West Side Story
Directed by Steven Spielberg
- drama
- romance
- crime
The story
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
What it’s like
Warm, saturated color that turns cold under the streetlights: Spielberg's 2021 film of the Sondheim and Bernstein musical moves between sweeping crane shots of a New York tenement block being demolished, handheld intimacy in crowded dance sequences, and long, unhurried takes in the bodega, the bridal shop and the rooftop where the lovers first speak. Sunlight on brick and chalk-dusted asphalt gives way to blue-grey dusk and sodium-orange night, and the camera lingers on faces as much as on the choreography. Its sound is big and bright, with full orchestral swells, percussive snapping fingers and wide-open brass, then dropping into quiet pauses when a character is alone. The vibe is romantic and aching, with a dread that builds steadily toward the ending. The rhythm is musical and sometimes expansive, with several numbers running long. Its emotional register is tender and tragic, following two young people who meet through a glance and are pulled apart by the loyalties of their friends. Violence is present and serious: street fights, a stabbing, a shooting and a death, with bruising and blood shown briefly rather than lingered on. Racist insults and slurs appear in several scenes. It suits a rainy evening, a comfort rewatch for fans of musicals, and viewers who want romance with real weight behind it.
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