| re: just back from seeing WSS film(dont read until you've seen film) | |
| Posted by: bicoastal 06:29 pm EST 12/14/21 | |
| In reply to: just back from seeing WSS film(dont read until you've seen film) - bmc 04:57 pm EST 12/14/21 | |
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| As far as I can tell, the songs in this new version are back in their original lineup from the 1957 Broadway production, though intention has changed in several of them. In his screenplay for the 1961 film, Ernest Lehman rethought the show's song and story structure from a film writer's perspective--the film would not be broken up by an intermission and so he felt some songs would be best moved to support that single sitting viewing. That was the 1961 version of enriching the material. I have read that Laurents was not happy with this although its interesting that It's almost a given that "America" will be a Bernardo/Anita battle because once you've seen the movie, the Anita/Rosalia battle is boring (IMHO). So it's interesting that the songs have reverted to their original placements though, as mentioned, the intention of some of those songs have changed. I agree re: "Something's Coming" but i prefer "Cool" as a exercise in post-rumble tension. (Could be I'm just used to it there, but Lehman pretty much swapped its position with "Krupke" in the movie as it provides a much more dramatic musical moment; Laurents hated that switch.) Lehman moved the rumble back from a first act closer position to a film's "second act" closer which is why "Cool" plays well there. Hauling the boys to the police station felt like a lot of shoe leather just to get to "Gee, Officer Krupke" which also, to me, worked really hard to justify these tough guys singing a comic song. I had that feeling a lot--no one could just sing because musical comedy, every song had to have a deeper level to it. Mostly I'm good with that, but it also made me feel that the movie was working very hard to justify itself. Did they need to do that? I don't think so. On the other hand, I appreciated the overall strengthening of the characters. I like the (original) placement of "I Feel Pretty" in this. I found the change on "Somewhere" worked really well, though it forced Maria to sing "Tonight" to the dying Tony, which doesn't resonate nearly as well as "Somewhere". Not sure why they couldn't have kept that ending regardless of Valentina's earlier moment. My biggest disappointment was the cinematography/production design--the color palette was so restrained that even during "America" it was just shades of orange and yellow. I missed the vibrancy of the 1961 movie's design. But this is all just my opinion! I hope the film chugs along and makes good money because it is well done. |
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| Previous: | just back from seeing WSS film(dont read until you've seen film) - bmc 04:57 pm EST 12/14/21 |
| Next: | re: just back from seeing WSS film(dont read until you've seen film) - schauspieler 06:24 pm EST 12/14/21 |
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