West Side Story, based on plays by William
Shakespeare and Jerome Robbins
Although not
as famous as the original Romeo and Juliet, on which this modern version is based,
West Side Story is one of the classics that has seen its lyrics and songs
transmigrate into other films.
Both Analyze
This and Anger Management have two of the titans of the cinema sing one of the popular
tunes of the quintessential musical: “I feel pretty, oh so pretty…I feel
stunning and…gay” – interesting to notice that at the time of this production
there was yet another significance to this word.
The plot is
familiar from Romeo and Juliet, although there are elements from the present
day world that sound so relevant- in a world where so many nationalistic
parties are on the rise, attacks against foreigners and animosity or hatred towards
other groups are so rampant, the background of West Side Story could be set in
the present.
Like the
Montagues and the Capulets in Verona in the middle ages, the White Jets and the
Sharks clash with each other and dispute each other’s right to “trespass” and
walk in territory controlled by one or the other of the gangs.
Tony belongs
to the White Jets, led by his friend Riff, while the other protagonist, Maria-
portrayed by the stunning Natalie Wood- is the sister of the other gang head,
Bernardo and this makes the love affair between the two leading characters
undesirable, at least in the eyes of their respective communities.
Part of the
appeal of this classic feature resides in the lesson, the message that it
sends- adapted as it might be from the Shakespearian archetypal tragedy- that
tribal violence and hatred has awful results and peace is the way to settle
disputes.
There are
some minuses that one could find in the treatment of the plot, like the too
simple dialogue – although this is relative, one could dispute this and say
that this exactly how ordinary people talk or used to in the poor neighborhoods
where the personages live and work.
Then there is
the matter of the organized fight and the change brought about by Maria, who
should have kept quiet and then none of this would have happened- another
perspective is possible here: the rumba had to be danced, people had to be
killed, for we have the modern day Romeo and Juliet and this is how it ends in
the original, although there is a significant change in the finale in the West
Side Story version.
When Tony
meets Maria he is flabbergasted- “Maria, I’ve just met a girl named Maria…the
most beautiful sound I ever heard” the whole world is changed, the hero wants
to be friends with everybody, including the enemies that prepare a collision
with his own friends.
As the two
opposing gangs meet at Doc to establish the playground – or is it the battle ground?-
the weapons, the protagonist is set to make it as tame as possible and avoid
any injuries, in an effort at damage control he insists on a fist fight,
without knives, bricks and other dangerous objects.
He uses
creativity and cunning, calling the warring factions chickens, since they are
not ready to get to the battle with skin on skin only, provoking and
challenging the macho men into accepting his version, when the police officer
in charge with the area arrives.
The latter
uses the same technique, insulting the Puerto Ricans- the Sharks gang is entirely
organized around the community originating from that island- in order to
provoke them into giving him information, then pretends to the white Jets that
he is one their side and asks where the clash will be.
The young
men are determined to fight for their misguided beliefs though and the police
officer learns nothing about the battle he wanted to prevent, and they meet at
the established point, where the clash follows the established procedure,
Alhamdulillah.
However, this
is not for long, and the moment when the profundity of another Shakespearean line
„Hell is paved with good intentions” arrives, as the primed Tony arrives to
eliminate all conflict, not just as fisted one.
His love,
Maria, made him promise that he would go to the place of the rumble and stop
it, only as he tries to prevent the fighters from engaging in any kind of
confrontation, things get worse, and instead of resulting in just a few bruises
and one or two black eyes, two dead are left on the field.
When talking
about love- the ultimate, most complex human feeling of all and the most
difficult to describe, understand and surmise- one can think of Thomas Mann and
one of his magnificent short story in which the protagonist is upset by the
frequency with which humans make wrong references to this sublime, spectacular
emotion…
He was able
to hear people near him complain that they “have no words to express how deep,
big, all conquering their love is”, when the hero of the narrative is sure that
words like love and friendship have a real correspondent only in…fiction, for
in real life, we are not ready to go as far as it is requested by real feelings
like love and friendship.
Well, in
West Side Story, there is “real” love, for Maria proves that she would go as
far as it takes for the man she loves, she will forgive him for the pain
inflicted, for any – accidental or not- murder he may commit and she would
travel to the end of the earth for him…if given the chance that is.
West Side
Story is the winner of ten Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture, the
Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy, the BAFTA for Best Film from any
Source and other prestigious prizes, but unless you love musicals, the two
hours and thirty-three minutes of the feature might seem a bit long for you.
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu