What's the AFI Project, you ask? For more information, or if you just enjoy my bemused ramblings, read here: http://www.spout.com/blogs/pippin06/archive/2008/3/1/25756.aspx
West Side Story is on the following AFI lists:
The Original Top 100 (#41)
100 Years...100 Passions (#3)
100 Greatest Film Songs (#20 - "Somewhere;" #35 - "America;" #59 - "Tonight")
25 Greatest Movie Musicals (#2)
The Revised Top 100 (#51)
West Side Story is one of those films that I have found people like/love or simply hate. There is no middle ground. On the one hand, the movie and stage musical alike boast songs that have permutated the pop culture as much as songs from movie musicals like The Wizard of Oz, the Sound of Music, or Singin' in the Rain. The dance sequences alone are something to behold and widely known or recognized, especially the opening sequence with the rival, finger-snapping gangs. On the other hand, the vein of the musical is recycled and the dialogue a little cheesy and sugary (which is not the best combination). Still, it's one of those films that have become an undeniable classic, and I would argue or agree to be a necessary inclusion on those AFI lists.
The story is really Romeo and Juliet, committed to Manhattan's titular west side in or around the early 1960s. Instead of the Montagues and Capulets, it's the Jets (second-generation Americans) and the Sharks (Puerto Rican immigrants), two gangs fighting an ongoing turf war. Instead of Mercutio and Tybalt, it's Riff (Russ Tamblyn), the leader of the Jets, exchanging words with Bernardo (George Chakiris). After an extended dance sequence, Riff decides to have it out with the Sharks once and for all and calls a war council. To make the whole thing legit, he calls on former Jet and co-founder of the gang, Tony (Richard Beymer), to facilitate negotiations. Yet, Tony, our resident Romeo, wants out of gang-life and at a local dance, falls instantly and madly in love with Maria (Natalie Wood), the Juliet du jour, also Bernardo's sister. Using this as an excuse to fuel the rivalry, the gangs' conflict reaches a fever pitch, and the love affair meets predictably tragic consequences. Rita Moreno also plays Bernardo's wife Anita, and she provides much of the comic relief.
West Side Story works because it's an entertaining musical with a timeless (even if recycled) romance and with some of the most potently beautiful songs ever written for stage or screen. The AFI included three of the songs on the song list and for good reason. Did you know that the musical was co-written by Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics)? That kind of superpower combination gives the musical and the movie a kind of classic credibility that other films simply are not as lucky to have. The music/songs are some of the best in all of musical theater.
The dancing is something to behold in this picture. Everything is choreographed, right down to the fights and rumbles. The opening sequence with the famous snapping of each gang has some breathtaking combinations complete with leaps and flips. That kind of dancing is not often performed anymore.
The film is also a sharp commentary on the state of race relations in America at the time. One of the most poignant and believable songs in the whole picture is the eternal "America," which also happens to be my favorite. While set to a decidedly toe tapping rhythm, the song minces no words pertaining to how the Sharks and their brethren get the rawer of the two gangs' deals with the rampant racism they face.
I don't love this film personally, however, because it boils down to the cheese factor. The love affair between Tony and Maria makes my stomach turn a little; it's too sweet, too trite. The beautiful poetry of Shakespeare is distilled down into some overly gushy dialogue that I can't imagine anyone, then or now, using. Also, none of the actors sing for themselves; the voices are dubbed by professional singers as often was the case in these mid-20th century movie musicals. The acting is also a little cheesy but for the performances of George Chakiris and Rita Moreno, who won supporting Oscars for their work.
Others love this film, including the Academy, since it won ten Oscars, and the movie is a great movie musical of its own accord. Technically, the costumes, cinematography, and art direction are fantastic, and most of the film's Oscars were in the technical categories, though it also won Best Picture and Director.
I own West Side Story because I found it for cheap, and it is enjoyable to sing along with some of those songs, though I can never listen to "I Feel Pretty" again and not think of that scene in Anger Management, when the Jack Nicholson character forces the Adam Sandler character to stop his car in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge and assauge his anger through that song. Yet, it isn't my favorite, and I am not sure it even deserves to be the #3 movie musical according to the list. I would personally give the film an 8 for being very good (but with minor flaws). Still, it's place in American cinematic history I think is unquestionable and undeniable because of the sheer spectacle it offers. The film is definitely entertaining and holds up as much today as it did in 1961, and I think that is the very definition of a true American classic.