The idea of remaking iconic Best Picture winners is not a foreign concept. Over the years, remakes of beloved classics and staples of the Academy Awards have received the remake treatment. Films such as Mutiny on the Bounty (Best Picture 1935), Hamlet (Best Picture 1948), All the King’s Men (Best Picture 1949), Around the World in 80 Days (Best Picture 1956), and Ben Hur (Best Picture 1959) have all had multiple remakes for better or worse.
With that being said, the Best Picture winner I never fathomed would receive the remake treatment would be the ten-time Academy Award-winning West Side Story and not just a remake/reimagining but one directed by two-time Academy Award winner Steven Spielberg. While the film’s preproduction had its fair share of doubts, the biggest lesson learned by myself is to never doubt Steven Spielberg. Spielberg’s West Side Story reminds us of the magic of cinema while redefining the iconic story for a new generation of cinephiles.
West Side Story is a reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It focuses on the conflict between two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks, from different ethnic backgrounds. However, it’s not Romeo and Juliet in name, but a Puerto Rican girl named Maria (Rachel Zegler) and a Polish boy named Tony (Ansel Elgort). They develop a relationship despite the tension between the rival gangs. As their love blossoms, so does the hatred that runs the streets, culminating in neighborhood tragedy.
Over the past six decades, Spielberg has been a magician of cinema, a true maestro. His ability to create a cinematic life-altering experience is undeniable, and West Side Story is no different. Not only is the film a spectacle, but Spielberg’s direction and Tony Kushner’s screenplay create a story of empathy and cultural identity. But, unfortunately, while the original story is over 60 years old, the same clash of cultures and systematic racism remains prevalent in today’s society.
Spielberg and Kushner make an effort to update the Puerto Rican representation in its culturally appropriate casting. We will no longer watch West Side Story and think of Natalie Wood’s Maria, but cinephiles will be thinking about the magnificent Rachel Zegler. In a star-making performance, Zegler embodies Maria with layered nuance and emotion. Zegler’s singing is chill-inducing and nothing short of memorable.
A choice made for the film that I loved was the lack of subtitles when Spanish is primarily spoken. During the Q&A before my screening, Spielberg spoke on that choice and noted that we live in their world and felt subtitles would be disrespectful to the Latinx community. He didn’t want the English language to overpower the Spanish. However, he added that the emotional cues during these moments could be easily translated via the actor’s physical performances, which I agree with and find a substantial improvement from the ’61 film.
Spielberg also rearranges songs throughout the film, which adds a deeper understanding and meaning to character motivations. The songs by the late Stephen Sondheim remain masterclass in storytelling through music. Speaking of songs, to the surprise of no one, the musical numbers throughout are majestic. Some of the most memorable modern musical numbers can be laid at the feet of West Side Story. The iconic “America” exchanges the rooftop for the streets of the West Side in one of the best numbers of the film.
When it comes to the voice behind “America,” Ariana DeBose is a tour de force. DeBose is fierce and brings a level of energy on par with the iconic performance that earned Rita Moreno an Academy Award. But, while DeBose may have her name called on nomination morning, the former Oscar winner Rita Moreno may follow suit. Moreno is in the film much more than expected, and her complex arc pays off with a beautiful and moving number.
Ultimately, West Side Story is one of the year’s biggest surprises. It’s a film I had close to no expectations for other then, “How bad is this remake going to be?” Safe to say, I was entirely wrong as the film is not only one of my bright spots of the year but one of the very best of the year. Is Oscar glory about to repeat itself 60 years later? It very well may.
