There is clearly a cyclic sense related to this time of the year: the end of the year with the Christmas festivities and the beginning of a new year full of New Year´s resolutions. In the same way as we look back and we think of the year that has gone by, film-directors also look back and find inspiration for new stories which are sometimes remakes of well-known stories; that´s the case with West Side Story, the new version of the1961classic film by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. Steven Spielberg is the director of this remake. Apparently Spielberg had been meaning to direct this film for a very long time and here is the outcome of such an ambition. I could tell you many things that are interesting about this new version – such as some changes in the plot – so I´d like to share this link of an article that I´ve read which is really encouraging.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/dec/02/west-side-story-review-steven-spielberg
I´m very fond of West Side Story – the 1961 film – and I have seen the musical performed on stage. (By the way the original film was based on the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name). I could be told that the remake is even better than the original version in some respects but Leonard Bernstein´s music will always be the same: America, Somewhere, María, Tonight, I Feel Pretty … those songs were perfect at the time and they will remain so regardless of who sings them now or then.
So I encourage you to watch West Side Story, the new version or the old one or both of them so that you can compare the two films. There are good reasons to watch both films: the old one is a classic which won 10 Oscar awards and Steven Spielberg – one of best film-directors in the history of cinema – is bound to have made a wonderful film.
I hope you are having a Merry Christmas and I wish you
a happy and healthy New Year!
( If you wish to learn a bit about Steven Spielberg´s themes in his cinema, have a look at the post that I wrote on 24th December 2015 “Spielberg´s recommendation for Christmas”).
