Aficionados will not be disappointed: renewed and virtuoso choreographed sequences, including a breathtaking prologue (one of the cult moments of the first film), unforgettable songs ("America", "Tonight" ...), clashes between Jets and Sharks ... They will find the fundamentals of this Romeo and Juliet of modern times, in New York at the end of the 1950s.

74-year-old Hollywood genius Spielberg, who has marked generations of viewers with "ET", "Jurassic Park" or "Saving Private Ryan", had dreamed for decades of filming the tragic and impossible love between Maria, from Puerto Rico, and Tony, former leader of a gang of young street boys from European immigration.

The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1957 and has since performed countless times in the United States and elsewhere, gained fame with its first film adaptation, by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, four years later.

She had won ten Oscars, including two for interpretation, to George Chakiris (Bernardo) and Rita Moreno (Anita), the first Hispanic actress to receive the statuette.

At 89, the latter ensures the transmission of heritage with the film by Steven Spielberg: she plays the widow of "Doc", a new role and one of the rare freedoms that the screenplay takes with the original work.

Visually, Spielberg's "West Side Story" puts a twist on the 1961 version and Spielberg's mastery, as well as the large means at his disposal ($ 100 million according to Variety), are felt in each of the shots. this ode to the vibrant New York of the 1950s.

"The city of yesterday still exists today (...) and we shot in places that had not changed," Spielberg laughed at a press conference: the special effects simply consisted of removing " air conditioning, satellite antennas and window barriers ", which regulations now require to be installed.

The main roles are entrusted to young talents, sometimes novices in front of the camera, like Rachel Zegler, spotted in high school to play Maria, but who do not let themselves be crushed by the role.

Tony is played by Ansel Elgort, revealed in "Our Faulty Stars".

Special mention to the supporting roles of Anita (Ariana DeBose) and Riff (Mike Faist), who could afford their ticket to the Oscars.

- More political -

Sixty years apart, as questions of racism and violence continue to plague the United States, could Hollywood similarly film this love affair shattered by racial hatred - the first version was? criticized for the image it sent Puerto Ricans?

"It would have been weird to transpose the songs in 2021," screenwriter Tony Kushner told a press conference, saying that there was "nothing dated" in the score.

Steven Spielberg at the premiere of his film "West Side Story" on November 29, 2021 in New York City Jamie McCarthy Getty / AFP / Archives

Shifting somewhat to the background in the 1961 film, the political context is brought to the forefront by Steven Spielberg.

"The film is more political than the first one," said Rita Moreno.

More violent too.

As for the casting, there is no question, as in the 1960s, of having young Puerto Ricans play by white actors - except Rita Moreno.

Today's performers were recruited from the Latino community.

Many lines between the Sharks are spoken in Spanish, with the choice assumed not to subtitle them, neither in English in the United States, nor in French in the tricolor rooms.

"The Spanish language had to exist (on screen) in the same proportions as English," said Spielberg.

And the socio-economic context of the time, with the destruction of poor neighborhoods in New York to build new buildings reserved for the better-off classes, or the racism of the police, is further developed.

"They are fighting about their origins. But the territory in which they are fighting is itself under the threat of demolition" by promoters, insisted Steven Spielberg.

© 2021 AFP