West Side Story harder to shoot for Spielberg than Private Ryan

In an interview given on the occasion of the release of his West Side Story, filmmaker Steven Spielberg acknowledged the difficulty of the musical to stick to rhythm constraints. And that he would have liked, or even preferred, scenes similar to those seen in We have to save the soldier Ryan.

Fifty years after the release of his first film adaptation by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, West Side Story will discover the twenty-first century under the leadership of Steven Spielberg. Although the latter seems to handle genres with mastery, that of the musical was, until now, unknown to him.

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The director assured that if he has long remained away from any musical comedy project, and in particular West Side Story, it is not for lack of motivation. Indeed, it was after listening to the West Side Story album in his childhood that he felt the urge to deliver his own version.

West Side Story 2021: Spielberg disturbed by the constraints of rhythm

In an interview with Jake Hamilton as part of his “Jake’s Takes” show, Steven Spielberg was asked if his experience with action movies made it easier for him to get into the musical. His response was that of someone stepped out of their comfort zone.

“I wish there was a certain similarity between, for example, the storming of the beaches in ‘Saving Private Ryan’ in Omaha Beach, and, for example, dancing in the gymnasium, but there is a remarkable distinction between the two. In an action sequence, I am not constrained by the time, by the tempos, by the mathematics of the music. In a musical sequence, we are all locked in the bar, in the rhythm, in the tempos – is it 2/4, is it 4/4 – it has to end exactly where it ends, it doesn’t must start where it can start. ”

The filmmaker then admitted that he had never been really brilliant at mathematics, but that the West Side Story of 2021 is the result of the combined work of a team and highly competent actors.

Release scheduled for Wednesday, December 8 in France, and two days later in the United States.

Source: YouTube (Screen Rant for the transcript)