The childhood dream that comes true, the desire to recount the divisions of the world again, the fear of touching a sacred thing, but also the need to adapt it to our times and, above all, the desire to re-propose the universal lesson of this ‘work: these are some of the reasons that led Oscar winner Steven Spielberg to put his hand to WEST SIDE STORY which will be in the hall on 23 December with The Walt Disney Company Italia.
“I was ten years old when I first heard the West Side Story record – says Spielberg yesterday in the Global conference -. And that music has never really gone away from my head. Now I have finally managed to complete that dream, to keep that promise I made to myself, that is: You have to do West Side Story. “
Inspired by the 1957 Broadway musical with libretto by Arthur Laurents, words by Stephen Sondheim (recently deceased) and music by Leonard Bernstein, WEST SIDE STORY then became in 1961 perhaps the most revolutionary film in the musical universe thanks to Robert Wise who, with this work brought home ten Oscars.
A sort of Romeo and Juliet in the West Side of New York, where two gangs clash for control of the territory in the name of racial hatred: the Jets and the Sharks, respectively indigenous and Puerto Rican. But between the two bands the love between Tony and the Puerto Rican Maria blossoms unexpectedly, a great love is tragic just like the Shakespearean one.
In the cast Ansel Elgort (Tony), Rachel Zegler (María), Ariana DeBose (Anita), David Alvarez (Bernardo), Mike Faist (Riff), Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino), Ana Isabelle (Rosalía), Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank ), Brian d’Arcy James (Agent Krupke) and Rita Moreno (the only actress of the original film in the role this time of Valentina, owner of the shop where Tony works).
“It is Romeo and Juliet, but it is also a very current allegory of what is happening on the borders of our country, of the American systems that reject anyone who is not white. – says Spielberg -. In this new WEST SIDE STORY the characters do and they say things they didn’t and didn’t say in the original 1961 film – something that stems in large part from our determination to delve into the history and real lives of those young Lincoln Square and San Juan Hill residents, the Sharks and the Jets. At that time, the Puerto Rican community lived mainly between West 64th Street and West 72nd Street. The true history of that community is very rich and important and we wanted to deepen it in our version of this musical. “
However, for the director this is perhaps the most difficult film of his career. “Taking a masterpiece and revisiting it from another perspective and with another sensitivity, without compromising the integrity of what is generally considered the greatest musical score ever written for the theater, was something that made your wrists tremble. convinced that great stories must be told indefinitely, partly also to reflect different perspectives and historical periods “.
For Tony Kushner, writer and executive producer: “There’s just nothing dated about the original work. The music is lovely and great and it seems like everything is just happening now. So there’s nothing out of tune or out of date. Everything. except for Spanish, nothing was said in Spanish, this is the only difference (a Spanish among other things – explained Spielberg – deliberately without subtitles, a tribute to Hispanic culture and to America today in fact bilingual) “.
But did Steven Spielberg dance to the beat of WEST SIDE STORY? “Of course I did – he says smiling – but only during the three months of rehearsals, but never when I started shooting. At that time I didn’t even tap my foot, I was too concentrated on the monitor and on what we were doing. But one thing she is sure I felt on set more than a father, a part of that extraordinary extended family. “
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Source From: Ansa
I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years now and I have worked for some of the biggest news websites in the world. My focus has always been on entertainment news, but I also cover a range of other topics. I am currently an author at Global happenings and I love writing about all things pop-culture related.
