Retro Reel by Sreepathy, Volume 14

Retro Reel is a column about movies, but not about the latest box-office releases. There is review in it, but the column is meant more as a recommendation: good movies of different genres, revisited with the affection they deserve.

This volume goes back to 1961, to a film that won ten Academy Awards and redefined what a movie musical could be: West Side Story.

Why this film

Take Romeo and Juliet, move it to the Upper West Side of New York, replace the Montagues and Capulets with the Jets and the Sharks, and you have the skeleton. What Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins put on that skeleton was something cinema had not seen: a musical that danced like a fight and fought like a dance.

The opening sequence alone justifies the reputation. No dialogue, no titles over action, just the camera prowling the streets while the Jets snap their fingers and own the pavement. Robbins' choreography treats the city as a stage and the gangs as ballet companies, and the audacity of it still lands.

What holds up

The score, for one. Leonard Bernstein's music and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics produced "Maria," "Tonight," "America," and "Somewhere," songs that outlived the film by decades. Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer are the weak links, dubbed in song and a little stiff in drama, but Rita Moreno as Anita and George Chakiris as Bernardo are electric. Moreno's "America" is a masterclass in doing everything at once: comedy, fury, joy, and politics in four minutes.

The cinematography holds up too. The decision to shoot the "Tonight" quintet as overlapping, converging movements through the neighborhood remains a textbook example of musical staging.

What does not

The brownface is impossible to ignore now. Natalie Wood, a Ukrainian-American actress, playing Maria with darkened skin and an accent, while the actual Puerto Rican actors were shunted to supporting roles, is the film's original sin. The 2021 Spielberg remake corrected the casting and, tellingly, kept nearly everything else.

Some of the dialogue creaks. "Cool," "daddy-o," "buggin'" - the slang was dated within a decade. But the emotions underneath it are not dated at all, which is why the film survives its own period details.

The verdict

West Side Story is the rare musical that trusts dance to carry meaning, not just spectacle. Watch it for Robbins' choreography, stay for Bernstein, and forgive the dubbing. Ten Oscars, including Best Picture, were not a mistake.

Retro Reel rating: 4.5 out of 5. Docked half a star for the casting, which even 1961 should have known better about.

FAQ

When was West Side Story released? 1961, directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins.

How many Oscars did it win? Ten, including Best Picture, Best Director, and supporting awards for Rita Moreno and George Chakiris.

Is it based on Romeo and Juliet? Yes, transposed to gang warfare between the Jets and Sharks in New York City.

Should I watch the 1961 or 2021 version? Both. The original for Robbins' choreography; Spielberg's remake for the corrected casting and superb craft.

The takeaway

Every generation remakes West Side Story because every generation needs it. The 1961 version remains the standard: a street tragedy that sings.