a great showcase for her inimitable presence (she also executive produced), and I think is actually
a kind of smart revision, though I have to say I wasn't buying any of either Moreno's or Elgort's "ain't"s and inappropriate "don't"s (with second
person singular subjects, for example). And in fact some of the expository dialogue in this version I found to be positively clunky at times.
That "should" in my opening sentence above is a perhaps provocative qualifier itself, since who's to say who should or shouldn't attempt a new
version of something? I will say as someone who was exposed to
West Side Story at a
very young age and who is reasonably
well acquainted with the score, I found this version to be beautifully sung and powerfully danced. I had variable reactions to some of the rejiggered
orchestrations, and I frankly wanted Leonard Bernstein's incredible music to be mixed further up in some moments where sound effects can take
precedence, as in the lengthy opening sequence. For me personally, this version won't replace the
Wise version, but in my estimation it also stands on its own as a formidable achievement, even if per now long established
West Side Story
tradition, some may take issue with various aspects. The fact that anyone is talking about film musicals in 2022 for
any reason I
consider to be a good
thing, and I frankly also consider this version of
West Side Story to be a generally good thing as well.
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