I disagree. To start with, while Bernardo have a spectacular number together, many other scenes portray him as controlling and as a bully. The film justifies why, as Bernardo is being attacked on both sides by institutions that want to crush him as well as a racist gang but that doesn't endear me into seeing that his relationship is so much better than Maria and Tony's.
The whirlwind romance plays into the lack of options either Maria and Tony character has for a future. Maria doesn't want to back to Puerto Rico and Tony is wanted for murder. Both see a new start with each other and while the I'd say the biggest dissonance is her brother's death, though the story does build up the flaws in their relationship, such as how Bernardo wants to control her future. There is a lot of grey areas in each relationship, but I say that fits into much of the relationships of the film.
I'd disagree with the concept of an interracial relationship being Seinfeldis Unfunny, as the film shows how classism plays into racism as well as the division of social values. Its impressive how its able to do this without veering into a full blown essay about all the racist actions that happened in the sixties. Beyond that, intolerance interracial relationships is not a problem that's been solved just because its more legally recognized. A poll found nearly 20 percent of people interviewed viewed interracial relationships to be morally wrong. Racism's been on a upswing in more recent times with western extremist groups such as the Proud Boys openly gathering in public and hate crimes being higher than they have been in a decade. Its a movie that fits quite well both in the set time period and as a contrast for perspectives of recent times.
You misunderstand. My point was that Tony and Maria are miscast for each other in this version. So because I was not able to believe in their love story, I\'m unable to suspend my disbelief — so the story and the politics surrounding it become weirder.
Meh, again I disagree as I felt both actors interacted quite well together. But to each their own.
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There's a place for us...but it's not the 2020s moviegoing crowd
I am generally not inclined towards remake skepticism, so when Hollywood titan Steven Spielberg announced a modern, mindful West Side Story for a new generation, I was just like, just let him, guys. So it brings me no joy to report that this is one story that should have been left in the midcentury times.
To be clear, they try so hard to make it worth your time. Tony Kushner's script attempts to make the story more relevant by adding stuff about gentrification, explicit sexism, and transphobia in addition to the extant themes of racism, immigration, gang violence etc. The choreography, costumes, cinematography, and camera work are stunning, and I find myself wanting to rewatch the group numbers over and over. Ariana DeBose deserves all the flowers she's been getting for her Anita and I honestly wish Mike Faist and David Alvarez were being talked about more.
The problem is that the film completely and utterly fails to convince you of the A-plot: the Star-Crossed Lovers story.
I am aware that in many ways, it's a hard sell. Maybe even "Seinfeld" Is Unfunny: how many works from the 50s bothered featuring interracial relationships? Or, it's a setting update of Romeo and Juliet, so of course naive teenage girl Juliet throwing everything away for Romeo should be incredibly ill-advised. But that's not what the original West Side Story is going for. We are supposed to believe that Tony and Maria are true love and the resulting backlash senseless. Was it a story that came off better in the 1960s? I have to assume so.
Newcomer Rachel Zegler as Maria has a crystal-clear soprano and does the job well enough for a Hollywood debut. The problem is that she has approximately negative chemistry with Ansel Elgort's Tony, who has all too few facial expressions for either his age-old romance or brand-new tragic backstory. They both have twice as much screentime as the more engaging side characters, leading the scenes with the two of them exploring their emotional connection to drag instead.
On a technical level I believe this is better than the original, but filmmaking has come a long way since 1961 so that's to be expected. But on a story level, it's still painfully in 1961, leading to dissonance that isn't present in the original film.
So what do we have when all is said and done? Not quite lipstick on a pig, since the original deserves its accolades in its surrounding historical context, but more like a group project where the leaders are bolstered by a supporting cast who did more memorable work. But that doesn't make for a fully satisfying film, so I'll take my supercut of all the new scenes featuring Bernardo and Anita and go, thanks.