Film Analysis Of The Film West Side Story

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The film West Side Story was released on September 15, 1989. It was directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The lead actors are Natalie Wood as Maria, Richard Beymer as Tony, Russ Tamblynas Riff, Rita Moreno as Anita, and George Chakiris as Bernardo. This film fits under the genres of both romance and drama. The movie starts with a brawl between the Jets, an American gang, and the Sharks, a Puerto Rican gang. After the policeman, Officer Krupke, breaks up the fight, the Jets plan to have a rumble with the Sharks in order to regain dominance over the streets of New York. In the next scene, Riff, leader of the Jets, approaches former member and loyal friend, Tony, and begs him to come to a ball and help negotiate the terms for the rumble …show more content…

While Tony used to be a gang member, he generally tries to take the peaceful approach and he is full of compassion and love for Maria. Maria has an innocent character and is completely in love with Tony. Bernardo is strong in his hatred of the way Puerto Ricans are treated by Americans. Riff is very loyal to his friends and he seems to be a relatively good person despite being a gang leader. Anita is often cynical towards Bernardo, yet she expresses strong appreciation for a life in America. This movie takes place on the streets of New York City sometime in the 1950s. This very apparent due to the strong New York accents of the American …show more content…

An example is the Krupke Song sung by the Jets. They are essentially mocking how the cops treat them as hoodlums and they express that they were brought up in terrible ways which is why they are such "hoodlums." This provokes a lot of thought on how we think of gang members and criminals. Another very intriguing idea is how harshly the authorities treat the Puerto Ricans. This leads one to reflect on whether or not the Puerto Rican hatred of the American life is just. The way this film attempts to manipulate a viewer 's emotions is through playing emotional music and through inserting strong romantic scenes to try to create in a viewer a strong connection with the characters in the

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