Starring - Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno & George Chakiris.
Running Time - 152 minutes
Rated - PG

I suppose I have my sister to thank for introducing me to this movie and probably to musicals in general. West Side Story is one of the earliest films I can remember watching, and it has stuck with me for the rest of my life. It had been a while since I’d seen it until recently, and it still managed to strike the right chords.

For those of you unaware with the story it was a modern take on Shakespeare’s classic love story Romeo & Juliet. The film is based in New York city, and is the location for the struggle of turf between two rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. The American Jets led by Riff (Tamblyn) and the Puerto-Rican Sharks led by Bernardo (Chakiris) have an innate hate for each other and will go to all lengths to gain control of their neighbourhood.

Amongst all this violence, emerges a highly passionate but controversial love story between the Maria (Wood) and Tony (Beymer). Tony is a legendary member of the Jets and Riff's best friend. Maria is Bernardo's younger sister and they meet at a dance, with no one able to stop their love. To settle their disputes for the streets the Sharks and Jets plan a rumble under the highway. Maria sends Tony to stop it, hoping it can end the violence, but it all goes wrong, and before the lovers know what's happened, tragedy strikes and doesn't stop until the climatic and heartbreaking ending.

The score in this film is simply fantastic, and adds to the excellent storyline with seamless cohesion. Although it is a musical, the film glides along at a breathtaking speed and one that will have you completely absorbed into it. It was groundbreaking back when it was made, collecting ten Oscars for its troubles. The film was brilliant when I first watched it, and still gets top marks now, simply outstanding.

Best Bit: the opening is fantastic, but songs like Officer Krupke and Cool still get my feet tapping.

Rating: 5 out of 5, yes it may be a musical, and yes the film is over 40 years old, but this started the musical genre and is a true classic.