It's been fifty years since the film version of
West Side Story appeared. There is a
rumor that it will appear on Blu-ray, later this year. Let's hope so.
If not, there are at least two DVDs available. First, there is the MGM "full-screen" release, which was panned and scanned to be "full-screen" on an old-school television. As soon as I saw the first dance scene, I knew that a lot of the film was missing, visually, so I hit "eject" and took it right back to the library. Then, there is the "Special Edition" DVD, which presents the film as it was meant to be seen. The "Special Edition" can be purchased for $35.00, directly from the film's official
website or from Amazon for considerably more. It comes in oversized packaging, so I didn't know the library had it until I saw it in the catalog and went to the "oversized" shelves.
West Side Story is phenomenal, visually and musically. Among the many songs written for it, "
America" and "
I Feel Pretty" are my favorites.
Though it's a love story,
West Side Story is also a story of ethnic hate. Whose death is more moving? Tony's or Bernardo's? Why?
The photo is "The sharks girls extol the virtues of America," taken by Owen Carey at Portland Center Stage's production of
West Side Story in 2007.
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