Peter Viney's Blog

Music by Leonard Bernstein, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Directed by Stephen Speilberg
Screenplay by Tony Kushner
Based on the stage play book by Arthur Laurents

(I love IMDBs 1961 writing credits … Ernest Lehman – screenplay, Arthur Laurents – book, Jerome Robbins – play, William Shakespeare- play, uncredited. Not the first time the Bard has been denied a due credit)

Disney Plus streaming from 2 March 2022

MAIN CAST:
Ansel Elgort- Tony
Rachel Zegler- Maria
Ariane DeBose – Anita
David Alvarez – Bernardo
Rita Moreno- Valetina
Brian d’Arcy James – Officer Krupke
Corey Stoll – Lieutenant Schrank
Mike Faist- Riff
Josh Andres Rivera – Chino
Iris Menes – Anybodys

Our music teacher had to wear an unfortunate academic gown on speech days – purple with ermine trimming. We called him Liberace though he banged out the morning hymns daily in a less florid manner. He had a short list of the greatest composers. 18th century – Mozart and Bach. 19th century- Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. 20th century – Holst and Bernstein. At that point there were nearly forty years left for competitors to emerge (Dylan, Lennon & McCartney). He also thought choosing West Side Story as the greatest work (over The Planets) made him kinda cool, I suspect.

Sixty years have passed since the 1961 film. Long enough ago to look afresh. The 1961 soundtrack was #1 on the US album charts for a staggering fifty-four weeks, the longest of any album in history. The Broadway musical soundtrack was 1957, and had already been a major American hit, as had the London stage version in the UK. Popular singers of the day raced to cover the songs. Record labels put out compilations of their stars doing the songs. I’ve seen the film several times, and have seen it as a stage musical, both by professional and (good) amateur companies. We have the remastered film and after one viewing, have often accessed it, but on SCENE SELECT to watch dance routines.

The way we were …

Whether you agree with my music teacher or not, it’s a major one to take on musically, even before we get to the film. My first thought was The Bee Gees, Peter Frampton and others attempting Sergeant Pepper in 1978. The phrase ‘cruisin’ for a bruisin” comes to mind. I bought the soundtrack CD a few weeks ago, before I’d seen the film. You’re immediately into comparison. I’d expected a more popular-oriented take. I was thinking of Trini Lopez’s America, Julie Andrews’ I Feel Pretty, Johnny Mathis’s Maria, and even P.J. Proby bellowing his way through Summer Wear (well, that’s what it sounded like). I played the 2021 soundtrack a couple of times, and I didn’t like it much in the absence of the film. It is more overtly orchestral in a classical sense than my expectation.

The way we are …

What is new is that the cast sing the songs themselves. In 1961, most of the cast had shadow singers and mimed. George Chakiris did his own lines. Natalie Wood had been told they’d use her versions, and mimed on the film set to her own recordings, having been told that Marni Nixon would only be used to dub in the high notes. In the end Marni Nixon post-dubbed all Natalie Woods’ singing, and also some of Anita Moreno’s as Anita. Having said that the cast now sing their own parts, they are obviously miming in the film. That’s a given. Try doing a major dance piece in the street and singing.

They’ve replaced the Ernest Lehman 1961 screenplay, though they have at least nodded to Jerome Robbins 1961 choreography in places in the new version. Jerome Robbins co-directed the original with Robert Wise. It now runs to 2 hours 36 minutes, which is long and it feels longer than the 1961 version, but according to IMDB the difference is only 3 minutes, though according to the video of the 1961 version, it is eleven minutes longer.

We’re still into late 1950s clothes and cars. The setting is different in that the West Side location is in the process of demolition. We see wrecking balls and cranes as the film opens. It looks post apocalyptic.

A major difference is that there is quite a lot of dialogue in Spanish, and Speilberg has opted not to subtitle it, saying it would be disrespectful to do so. OK, I guess few Californians fail to study Spanish in schools but I don’t know if it’s a wise choice for the UK.

There are cast changes. One may be sentimental … Rita Moreno, the original 1961 Anita, has been cast as Tony’s employer, Valentina. Valentina replaces Doc in the original, and to my surprise gets to sing Somewhere instead of Tony and Maria duetting. I guess that was repayment sixty years on for being dubbed over. Rita Moreno said that the attempted rape scene of Anita was traumatic for her to perform this time … she interrupts it and stops the Jets.

The other change is the Tomboy, Anybodys (Iris Menes), who has now become a full on transgender person rather than a girl in tight jeans wanting to join the Jets.

The big production numbers are where it wins you over. This is the Dance at the Gym:

Rachel Zegler is the perfect Maria of the imagination. She is also a singer-songwriter. Though at least twice during the film the vulgar minded listener may be surprised by the way her Puerto Rican accent rhymes CAN’T with HUNT or PUNT, this is first apparent when she has the unfinished line Tony, you can’t …

The best sequence in the film is still America in the street with swirling skirts … very much a reminder of the Jerome Robbins take. Anita was always the standout dramatic role, and Ariana DeBose matches Rita Moreno. She lights up the screen naturally. There are minor lyric changes, and Stephen Sondheim was happy to discuss them with Tony Kushner and give him a free hand. Sondheim suggested dropping the line about shoe shine boys, but Kushner opted to keep it. Then they wanted to put back the song by Anybodys that got dropped from the earlier version.

Tony Kushner: Steve (Sondheim) was always very critical of his own lyrics for West Side Story. It was his first professional gig, and he felt like he didn’t do as good a job as he wished. I disagreed with him in person for years about it. So I was really pleased when I called him the first time and said, “O.K., I guess I’m doing this,” and he said, “That’s great. I know you think that my lyrics are great, but they’re not perfect. And if you want me to change anything, I’ll change it.” So I just kept calling (Sondheim) and saying, “Can I do this? Can I do that?” There’s one song I know of that was cut from West Side Story that I love: a song sung by Anybodys. I called him and asked if I could use it, and he said, “Absolutely—but you’ll never find a place to put it in.” And I said, “Well, just watch me.” And then about two months later, I called him and said, “You’re right, it doesn’t fit anywhere.”
TIME magazine, 9 December 2021

A major innovation (improvement?) is I Feel Pretty where the female cast are at work as cleaners in a major department store. The song was something of a sore thumb … Bernstein and Sondheim were asked for something light and frothy for the second half of the stage musical, and did it against their wills and loathed it.

Tony Kushner: (Sondheim) always has said publicly how much he hates “I Feel Pretty,” because he said: “Why did I write a Puerto Rican teenager singing, ‘I feel pretty and witty and bright?’ It sounds like a goddamn Noël Coward play.”
And I called him and I said, “I’ve got an idea for the song, and it’s gonna make it work for you. I set it in Gimbels (department store), and Maria is part of a cleaning crew. All around her are these posters that say, ‘Witty autumn wear.’ So the reason the language is slightly arch for a young Puerto Rican girl is that with her heart full of incredible joy, she’s looking at the wealth of America and saying, ‘I’m gonna have a good life and get what I want.’ So it’s sort of ironically quoting those displays.”I said all that to him, and he said, “Well, I still hate the song. But it’s better for me now than it was.”
TIME 9 December 2021

The big production here works and gives it a sense of humour.

Gee Officer Krupke is moved into a holding room in the police station, with one of the Jets dressed up as Krupke.

Love at first sight: Tony and Maria

Ansel Elgort is Tony and he can certainly sing it full on. He starred in Baby Driver, a great performance there too. I’m surprised I never reviewed that film, but pre-Covid I tended to restrict reviews to first run films at a cinema, rather than later runs or DVD. It was a favourite. For both of us, Elgort didn’t “look|” Tony. It’s hard to describe. Maybe it’s a Baby Driver hangover … there is something baby-faced about him. His miming isn’t perfect either and the voice is singer teacher light operatic.

In the end, there just isn’t that sexual chemistry. You can tell when actors are exuding it, and they don’t. I think it’s not something you can act however good you are.

The balcony scene is the one where Mr W. Shakespeare deserves the credit.

The extended final fight is excellent in direction and execution, with masterly film angles. The fight feels real, a tribute to Tony, Riff and Bernardo.

Negatives? It’s pretty dark onscreen. I don’t much like the new “book” which is what musicals call a script. I haven’t done a straight comparison, but it has way too much explanation of back story.

It’s up for a lot of awards, and will probably get them. I reckon that for a younger audience who won’t contemplate making comparisons, it’s going to be a fabulous experience with no carping.

I will say that in writing the review, the soundtrack grew on me steadily. My first impressions have been replaced.

My rating? Three stars out of five. If it’s the first version of the story you’ve seen, I think it will be five.