West Side Story Review: An Amazingly Lensed Eternal Love Story

Now that you know the plot, here is a detailed West Side Story review. The love birds belong to the fighting communities of street gangs of varied ethnic backgrounds. He is white (the Jets), she, a Puerto Rican immigrant (Sharks). Do the unfortunate lovers stand a chance to witness a future together? This film is inspired by the iconic play of William Shakespeare, Romeo, and Juliet. Steven Spielberg comprehends his film as not a remake but a contemporary restructure of the original classic. West Side Story cinema, primarily a stage musical by Leonard Bernstein that had lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, was played into a 1961 film by Robert Wise. The story that is set in the mid-1950s in the Upper West Side of NYC, follows two opponent gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, and a cursed love story marred by racial hatred and violence.

This love story is as primitive as the hills, especially if you have grown up on Bollywood romances, but chauvinism and racism are still existing in society. Spielberg finds that dimension pertinent to come up with a movie that does not violate the classic but pretends as its 2021 interpretation. The production, scale, and set design, musical performances, and nuances, are as good as what you would expect from any Spielberg film. But in spite of its ambition to attain near perfection, the movie does not blow your mind. The lead actors cannot offer the spark powerful chemistry that can make your heart beat for a while for the young lovers. Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler are talented and gorgeous but individually. He has a twinkle in his eye, she sings like magic but when together, they do not quite hit the bullseye. You will be more invested in the supporting cast of Ariana David Alvarez as Bernardo, DeBose as Anita, and Mike Faist as Riff. The plot finds its calling in these actors.

Musicals have a rhythm of their own, who better than Indians to understand that. Amazing visuals cannot compensate for the scarcity of emotional connection. Spielberg’s movie is beautiful, mainly the balcony scenes but detached, unlike the glorious musicals which enable you to feel the lyrics. You do not feel associated enough and that is when the length gets tiring.

After this West Side Story review, another big drawback is the scarcity of English subtitles for Spanish dialogue when nearly half the film is in Spanish. The director did not want to give ‘English the power over the Spanish’ by subtitling the Spanish inside the film. He said,