West Side Story is an American musical directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. It was first released in 1961. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. It was adapted from a Broadway musical, which was based on Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It won 10 Academy Awards, including the one for best picture. The songs written by Leonard Bernstein (for the music) and Stephen Sondheim (for the lyrics) include such memorable tunes as "Tonight", "Maria" and "Somewhere".
The action takes place in the late 1950s in New York. Two rival gangs are fighting for dominance of their neighbourhood : the Jets, a white gang led by Riff and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang headed by Bernardo. The Jets decide to go to a dance and challenge their rivals to a fight. Tony, who left the gang he had co-founded, agrees to fight one last time with the Jets. When the two groups meet at the dance, Tony falls in love with Maria, Bernardo's younger sister. Bernardo orders Tony to stay away from her. Later on, while the two gangs are fighting, Bernardo kills Riff and Tony then kills him. He begs Maria to forgive him and they agree to run away together. However one of the Sharks, Chino, shoots Tony, who dies in Maria's arms. She then threatens to kill them all with the gun unless they stop fighting.
Doc, one of the characters, gives the film what might be an appropriate conclusion : "When do you kids stop ? You make this world lousy." To which one of the youngsters replies "We didn't make it". In fact it is a world where senseless violence rules, where ethnic groups refer to each other as "The American … The Pollack…The Spic…" They never mingle, do not interact, except to fight with each other. Even love cannot put an end to these conflicts, which is why Tony dies. The Puerto Rican boys cannot identify with the American dream praised by the girls. When the girls sing "Life can be bright in America", the boys reply "If you can fight in America" or "Lots of doors slamming in our face". They realise that the American dream is not within their reach and is based on lies. At the end of the film, Maria wisely addresses the two gangs :"You all killed him… Not with bullet and guns-with hate."
