Steven Spielberg releases first musical of his career and invests in Latino actors

The new film by the award-winning American filmmaker hits theaters next Thursday (9) Steven Spielberg: “Amor, Sublime Amor”, a reinterpretation of the musical by Broadway created in 1957 by composer Leonard Bernstein.

This is the first musical in the extensive filmography of Spielberg, director of classics such as “ET – The Extraterrestrial”, “Schindler’s List” and “Saving Private Ryan”, and so many others.

The filmmaker stated in interviews that the realization of a re-reading of “Amor, Sublime Amor” is a childhood wish. “When I listened to the ‘West Side Story’ album [título original] for the first time I was 10 years old, but that never went away. I was able to recognize this dream and keep a promise to myself. I need to do a West Side Story”, said the director.

The plot, a Romeo and Juliet focused on the racial tensions of 1950s United States, tells the story of protagonists María and Tony, who are part of rival gangs in New York – the Sharks, of Puerto Rican origin, and the Jets, of origin European.

In 1961, filmmaker Robert Wise directed the first audiovisual adaptation of history, in a film that won 10 Oscars. Despite the public and critical success, the low inclusion of Latino actors in the cast was frowned upon over the past 60 years, in addition to the controversy involving the Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno, who had her skin darkened to play the character. Anita.

The good news is that Steven Spielberg seems to have taken the issue of diversity into greater consideration in the production that opens next week: all characters in the Sharks gang are played by actors of Latin origin.

Furthermore, according to Agence France Press, many of the dialogues in the film are entirely in Spanish. “The Spanish language had to exist (on screens) in the same proportion as English,” said the 74-year-old director during a press conference last Tuesday.

Actress Rita Moreno, now 89, returns to the screen in this retelling of history as Valentina, a character who did not exist in the original musical, but whom Spielberg took the liberty of creating.

The character Anita, who consecrated Rita Moreno with the Oscar for best supporting actress in 1961 – an unprecedented award for a Latin woman – will, this time, be played by Ariana DeBose. The protagonists María and Tony were left with newcomers Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort, respectively. Broadway actor David Alvarez plays Bernardo in the new version of the story.

According to director Steven Spielberg, the film was shot in places in New York that have changed very little since the 1960s. , revealed.

In addition to the racial war portrayed in the film, the plot touches on social and economic issues present at that historical time, such as the risk of losing territories due to real estate speculation. Speaking to the press, veteran Rita Moreno said, “This film is more political than the original.”