Film: West Side Story
Director: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
Country: USA
Released: October 1961
Runtime: 152 minutes
Genre: Musical
Studio: United Artists
Influenced: Randal Kleiser, Baz Luhrmann, Julie Taymor, Damien Chazelle, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Spielberg
Based on Stephen Sondheim's classic Broadway musical of the same name, West Side Story was directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, with a screenplay by Ernest Lehman. Both the play and film are a modern retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, set in the context of gang violence and racial tension in 1950s New York, following the story of two rival street gangs in the Upper West Side: the Jets, made up of white working-class teenagers, and the Sharks, a gang of Puerto Rican immigrants. The Jets are led by Riff (Russ Tamblyn), while the Sharks are led by Bernardo (George Chakiris), the older brother of Maria (Natalie Wood), who becomes the romantic interest of Tony (Richard Beymer), a former member of the Jets who has left the gang and works at a local drugstore.
Despite the animosity between the two gangs, Tony and Maria fall in love and are determined to be together, even as their families and friends urge them to stay apart. The film is notable for its innovative choreography, created by the legendary Jerome Robbins, who also directed the original stage production. The dances are a blend of ballet, jazz and Latin American rhythms, and help to tell the story of the rival gangs and their struggle for dominance. The film's famous dance sequences, such as the opening prologue and the America number, are among the most memorable in movie musical history.
The film's score, composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, is also rightly considered a classic. The songs, including Tonight, Maria and the stirring Somewhere, are among the most beloved in the musical theatre canon, and have been covered by countless artists over the years. The film's soundtrack won the Academy Award for Best Music and Scoring of a Musical Picture. The film's themes of love, violence and racial tension struck a chord with American audiences in the early 1960s, a time of great social upheaval and civil rights struggle. The film's portrayal of Puerto Rican immigrants and their fight to find a place in American society was especially resonant, and helped to pave the way for greater representation of Hispanic voices in American culture.
West Side Story's message of tolerance and acceptance has continued to resonate with audiences in the decades since its release. The film's innovative use of dance, music and visuals helped to set a new standard for movie musicals, and its influence can be seen in many later films, from Grease (1978) to The Lion King (1994). The film's themes and characters also continue to be adapted in countless other works, right up to the modern day, from La La Land (2016) to In the Heights (2021), and Spielberg even decided to make his own version of West Side Story in 2021 to win over new audiences to its enduring charm.
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