Review of West Side Story (1961) by Rachel H — 29 Apr 2011

In my opinion, the film version of West Side Story is and will always be the best retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Surprisingly, this means telling the story is best done with songs and modern language. Those who don't like musicals will be instantly put off by this movie, but those who do like musicals will be very pleased with this one because it is definitley one of the best movie musicals ever made, mostly due to its brilliant choreography, great songs/singing, and its timeless source material. There is also fantastic acting from everyone involved and great chemistry between Richard Beemer and Natalie Wood.

The story takes place in New York, where the rivaling gangs called the Jets (rough equivalent of the Montagues) and the Sharks (rough equivalent of the Capulets) fight for turf. This film also touches on the racial divide of the groups, the Jets being white and the Sharks being Puerto Rican. Their part of the story centres on having a rumble to figure out who gets the streets once and for all. The romantic part of the story centres on Tony (Richard Beemer) and Maria (Natalie Wood) AKA Romeo and Juliet, and they meet eachother at the dance and instantly fall in love. Then, their story of ill-fated love begins, ending in....what I'm not going to give away.

Those of you who love the original story will be happy to know that all the basic plot elements are still there, obviously changing the dialogue, setting, and minor details. The rough equivalents of the characters are still there as well, with Tony and Maria being Romeo + Juliet, Anita (Rita Moreno) as Juliet's Nurse, Bernardo (George Chakiris) as Tybalt, and Riff (Russ Tamblyn) as Mercutio. I have seen some bits of the 1968 version of Romeo + Juliet, and I do like it (as it's probably the best straight-up retelling), but I think that this is infinitely better than that version and it's the best general retelling.

The choreography for this film is absolutely stunning, and I cannot even imagine dancing for this film, especially because I cannot dance. That brings me to another point, if you think that all gangs should be badass and not sing or dance, then you will not like this movie, so I would encourage you to avoid it. The songs are also amazing and memorable, my own personal favourites being "When You're a Jet" and the infamous "Tonight". If this review does not encourage you to watch the movie, then I hope it at least encourages you to check out the soundtrack because this movie has some of the best songs I have heard in any movie.

The acting is pretty strong, especially from Richard and Natalie as the two leads, as well as George Chakiris and Russ Tamblyn as the leaders of the respective gangs. The singing is also wonderful, even though neither Richard Beemer or Natalie Wood did their own singing. Although, I do have to say that I adore Tony's singing voice. In fact, the dubbing sounds so natural that I had no idea until I watched this for a second time and looked on wikipedia that he didn't do his own singing. Natalie Wood...not so much. I mean, I love Marni Nixon's singing work in this and in My Fair Lady, but her voice coming out of Natalie Wood's mouth did not sound natural at all. The rest of the actors did their own singing (as far as I know) and they were all terrific too.

Needless to say, West Side Story was terrific and rightfully won Best Picture. Those who don't like musicals or the film's personification of gangs will be put off this movie, and should avoid it. However, those who are curious or love musicals get my earnest recommendation to check it out. In fact, for fans of movie-musicals, this is a must-see. If you haven't seen it already, I highly encourage you to do so. Fantastic singing/songs, a timeless story, breathtaking choreography, fantastic acting, and many many other things make for a perfect movie that I can't see anything wrong with.