Synopsis
Steven Spielberg’s 2021 adaptation of West Side Story reimagines the classic 1957 musical with vivid authenticity and emotional depth. Set in 1950s New York City, the film follows the forbidden romance between Tony, a former member of the Jets, and Maria, the sister of the Sharks’ leader Bernardo. As tensions between the rival gangs escalate, their love becomes a defiant hope amid violence and prejudice. Featuring a screenplay by Tony Kushner and choreography inspired by Jerome Robbins, the film blends iconic music and dance with a renewed focus on cultural realism and social resonance.
Reviews
“And so his [Spielberg] West Side Story – with its glorious Leonard Bernstein woodwinds and bongos, its ruffly “I Feel Pretty” Stephen Sondheim wordplay – comes off not like a re-creation of an older work, but like a work summoned from the memory of a feeling. To the extent that semantics matter, it might be more accurate to call Spielberg’s West Side Story – its screenplay by Tony Kushner, riffing on Arthur Laurents’ original book – a new film interpretation of the 1957 play, rather than a remake of Robert Wise’s 1961 film.”
Time
“The movie’s two biggest set pieces combine visual flair with urgent dramatic impact, revealing Spielberg in masterful command of physical action through his refined sense of space and composition. This might be his first musical, but it feels like he’s been making them his entire career.”
The Hollywood Reporter
“Where Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner’s version comes into its own is in the moments where it dares to find its own distinct voice – nowhere more so than in placing Somewhere in the hands of Rita Moreno. Having played Anita in the 1961 film, a role thrillingly filled here by Ariana DeBose, Moreno, who also gets an exec-producer credit, comes to embody the heart and soul of this new production.”
The Guardian