November, Thuesday, 8th

Today we spoke about "West side story" to make a comparaison between Romeao and Juliet and the famous film. To have a sum up of the story, we have listened a broadcast about the fifty years old of the film.

The film is inspire of a very famous Broadway show directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, writted by Arthur Laurents and set to music by Leonard Berstein and Stephen Sondheim. They want to make an actual "Romeo and Juliet" on speaking of the problems of their time.

Indeed the Montague and the Capulet are transformed in the Jets and the Sharks, two gangs, who fight to control the street. But it's also a fight between the american and the immigrants called "Puerto Ricans". The lieder of the Jets is Tony, a young man of 20 years old, and the lieder of the Sharks is Bernardo. Her sister called Maria and is 17 years old. She is to marry Chino, another member of the Sharks. But at a party, she dances with Tony, and falls in love with him. They hope to live their love in happiness but the Jets and Sharks are making plans for a big fight. Tony want to stop the fight but the actions turns violent. Bernardo kills Tony's friend Riff, and in the fight, Tony kills Bernardo. When Maria knows that, she is horrified but she understands tha she loves Tony, even though he has killed Bernardo. Anita, the Marias's best friend, goes to the Jet's hiding place to warn Tony that the police are looking for him. But the Jets are cruel to her and they treat her so badly. Finally she says Maria is dead, killed by Chino. But it's a lie. Tony runs intot the street to come kill Chino. Maria appears but there is a shot. It's Chino, who killed Tony. At the end of the story, the two gangs bury the hatchet. 

The film is released in 1961. The main actors are Nathalie Wood (Maria), Richard Beymer (Tony) and Georges Chakiris (Bernardo). Moreover, Jacques Demy, a very famous french director, payed tribute to West Side Story on taking Georges Chakiris in his film "Les Demoiselles de Rochefort".   

 You can see the trailer of the film : 

This is the official Website of West Side Story with a lot of interesting information (you can clic).