West Side Story
Steven Spielberg puts his spin on the classic melodic in the first - flavor epitome from hisWest Side Storymovie . After years of talking about his desire to re - think Leonard Bernstein , Arthur Laurents , and Stephen Sondheim ’s Broadway attain for the big screen , the iconic filmmakeris in conclusion take the plunge . Previously adapted into a Best Picture - winning picture in 1961 , the melodious revolves around the contention between a pair of teenaged gangs ( the whitened Jets and Puerto Rican Sharks ) in the Upper West Side domain of NCY circa the 1950s . The movie was green - lit by Disney after it finalized its purchase of Fox and is currentlyset to reach theaters in December .
For Spielberg ’s film , Ansel Elgort ( Baby Driver ) and fledgling Rachel Zeglerare playing Tony and Maria , the former fellow member of the Jets and the younger babe of the Sharks ' loss leader , Bernardo ( David Alvarz ) , who end up falling in love despite the tensity between their friends and families . The three are link in the motion-picture show byBroadway veteran Ariana DeBose as Anita , Bernardo ’s girlfriend and Maria ’s Quaker and atomic number 27 - actor , who holds to a more affirmative view of America than Bernardo . Rita Moreno , who won an Oscar for play Anita in the 1961West Side Story , costars in Spielberg ’s adaptation as Valentina , the owner of the corner shop where Tony works and a re - imagined reading of Doc from the ' 61 film .
Related : West Side Story 2020 Cast & Character Guide
As part of an exclusive musical composition onWest Side StoryforVanity Fair , Moreno explained Spielberg and his writer Tony Kushner ( who also write the director’sMunichandLincoln)“really want to right some … should I say wrongs ? I do n’t get laid if that ’s … yes , that ’s bonny , because the [ 1961 ] film had a plenty of things that were wrong with it , away from the fact that it had a lot of thing that were very right . ”That include be sick more Puerto Rican actors , many of whom are boast in the first - feeling photograph fromVanity Fair ’s article . you’re able to check into them out in the verandah below .
According to Spielberg , 20 of the 33Puerto Rican characters in hisWest Side Storyare play by actors who ’re specifically Puerto Rican or of Puerto Rican parentage , with the remaining thirteen played by members of the larger Latinx community . This is a meaning improvement from the ' 61 films , which feature several Puerto Rican character played by actors in browned face ( with Moreno being one of the few exceptions ) . Speaking toVanity Fair , Moreno explained"That ’s what they were trying to ready and ameliorate , and I think they have done an incredible job . ”Spielberg similarly praise the movie ’s Latinx cast for the authenticity they brought to the table .
" They fetch themselves , and everything they believe and everything about them - they make for that to the employment . And there was so much fundamental interaction between the stamp want to be able to commit to the Puerto Rican experience . They all represent , I think , a multifariousness , both within the Puerto Rican , Nuyorican biotic community as well as the broader Latinx community . And they took that seriously . "
By the flavour of things , Spielberg’sWest Side Storywill also have boldly colored costume designed by Paul Tazewall ( Harriet ) to couple those featured in the ' 61 film . The young picture show has already made some cosmetic changes to the esthetic of the ' 61 version ( most notably , DeBose ’s Anita has a golden dress , as react to the purple dress Moreno famously wore in the role ) , but otherwise looks as visually impressive as one would require it to . Spielberg has never directed a melodious before , so it will be exciting to see what he brings to the genre at this point in his career . The ' 61 moving picture set the bar high up , but the newWest Side Storyis shaping up to be a worthwhile re - imagining of the classic in its own rightfulness .
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Source : Vanity Fair
