West Side story: Gritty morality tale with an emotional punch. 85%

Not having seen the stage production of "West Side story" or its first film version, which I understand is regarded as a classic, I really don't have a point of comparison for this new film version of the long-running musical theatre staple. Of course, with the US being so effective at exporting its pop culture around the world, I was aware of songs and scenes from the original Hollywood film, which had positive associations for me, even though I live in Australia.

The story was inspired by a much earlier tale, which I won... lire la suite.

Good production. I liked the performers, except Ansel Elgort as the lead male, Tony, who I found to be uninteresting. I never got into the story or the songs.

A couple of other thoughts:

• Carefully choreographed Broadway-style dance routines severely diminish the menace of street gangs.
• Love at first sight is a myth and is a very bad reason to kill or be killed. (Intense attraction, curiosity, and lust at first sight, sure, but love takes longer.)

Full review: https://www.tinakakadelis.com/beyond-the-cinerama-dome/2021/12/28/it-all-begins-tonight-west-side-story-review

This film is a still (sadly) all-too-relevant story about how hatred infiltrates communities and the struggle to find a place to belong. West Side Story is about creating a home, however, you choose to define the word. Unfortunately, the miscasting of Tony brings down what could have been a near-perfect movie. His role is simply too large to be ignored and impossible to compare to his co-stars’ formidable, sublime performances.

A very welcome remake.

I must be one of the few iconoclasts who has not declared here his undying love for “West Side Story”, one of the most successful and acclaimed musicals of all time, and which continues, to this day, to seduce crowds of spectators. As I already had occasion to say then, I expected something else. The story is based on the ethnic conflict between a band of young Anglo-Saxons from New York and another band of immigrants from Puerto Rico, and the unlikely love between the leader of the American gang and the sister of the leader of the Puerto Rican gang. I know that, a... lire la suite.