West Side Story: Difference between revisions

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''Somehow, someday, somewhere!''}}

 

 

 

Two gangs, one Polish-American (Jets) and the other Puerto Rican (Sharks), are fighting over territory on Manhattan's West Side when Tony, a member of the Jets, falls in love with Maria, the younger sister of the Sharks' leader Bernardo. Unfortunately for the young couple, they happen to fall in love on the very night the two gangs decide to end their feud in one final battle. Tony manages to persuade the two gangs to reduce it to a one-on-one "fair fight" but when Maria tells Tony to stop the fight altogether his attempt to intervene results in the leader of the Jets, his best friend Riff, getting knifed to death by Bernardo. In a fit of rage, Tony then kills Bernardo in return.

Act Two begins with Maria finding out about Bernardo's death from her arranged fiance, Chino, who then vows to kill Tony. Tony turns up and they spend the night together. After we find out what happened to the Jets, we meet up with the lovers. Bernardo's girlfriend Anita shows up, and Tony escapes, with a plan to escape to the country. Anita, despite hating Tony for killing Bernardo, agrees to tell Tony to stay at the drugstore he works at until Maria arrives. When she gets there however, she is nearly raped by the Jets that have gathered there. In a fit of rage, she says that Maria is dead, killed by Chino. Tony's boss tells Tony this, and he runs out into the street, calling for Chino to 'kill him, too.' Maria and Tony meet each other in the street, but before they can embrace, Chino steps from the shadows and kills Tony. Maria denounces both sides of the conflict for their part in Tony's death, and for how "[[My God, What Have I Done?|we all killed him]]," not with guns, not with knives, but with hate. Thoroughly heartbroken, the Jets and Sharks together carry out Tony's body. [[Downer Ending|The End]].

 

 

{{tropelist}}

** And in the "Jet Song" the lines "When you're a Jet / And the spit hits the fan / You got brothers around / You're a family man" are changed to "When you're a Jet / Let them do what they can / You got brothers around / You're a family man." Particularly funny given that "spit" in the original was probably changed from...

** The writers of the movie took the line, "Trusting with our hearts open! With our arms open!" - "You came with your legs open!" and replaced "legs" with, "mouth".

* [[Break the Cutie]]: Maria and Anita. Chino arguably counts as well.

* [[Butch Lesbian]]: While some of Anybodys' lines imply she's heterosexual or bi, she fits the look, and acts in a comparatively "masculine" manner for her time and place.

* [[Category Traitor]]: Maria is pressured to marry Chino simply because they are from the same ethnic group. When she falls in love with an outsider, all hell breaks lose. Interestingly, Chino never get any [[Entitled to Have You]] lines, but that's probably because he's such a minor role in the first place.

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: Chino.

* [[Combat by Champion]]: How the climactic rumble at the end of Act I was "supposed" to go.

* [[Crapsack World]]:

{{quote|'''Doc:''' When do you kids stop?! You make this world lousy!

'''Action:''' We didn't make it, Doc.}}

** They also sing the exact same ''music'' on that line, suggesting that the genesis of each gang's hatred is basically identical.

* [[Dance of Romance]]: Tony and Maria, though it is a cha-cha and not the more standard waltz.

* [[The Ingenue]]: Maria, initially. When Tony asks her if she's "making a joke" in their [[Love At First Sight]] moment, she replies, "I have not yet learned how to joke that way." (i.e. she is too inexperienced to be anything but sincere). Her family is very concerned with protecting her, especially from 'a boy like that' who only 'wants one thing'. Her naive expectation that love-struck Tony can stop the rumble has tragic consequences for everyone.

* [["I Want" Song]]: "Something's Coming" and "Somewhere".

* [[Love At First Sight]]: Just in case you didn't get it, the filmmakers made the rest of the dancers hazy, only making sure that Tony and Maria were in focus.

* [[Malt Shop]]: Doc's Drugstore.

* [[Politically-Incorrect Villain]]: Lieutenant Shrank.

* [[Poor Communication Kills]]: Boy did it ever here.

{{quote|"Bernardo was right. If one of you was lying in the street bleeding, [[Kick the Son of a Bitch|I'd walk by and spit on you]]."}}

** Maria reveals she finally understands this when she raises her gun.

* [[Say My Name]]: "Maria", of course.

* [[Screw the Rules, I Make Them]]: "Yeah, yeah, 'It's a free country, you got no right.' Well, [[Dirty Cop|I got a badge]]. What do ''you'' got?"

* [[Sexy Discretion Shot]]: At the end of "Somewhere", Tony and Maria embrace passionately and sink from view. By the time the scene fades back in, it's pretty obvious what's happened.

* [[Shave and a Haircut]]: "Gee Of-fi-cer Krup-ke, ''[[Parenthetical Swearing|Krup You!]]''"

{{reflist}}

{{Academy Award Best Picture}}

[[Category:Epic Movie]]

[[Category:Films of the 1960s]]

[[Category:National Film Registry]]

[[Category:Roger Ebert Great Movies List]]

[[Category:Theatrical Productions]]