![]() The long shots that linger for that extra moment feel like a homage to its stage origins. The songs are wonderfully choreographed, making it a visual treat. Given the violent happenings, the 'too good to be true' love story might feel out of place, but the raw passion and brutality works in favour of the film's realistic themes, which are elevated by the emotional foot-tapping numbers. As one of the characters calls them, they are, "the last of the can't make it Caucasians." While the Sharks are working-class migrants with aspirations, the Jets are the product of negligence by their family and society, which has made them a bunch of nihilists with deep-rooted racism. Stuck in the crossfire are Tony (Ansel Elgort) and Maria (Rachel Zegler), a young couple whose affiliation lies with opposing gangs. The story explores the rivalry between two teenage street gangs - Sharks, consisting of Puerto Ricans and Jets, a gang of white men. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story is set in 1950s’ Upper West Side of New York City where people of different races were forced to share the neighbourhood. While retaining the true essence of a simple yet relatable story, and delivering a film that is slightly better than the original, West Side Story will surely be one more feather on the master filmmaker's much-decorated cap. The second film adaptation of the 1957 musical of the same name, West Side Story is a lovely homage to the stage plays. Spielberg, whose 33 feature films fall under a spectrum of genres, has finally realised his dream to do a musical with West Side Story. What do prolific filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg have in common? They have all mastered the art of going outside their comfort zone to straddle multiple genres. ![]()
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