for what we are looking at as we sit here. five or six years ago, we presented west side story, the 1951 movie, on the plaza at lincoln center. it was the biggest crowd that had ever had gathered on the plaza at lincoln center for this summer evening screening and the audience looked like the city of new york, people of all ages and backgrounds coming together to watch this movie for free on a friday night and i presented the film that evening and talking about how this neighbourhood had been demolished to make way for the places we were standing and it was a testament to the legacy of this film that people still want to come out and watch it together, talk about it and explore the issues that it raises. # that love is your life #.
movie were shot right here on this playground. in fact, several new york city locations were used in the making of a picture that has become a revered classic, with legions of admirers. we thought we d get an appraisal of the 1961 movie by seeking out the opinion of a big fan, eugene hernandez, director of the new york film festival. i think i ve seen the 1961 version of west side story dozens of times, probably more than any other movie. i keep coming back to it, because i think the songs are catchy, the issues are memorable and despite the problematic aspects of the movie, itjust resonates. many of the iconic scenes that open the film were shot right near where we are talking right now, at 68th on amsterdam, on this block.
hello from new york. i am tom brook and welcome to talking movies. today, our entire programme is devoted to what must rank as one of the big movie events of 2021, the release of steven spielberg s long awaited adaptation of the much loved broadway musical west side story. i have never seen you before. you are not puerto rican. is that 0k? do you want to start world war three? west side story is a love story inspired by shakespeare s romeo and juliet, set amid warring teenage gangs the sharks and thejets in new york in the 1950s. it is an adaptation of the 1957 musical from four greats director and choreographer jerome robbins, composer leonard bernstein, arthur laurents who did the book, and lyricist stephen sondheim. at the world premiere of his adaptation of west side story, stephen spielberg made it clear he was indebted to all the musicals creative forefathers.
for the first time. i got the opportunity to talk to him virtually a few days ago. i think i wanted to direct a musicalfilm because i knew i could not sing and dance, so it is a tremendous way of sort of throwing myself into a genre that physically i would never be part of except to be able to tell a story in that idiom. i have a very good ear for music, because my mum is a concert pianist, but i cannot move my legs and i cannot dance and i cannot sing to save my life, but i have been in love with west side story since i was ten and heard the original broadway cast album that came out the year the play opened in new york. and my parents brought it home and it was an extraordinary experience and i have tremendous recollections, as i started having kids, of basically putting on the 1961 robert wise movie for them or playing them the soundtrack from the original broadway show and i have got videos of all my kids playing all the roles growing up in our house.
one of the things that is very interesting to me in considering west side story is that it grapples with not only how this neighbourhood was demolished and razed and what that might have meant to black and brown new yorkers who lived on these blocks, it also grapples with some really specific tensions in our own city, in new york city, many of which are still relevant today. and the movie gives a way to think about and reflect on the moment in which west side story was created. in the 50s, in new york, at a time when there was tension and turmoil, at a time when this neighbourhood that we are sitting in right now was demolished to make a space