When I saw the length of this film I got really worried wondering how it would keep my attention the entire way through, however watching it I really enjoyed it, and thankfully the time seemed to speed by.

West Side Story is a retelling of the classical Romeo and Juliet where two young people from different sides of the tracks fall in love. There is Tony who is a New Yorker and part of the Jets and Maria whose brother is part of the Sharks. The Sharks and the Jets hate each other because the Sharks are from Puerto Rico and feel marginalised in this world of America, and so when Maria and Tony fall in love there is obviously a lot of conflict.

I remembered many of the songs from this from my drama school days as a teenager and it felt good to have those memories come back watching it. I love the style that this film went for, it was very well produced and choreographed and with every moment there was something going on and something beautiful to look at, from the dancing to the costumes to even the music being used and the sound design. Everything came together and felt really well rounded and enjoyable.

Despite having done some of the songs at drama school I have never seen West Side Story in any form and so watching this was my first introduction to it and it was a really good one. As I said the film is over two hours long but so many of the songs are quite long too and so you end up enthralled in the music and the choreography and everything and it makes the time go so fast. Yes I did find the story a bit ridiculous and it was hard to suspend my disbelief knowing that these two people met literally the day before and wanted to go off and get married immediately, but that comes with this territory, nothing is ever really thought through logically with musicals.

Overall I do recommend this film. I was apprehensive going into it but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would happily watch it again with others. I have even recommended it to some people in my personal life too just because I think it is an easy film to sit down and watch and you do become really invested in these characters and what they’re going through, especially with the ending.

I definitely recommend this film and I think it’s a brilliant uplifting thing to watch if you’re having a grey day or you just need some musical magic in your life. Steven Spielberg did an absolutely great job as the director of this film and I was pleasantly surprised.

What do you think of West Side Story?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding