For the first time ever, a "West Side Story" movie has more than one Puerto Rican in the
cast.
Here's everything else we loved about Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story."
The Upper West Side of Manhattan was in a state of flux back in the late 50s and early
60s.
Thanks to the so-called "urban renewal" programs initiated by Robert Moses, who sought to beautify
New York City, many poor communities were torn down, with residents displaced.
The slums of the Upper West Side were high in crime and a haven for youth gangs, hence
why it was chosen as the setting for "West Side Story" in the first place.
Today, after decades of gentrification and the building of Lincoln Center, the Upper
West Side is a neighborhood for New York's more wealthy denizens, while its former residents
and their descendants found themselves driven north to Harlem, Washington Heights, the Bronx,
and parts of Westchester.
In the new "West Side Story," this looming gentrification hangs over the neighborhood,
adding an extra layer of tragedy to the story; since the gangs are fighting over turf, but
that turf is about to be demolished by the government, then they fight only for the sake
of their own hate.
The very first scene features a sign advertising the construction of Lincoln Center, and numerous
other scenes allude to the urban renewal that will change the neighborhood forever.
"You know I wake up to everything I know either getting sold, or wrecked, or taken over by
people that I don't like."
While the 1961 film is still a beloved classic, it nevertheless has some elements that don't
quite hold up in 2021.
Most notably, the Puerto Rican characters are played almost exclusively by white actors
in dark makeup.
"Are there any questions?"
"Yes, sir.
Would you mind translating that into Spanish?"
The sole Puerto Rican in the cast, Rita Moreno, had to wear "brownface" makeup to match her
darkened co-stars.
For the remake, the production enlisted the help of actual Latinos to play the Puerto
Rican roles.
Maria is played by Rachel Zegler, who is half-Colombian, while Bernardo's actor, David Alvarez, is
Cuban-Canadian, and Ariana DeBose, who plays Anita, is Afro-Puerto Rican.
Also noteworthy is the amount of un-subtitled Spanish dialogue in the film, the meaning
of which can be gleaned through context.
This reinforces the notion that "West Side Story" isn't a Latino American story or a
white American story -- it's both.
The Jets are a gang of white boys from the street, which includes the character Anybodys.
Their characterization varies depending on the production and is thus open to interpretation,
but most versions are easy to interpret as transgender characters.
In the 1961 film, Anybodys, played by Susan Oakes, is constantly dismissed by Riff and
the Jets for being a girl.
After some persistence they're eventually accepted by Ice, the de facto leader of the
Jets.
"Hey!
Ya done good, buddy boy."
"Thanks."
In the new film, Anybodys is played by Iris Menas, a nonbinary actor.
They initially appear as something of a tagalong character who follows the Jets more than they
actually interact with them.
Eventually, Anybodys gets locked up along with the other Jets, and is placed in the
women's side of the holding room, with the more overtly male Jets on their own bench.
When the Jets hassle Anybodys over their gender, calling them a girl, Anybodys shouts, "I ain't
no girl!" and pounces on the other gang members, throwing punches that catch everyone off guard,
even the cops.
Overall, Anybodys has always been a revolutionary character for trans theater enthusiasts, and
this new iteration reinforces that notion without derailing the film from its main story.
Anybodys is who they are, and that's that; if you've got a problem with that, be ready
for a fight.
Tony and Maria first meet at a dance attended by both gangs.
Initially, the dance is willfully segregated, with each gang dancing with their dates on
their respective side of the gymnasium.
Even when the emcee tries to get the dancers to intermingle, it doesn't take, and the dance
nearly breaks down into a brawl.
The song, "Dance at the Gym," is played with a near-manic energy beyond that of the original
movie, and the new dancing has extra energy to match.
Spielberg treats the dancers with the same respect and dedication as the stuntmen in
any "Indiana Jones" movie, drawing attention to their incredible talent with long takes
and sharp camera movements that heighten the dancing just like the best of his action/adventure
movies.
When Maria and Tony notice each other and make an instant love connection, the production
design kicks into overdrive, with the lighting changing to reflect how the world simply looks
different when you're in love.
This sense of romantic whimsy underscores most of Tony and Maria's scenes and elevates
"West Side Story" beyond a mere remake of its source material, but a brand new interpretation
of a timeless love story.
One of the biggest changes in the film from the 1961 version is the path of the gun that's
ultimately used to kill Tony.
In the 1961 movie, Chino just kind of has the revolver, and it doesn't appear onscreen
until he uses it in the last several minutes of the story.
Here, the gun is purchased by Riff and the Jets to make sure they have their bases covered
in case the Sharks bring a gun.
The shopkeeper from whom they purchase the gun draws a parallel between their gun and
the omnipresent danger — especially in 1957 — of nuclear annihilation.
Riff thinks he's buying a "deterrent," but the seller makes reference to "mutually assured
destruction."
Deterrence is the idea that if both sides build up enough of an armory, each side might
be too intimidated to escalate violence against each other ... or, they might destroy each
other completely.
"Do you want to start World War III?"
During the rumble, Riff gives Tony the gun, "just in case," but it's discarded during
the battle.
While the gang members flee from the carnage they unleashed, Chino sees the six-shooter
lying on the ground and picks it up, setting the stage for the film's final, tragic showdown.
In all versions of "West Side Story," the rumble ends the same way: With Bernardo and
Riff dead on the floor after Tony tries in vain to prevent the fighting.
This time around, there are some twists to the proceedings, with Tony slicing off a bigger
piece of the action than before.
Usually, the climactic fight between Riff and Bernardo kicks off when the latter insults
and hits Tony, who is only trying to stop the fighting.
This time, Tony doesn't stick to his pacifist intentions, and when Bernardo goads him, he
puts up his dukes and engages the Shark in one-on-one combat.
Tony wins the fight, and the victory is all the more impressive since this version of
Bernardo is a trained boxer.
However, before delivering the finishing blow on a subdued Bernardo, Tony is reminded of
the boy he beat nearly to death, and how he might do the same -- or worse -- to Bernardo.
Afterwards, he stops the fight.
Unfortunately, this leaves an enraged Bernardo to whip out a switch blade and rush the former
Jet leader with a renewed vigor, at which point Riff steps in with a blade of his own.
From here, things play as expected, with Bernardo accidentally killing Riff, and Tony killing
Bernardo in retaliation.
After the rumble, Maria is shown working at the Gimbels department store, eager to see
Tony again — especially because she naively believes he was able to defuse the tensions
between the two gangs.
She doesn't know that he failed and killed her brother, Bernardo.
In her unwitting ignorance, she breaks into song and sings "I Feel Pretty," a beautiful
solo number about being young and in love, with the rest of the world just melting away.
In the 1961 movie, the song is moved up in the story, placed before the rumble.
It's likely the decision was made either to keep the tone from getting too light so soon
after the rumble, or to spare Maria from destiny's cruel joke.
But with the new movie restoring "I Feel Pretty" to its place from the original show, it adds
an extra layer of bittersweet tragedy to the song.
Maria's life has been changed forever, and it's about to get even worse, but she doesn't
know it yet.
This way, when she finds out the truth from Chino, the revelation is even more heartbreaking.
Rita Moreno, who played Anita in the 1961 movie, returns for the remake, this time playing
a new character, Valentina.
She's the wife of Doc, the owner of the drug store where Tony works, and effectively takes
his place in the narrative.
As a Puerto Rican woman married to a white man, she has a unique perspective on the events
that unfold, and she sees the budding love between Tony and Maria as something that,
while fraught with danger, could bring peace to the dueling gangs.
When she learns of the deadly rumble, Valentina is devastated.
She knows firsthand the potential of love, but she also knows that hate can be such an
overwhelming force.
As she looks at pictures of herself and her husband, Doc, she breaks into "Somewhere,"
one of the most beautiful songs from the musical.
The song laments the hatred and violence that surrounds Tony and Maria, but with Valentina
singing it, it becomes an anthem for interracial love.
Valentina and Doc surely had their own "West Side Story," and they were lucky enough to
make it through with their lives and their love intact.
Tony and Maria would not have the same good fortune.
Chino is something of a non-entity in previous versions of "West Side Story."
He's in something of an arranged marriage to Maria, but she's not interested in him
romantically — though she has no personal grudge against him.
He's the one who tells Maria that Tony killed Bernardo, and then shows up again at the end
to shoot Tony.
He's more of a plot device than an actual character.
The new movie gives purpose to Chino, with more care and attention paid to his characterization
and motives.
Actor Josh Andrés Rivera imbues Chino with a sheepish charm.
After the rumble, Chino picks up Riff's gun and runs off alongside the rest of the Sharks.
He is the focal point of a new scene where he laments the death of Bernardo, his best
friend.
While the other Sharks wish for a full-scale war against the Jets, Chino decries their
selfish pride and calls his dead friend a fool who allowed his own pride to drag him
into an early grave.
Nevertheless, he sets out to avenge his fallen friend, knowing full well such an act will
cost him his soul, and his freedom.
After Maria and Anita reconcile, or at least reach an understanding, Anita goes to Doc
and Valentina's drug store to tell Tony to wait for Maria to arrive so they can run away
together.
But when Anita arrives, she is accosted by the Jets, who have become an angry, ravenous
mob of young monsters.
Valentina rescues her and shames the Jets into disbanding, but the damage is already
done, and Anita calls Valentina a race traitor before lying and saying that Chino has killed
Maria.
﻿When Valentina tells Tony, he loses control and runs into the night, begging for Chino
to finish him, too.
Chino then shoots Tony as Maria helplessly watches.
After Tony dies in Maria's arms, Maria snatches the gun from Chino's hands and threatens to
shoot him, the Jets, the Sharks, and herself, saying: "I can kill, too, because now I have
hate!"
It's a brutal declaration, and Rachel Zegler's intensity matches that of Natalie Wood from
the original film.
Moved by her words and finally understanding the consequences of their actions, members
of both gangs respectfully carry Tony's body away while the cops arrive to arrest Chino.
Suffice to say, it's not a happy ending, and Maria's survival deprives "West Side Story"
of the conclusiveness of "Romeo & Juliet," since the Jets and Sharks must now live forever
with the knowledge that their petty hatred destroyed a love that had the potential to
be more powerful than any street gang.
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