I’d heard West Side Story was very good, but that very few people had gone to see its theatrical release over the holidays. So, I had some tempered expectations going in. But, after the first few seconds of the “Prologue” music playing, I was transfixed, and remained so for the next 2 hours and 38 minutes.
Prior to watching, I’d heard about how Stephen Sondheim, the lyricist for the original Broadway production, had visited the set in 2020 and described how Spielberg was injecting new life into it with innovative filming techniques. And, he was absolutely right. Spielberg uses long, continuous shots that truly immerse you into the movie and move you from intimate focus on a few characters through to the larger cityscape of New York.
But for me, the real star of the movie is the music. The score is placed front-and-center in the sound mix, and the clarity of sound is truly remarkable. Conductor Gustavo Dudamel has created a beautiful arrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s original score, which is played to perfection by the New York and LA Philharmonics. Watching, you’ll remark how of many of these iconic songs you know, and how they’ve endured over time, including “I Feel Pretty”, “America”, “Tonight”, “Somewhere”, and “Something’s Coming.”
Honestly, whether you intend to watch this movie or not, I highly encourage giving a listen to the orchestral piece below:
The vivid colours, impressive and precise ensemble dancing (choreographed by Justin Peck), and iconic soundtrack culminate to create the best stage-to-screen musical adaptation that I’ve ever seen. Performances by fresh faces like Rachel Zegler and David Alvarez, and burgeoning Broadway legends like Ariana DeBose, are spell-binding to watch. Plus, Rita Moreno (who played Anita in the original movie) is back in a re-imagined role as the Puerto Rican widow of the “Doc” character.
I’m sad more people, like myself, didn’t see this in theatres. It’s a spectacle truly worthy of being seen on the big screen with big sound.
