I wasn't too surprised because I saw "film with live orchestra" on the ticket early. In addition, I really like "West Side Story", even if I just rewatch the film, I don't feel disadvantaged. What's more, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra's performance level is also very high, which is much more enjoyable than listening to "America" and "I feel pretty" on youtube.
West Side Story is a modern version of New York's Upper West Side romantic musical based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" by American playwright Arthur Laurents. It was performed on Broadway in 1957, and was adapted into a musical in 1961 for the silver screen, winning the Academy Award in 1962.
I have always liked musical movies, "The Phantom of the Opera", "The Wizard of Oz", and even the cartoon "Anastasia ("True and False Princess")" will be played frequently. Maybe I was influenced by my grandmother when I was a child, and I always followed her to follow various dramas and TV shows. Under the explanation of the old man, those babbling singing became particularly vivid. My grandfather never joined us, maybe to him, these are all the fuss. Seeing that we were staring at the TV, he murmured, "It's all fake," and turned around to find someone to play chess. Grandma cast a disapproving glance at him, continued to watch for herself, then turned her head and said to me: "1 minute on stage, 10 years of work off stage".
Whether it's a drama or a musical, the actors in it must have a very comprehensive foundation, not only their acting and singing skills, but also their behavior from beginning to end. They must be beautiful. Their charisma allows the audience to follow the plot even if they know it's fake, and can't help but follow the actors wholeheartedly.
Maybe he still felt cheated by watching an old movie at a high price, and his friend Xiao V said angrily: "How can you ever meet each other, it's impossible to fall in love with each other in less than half a minute!" However, Tony and Maria suffered great changes. , sing "Somewhere" to comfort each other and dream that when the two of them will find happiness somewhere, the audience will still be moved. Play is like life, and it's fake.
Different from the aristocratic love of Shakespeare's original play, the background of "West Side Story" is the struggle between two different gangs, the Jets and Sharks, in the Upper West Side of New York, much like Hong Kong's Young and Dangerous. The series of dances in which the two gangs clash at the beginning of the film is so classic I can't get enough of it.
Tony is the good brother of the leader of the local white American gang Jets, and Maria is the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks gang who immigrated to the local Puerto Rican gang. The love between the two was dramatic, and the writers put the entire story in less than 3 days. The two fell in love at first sight at a community dance on the first night, and then exchanged heartfelt words on the fire stairs of Maria's house. On the second night, Tony failed to prevent the two gangs from fighting, and accidentally killed his lover's eldest brother. Tony was killed after the two decided to elope that night. A grieving Maria rages against the two gangs on the basketball court, and the ending is like in a Shakespeare play, the two sides reconcile. Fortunately, Catholic Maria did not commit suicide, as Juliet did, which is a little consolation.
Natalie Wood, the actor of Maria in the film, is a beautiful woman, but unfortunately her singing skills are not enough. All Maria's songs in the film are sung by Marni Nixon, a famous shadow singer at the time, and her dancing skills are also far from the second female No. 2 Anita. Movie actor.
On the contrary, Rita Moreno, who played Bernardo's girlfriend Anita, made an eye-catching performance. Her expressiveness and dancing skills shined in the classic clip "America", completely overshadowing the female lead. Perhaps in response to the clip's criticism of racism against immigrants in the United States, the American film industry awarded Puerto Rican Rita Moreno the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress that year. It is a pity that Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong was born 30 years early when she entered Hollywood alone, and did not get a good script.
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