West Side Story – Spielberg remake (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

I think it's a foolhardy notion whether they do it in period, update it for present day, or let the Sharks speak and sing in Spanish.

If you want to remake a classic film musical, remake one that wasn't done very well the first time around: Porgy and Bess or Camelot or do the musical version of Irma La Douce or Fanny.

Yes, Camelot deserves a remake. Use actors who can sing this time.

I think Spielberg should do a remake of South Pacific and have Jaws do a cameo in the film.

His name is Bruce.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The other thing about this that feels icky to me is that out of all the major creatives who shaped West Side Story -- Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerome Robbins -- only Sondheim is still living.

They *can* do a remake -- it's possible to get the rights -- but doing any major revisions, such as updating it to modern times, when the original creative people are not here to be part of that conversation, doesn't really feel like a good idea. A stage production would be required to retain the original script and score, but a new film would not have the same stipulation.

And if you're not going to change it, then why do another film at all?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The other thing about this that feels icky to me is that out of all the major creatives who shaped West Side Story -- Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerome Robbins -- only Sondheim is still living.

They *can* do a remake -- it's possible to get the rights -- but doing any major revisions, such as updating it to modern times, when the original creative people are not here to be part of that conversation, doesn't really feel like a good idea.

It's worth noting that Arthur Laurents was the driving force behind the bilingual book and other revisions for the 2009 revival. He directed it. He and Sondheim brought Lin-Manuel Miranda in to do the translations.

 

[Jake Lipson]

It's worth noting that Arthur Laurents was the driving force behind the bilingual book and other revisions for the 2009 revival.

Absolutely. I'm sure he would be fine with the idea of more Spanish being used, but he's still not around to give his guidance to a new film.

For a musical being adapted from the work of a living person, they would be heavily involved in the process of that film. Even if they somehow obtained the rights, no one would consider making a Hamilton film without Lin-Manuel Miranda being directly involved. So why should a Wet Side Story film be any different, especially when it was already done brilliantly when all of its creators were around?

 

[cinemiracle]

I think Spielberg should do a remake of South Pacific and have Jaws do a cameo in the film.

SOUTH PACIFIC has already been remade and filmed in Australia. Made for TV it was the worst ever musical remake in history.

 

[Tino]

If this rumor ever becomes more than just that, I would be very interested in Spielberg’s take on it. He has wanted to make a musical since 1941 and flirted a bit with it with the opening of Temple Of Doom.

Plus because....ya know...he’s Spielberg.

 

[Nick*Z]

Bad idea - period. As already suggested elsewhere in these posts - if you must 'remake' a movie, choose from a roster of 'good ideas' executed poorly in the hopes to improve upon their nuggets of wisdom. Occasionally, you can do a remake as an update: herein, the remakes of Father of the Bride and Narrow Margin immediately come to mind, as does A Perfect Murder (the remake of Dial M for Murder).

But honestly, why remake West Side Story? Personally, I think Spielberg ought to pour his clout and money into a push to get the original reissued on Blu-ray and 4K in a 'perfect' presentation and forget about 'improving' on a movie that already won the Oscar for Best Picture! Dumb. Really dumb...and pointless - utterly, tragically pointless.

 

[TJPC]

Remakes made sense in the old studio days when the original was locked away in the vault after showing for a month. Today, with home video, if I want to see any of these again, I just take one off the shelf. What is the incentive to go to the movie theatre?

 

[Vic Pardo]

I think Spielberg should do a remake of South Pacific and have Jaws do a cameo in the film.

Actually, Jaws should be the star and all those awful characters should be shark bait.

And the shark gets to sing all the songs:

"Some enchanted evening, you will bite a stranger..."
"There is nothing like a dame...(chomp, chomp)"
"I'm gonna wash that man right out of my teeth..."

 

[TJPC]

As an aside here, is there any reason why I suddenly am not getting any e-mail alerts at all?
Have I accidently changed settings or something? I just added to the above thread, there was a reply and no e-mail.

 

[Jake Lipson]

As already suggested elsewhere in these posts - if you must 'remake' a movie, choose from a roster of 'good ideas' executed poorly in the hopes to improve upon their nuggets of wisdom.

He has wanted to make a musical since 1941 and flirted a bit with it with the opening of Temple Of Doom.

Spielberg can make basically anything he wants. Given that power, if he wants to make a musical, I would be fully supportive of that -- but why not make one that has never had a film before?

Off the top of my head, Miss Saigon is another epic culturally-relevant love story that has been languishing in development hell for a long time. Last I heard a couple years ago, Danny Boyle was having conversations about doing that, but nothing has happened yet. If Spielberg took to it, he could take it straight out of development hell and into theaters by the end of the decade.

Not that I want to pick for him, but, you know, there are plenty of other musicals like that struggling to get made. Do one of those, man. Don't touch the ones that are already done and perfect.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Don't touch the ones that are already done and perfect.

I've been thinking a lot about this over the past day or so, and I'm really of two minds on West Side Story in particular. On a technical level, I do believe it's perfect - the direction, choreography, book, songs, score and performances are all top notch, and I'm not sure any could be bested. But, on the other hand, in a story where the main theme is two people from two different backgrounds and cultures being able to come together and transcend racism and bigotry and hate, in a modern context it is somewhat odd to see that pairing actually be two white people, one playing a white person and one wearing makeup to portray someone of Puerto Rican descent. In 2018, they'd never make that casting choice to begin with. Now, I completely understand that things were different when the original film was made, and that in casting Natalie Wood, they picked one of the biggest movie stars of the time for the role, and it's hard to argue against that. I don't really mean to criticize the original film and filmmakers for the choices made then. But the more I think about it, the more I believe there may be room for a version of the film that honors the heritage of the characters being portrayed in the story by casting actors with more appropriate backgrounds. That could be a very empowering thing and a very positive thing.

 

[Jake Lipson]

there may be room for a version of the film that honors the heritage of the characters being portrayed in the story by casting actors with more appropriate backgrounds. That could be a very empowering thing and a very positive thing.

Fair point -- but if the casting is the only issue, and the book, script, score, etc. are perfect as-is, that's not really very much to change, content-wise. So, it's still a tightrope they'd have to walk in terms of how to do that again, even if they cast it in an ethnically-correct manner.

 

[B-ROLL]

I've been thinking a lot about this over the past day or so, and I'm really of two minds on West Side Story in particular. On a technical level, I do believe it's perfect - the direction, choreography, book, songs, score and performances are all top notch, and I'm not sure any could be bested. But, on the other hand, in a story where the main theme is two people from two different backgrounds and cultures being able to come together and transcend racism and bigotry and hate, in a modern context it is somewhat odd to see that pairing actually be two white people, one playing a white person and one wearing makeup to portray someone of Puerto Rican descent. In 2018, they'd never make that casting choice to begin with. Now, I completely understand that things were different when the original film was made, and that in casting Natalie Wood, they picked one of the biggest movie stars of the time for the role, and it's hard to argue against that. I don't really mean to criticize the original film and filmmakers for the choices made then. But the more I think about it, the more I believe there may be room for a version of the film that honors the heritage of the characters being portrayed in the story by casting actors with more appropriate backgrounds. That could be a very empowering thing and a very positive thing.

On the plus side: Rita Moreno was actually born in Puerto Rico ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Moreno

 

[Josh Steinberg]

On the plus side: Rita Moreno was actually born in Puerto Rico ...

Indeed. And I wonder how much the casting of Moreno and other actors and actresses that have more appropriate backgrounds for those parts has helped with the film enduring. I wonder if it had been an all white cast across the board, if the film would be looked upon differently than it is today.

Fair point -- but if the casting is the only issue, and the book, script, score, etc. are perfect as-is, that's not really very much to change, content-wise.

For people of Puerto Rican descent who grew up with perhaps the most culturally famous example of their heritage being played by a white person, I imagine they'd see it as a very big change. I get what you're saying, but I think that change might mean more than you're giving it credit. As a white guy, there are no shortage of examples that I can look at to see myself portrayed onscreen. I can't imagine what it must be like to be of Puerto Rican descent and to watch this famous love story of a white teenager falling in love with a Puerto Rican teenager, with the unintended subtext that the only Puerto Rican that was acceptable for the white teen to fall for was the one played by the white girl. At best, this might make the entire premise laughable to younger generations who are used to more diverse and ethnically appropriate casting choices; at worst, given how the film has been so honored and is perceived to be untouchable, it might just play as another example of being told by society that Puerto Ricans are somehow "less than" and "the other" and therefore, unworthy.

If the film had been about a white gang vs. a black gang, and the leader of that gang was played by a white man in blackface, there'd be no question in today's world that that was not okay, right? So, why is it okay if it's a Puerto Rican?

Jake, I'm sorry if this comes across as picking on you, I don't intend to... just using your quote as a jumping off point for thoughts of mine that are still evolving. 24 or 48 hours ago, I would have said that the idea of West Side Story being revisited in any form was folly. But the more I think about it, the more I see an opportunity to do something special with it, particularly if a master filmmaker like Spielberg was at the helm. I think the revisions from the most recent Broadway production offer a path forward that would justify a remake's existence in a way that remakes of other classic musicals might not be justified.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Jake, I'm sorry if this comes across as picking on you, I don't intend to... just using your quote as a jumping off point for thoughts of mine that are still evolving.

It does not seem that way at all, so no need to apologize.

And to answer your question: it's not okay to have blackface or Puerto Rican-face, now. We have evolved beyond that as a culture. But the simple fact that Natalie Wood was made up to look Pueerto Rican does not take away from the otherwise masterful film that they made. The answer to "Why make this again?" can be "so we can do it with ethnic actors," but that in and of itself does not mean that they don't have to find other ways to freshen it, too, which is going to be a challenge when everything is so great in the original. That's all I mean. Simply doing it with ethnic actors does not erase the legacy of the original, and therefore it will still be a very high standard to live up to in almost every regard other than the non-ethnic casting.

 

[Vic Pardo]

They did "West Side Story" at my daughter's high school back in 2001 or so and the casting was all over the place, with whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians intermingled on each side. I think the idea was to give the biggest parts to the best people, regardless of ethnicity. It was kind of weird, to say the least. My daughter was an art major so she wasn't in it, but she had earlier taken drama classes at the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx (where Jennifer Lopez got her start) and she and her class--all Puerto Rican girls--did "Gee, Officer Krupke" in a show. (My daughter is a West Side Story baby--white father--who grew up watching WEST SIDE STORY incessantly--and Puerto Rican mother.)

 

[Jake Lipson]

I think the idea was to give the biggest parts to the best people, regardless of ethnicity. It was kind of weird, to say the least.

This increasingly common practice is called "colorblind casting." It works when the content of the show doesn't have anything to do with race. However, since race is a central theme of West Side Story, it is essential that it be cast correctly, especially for a new Hollywood film.

It's also worth noting that, later in the run of the Broadway revival, the original English-language lyrics were restored due to audience member complaints about not being able to understand the Spanish. The cast recording for this production preserves the Spanish lyrics because it was recorded around the time of the show's opening, but they did eventually back down on having as much Spanish. Presumably, if they included the Spanish lyrics in the film, English subtitles would be offered for those sections, so it might not be as much of an issue on film, but it's still worth noting that that happened.

 

[cinemiracle]

As an aside here, is there any reason why I suddenly am not getting any e-mail alerts at all?
Have I accidently changed settings or something? I just added to the above thread, there was a reply and no e-mail.

Happened to me for several days but it is back to normal to-day. Must by an HTF problem not ours.

 

[Jake Lipson]

As a bit of an aside, I wanted to say/brag that I saw Chita Rivera in concert tonight, which happens to also be her 85th birthday. She is, of course, the indelible Tony-winning star of the original Broadway production as Anita, plus many, many other roles throughout an illustrious career in the theatre. While of course she has aged in the 60 years since West Side Story premiered, she has done so magnificently, and is, as ever, one of the world's greatest entertainers of all time. It was a great privilege to be in her audience tonight.

She sang songs from throughout her career, but West Side got both "A Boy Like That" and "America." With respect to all the talented women who have sang these since she originated them, no one does it quite like her.

If Spielberg does go through with this remake, I feel it only appropriate that he should find her a cameo in it somewhere to honor hr legacy in this show.