"West Side Story" (1961)

Rating: PG

Genre: Drama, Musical & Performing Arts, Romance

Directed By: Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins

Written By: Ernest Lehman

Released: Oct 18^th, 1961

Runtime: 151 minutes

Studio: United Artists Films

Summary:

A musical in which a modern day Romeo and Juliet are involved in New York street gangs. On the harsh streets of the upper west side, two gangs battle for control of the turf. The situation becomes complicated when a gang members falls in love with a rival's sister.

Review:

I remember watching the beginning of this and thinking, “you know what, this could go either way”. I’m not the biggest fan of musicals but the story attracted me to this one in particular. I’ve heard many references towards it in TV Shows etc so it’s been on my list for a while now. And the verdict? This is a smashing movie!  

I didn’t know what to think watching the first scene. It’s not quite like anything I’ve seen before. It’s a group of men looking at each other, interacting dialoguelessly, clicking to a rhythm of a score that made it so hypnotic I was kind of sucked into the whole production without my realising. And then without nary an explanation or context given, they began dancing in the middle of the street. – They didn’t look like the kind of guys you’d find breaking into dance in the middle of a street!! But the entire sequence was just choreographed so well. I found it, and even now looking back, so incredibly bizarre! And yet I couldn’t look away from any of it. 

This is the thing about musicals and why I usually tend to shy away from them. There’s an awful lot of faffing about singing and dancing and not so much getting on with the plot that needs to be told. What made this different in my eyes was its lack of singing. Not a note was hummed or lyric uttered. There wasn’t a decent schelp of dialogue spoken until fifteen minutes into the film. There was dialogue but it was sort of throwaway. The score just makes this film. It’s wonderful. 

I loved the production design. The colours – all so bright and cheerful. As a way of distinguishing between the two gang groups they used mostly yellows, blues and oranges for the white gang, or “The Sharks”, while for the other Puerto Ricon gang they used mostly reds, purples and pinks. I liked this a lot. It was very aesthetically pleasing to look at, particularly during the dance scene in which both groups are dressed up at some kind of ball. 

Speaking of this scene, the moment in which Maria and Tony first clap eyes on each other, the pivotal moment of the film in which they fall in love, is visually well done. They have the background and every other dancer blurred out except for the pair of them as they stare at each other from opposite ends of the room, eventually walking towards each other. I just found this very different and actually quite beautiful. The placing of each character when Maria and Tony start dancing and talking together, both in the foreground and background is very symmetrical and strategically placed in frames, making it so pleasing to watch. 

This film is so visually-orientated. I know most films tend to be but this one in particular puts its focus on telling the story through what we see as opposed to lots of catchy song lyrics and lots of dialogue. Now there are those two, the songs are very catchy, don’t get me wrong, but it’s score and the production design that excel above all other attributes. At least, in my eyes.

The story of a modern-day Romeo and Juliet is very engaging as well. The characters are likable, fun and spunky. This is such a gorgeous and beautiful film. I’m surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. An all-rounder that if you haven’t yet seen, you’re in for a treat.  

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