First of all, this is the type I like. It seems to be a light-hearted song and dance film, but it is a film with a lot of connotation and reflects many social issues. From the film, you can see that many plots hint or directly reveal the real social problems in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, such as racial discrimination, gangs, generation gap, juvenile delinquency, etc. These social real problems are combined with Romeo and Romeo and The love elements of Juliet's classic Shakespeare show reveals these issues. These aspects of exploring social issues and social significance are also one of the factors that have won many awards. This is also the educational and warning significance of the transformation of cultural works.
They are just teenagers. The cause of the contradiction is that Puerto Ricans came to the United States and occupied a piece of land, while the local white people in the United States felt that they had been robbed of their territory. Bo is young and vigorous, so he decides to go to war. In fact, they didn’t really want to be true. They were not so vulnerable to a certain extent. The previous solution was to play basketball. Later, they proposed to throw stones in gang fights, but this kind of entanglement will always not be resolved. For a fight that can be resolved, winning or losing is everything. Everyone is looking forward to this evening, and they all believe that this evening is epoch-making. But the ending was not as everyone expected, and things got worse and worse. Hatred grows and revenge grows. Everything is because of hatred, and this bit of hatred is not a person's problem, it is caused by this cultural background, and it is guided by the subconscious mind of this society.
And those who want to solve the problem seem to be kind, such as police officers, but the method is wrong, the symptoms are not the root cause, such as the lawyers, judges and doctors sung in their songs, but they have never acted and have no hope. What they sing in the song is to reveal the reason why they became gangsters, there are external reasons as well as their own.
The confrontation between the two gangs on the street reminds me of the young and Dangerous boy in the prosperous era of the young and Dangerous boy in Hong Kong. In contrast, the young and Dangerous boy is bolder and more generous, perhaps because of cultural differences. The gangs respect Guan Erye, and all put righteousness first. Betrayal, betrayal, and murder are taboos, and there will be no place in this circle.
Moreover, this musical is also different from all the musicals I have seen before. You can see the continuous development of musicals and their position in the Oscars. The musical "Broadway Melody" from the 1930s is still relatively simple. Single, after "The King of Songs and Dances" is more prosperous, the stage is luxurious and grand. The 50-era "An American in Paris" and "Golden Powder World" move from the stage to ordinary life, and they will sing and jump when they talk. Easy and casual, but the protagonist range is also artists and upper-class society, and the "West Side Story" in the 1960s moved from the stage to the streets and to the slums. The people at the bottom used singing and dancing to express their emotions, reflecting the living conditions of the people at the bottom. This is a process of gradual development and change, and it is more down-to-earth. This is my own feeling of watching these few musicals. Musical and dance films are originally light themes, but once the elements increase, it is more difficult to grasp the balance between each element. I think this is a good deal. The problems of love, youth, and races can all attract attention. .
The other is the love element in the movie, which is based on the classic love story of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Putting it under the gang is also a reason for the intensification of the contradictions between the two big gangs. This love story endures for a long time. Whether it is in this gangster song and dance film, or in the young and Dangerous Hong Kong film, or in the current commercial film and television drama, you can always see the unexpected breeding of such two antagonistic factions. Most of his love ends in tragedy. In fact, it may not be a tragedy, but there are always various reasons to miss each other, one dying for the other, or giving up oneself for the benefit of the family. In any case, this kind of love is still moving, regrettable, and hushing.
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