Of the many inspirations that can be taken from the 2021 adaptation of West Side Story, one ought to be to start with a bang. So here’s an endorsement from Guillermo del Toro. “WSS is intoxicating, Heisenberg-level pure, uncut cinema.”
For those who haven’t read the full thread from the director of Nightmare Alley on why his rival for best picture is so compelling, please do. Watching an artist genuinely rhapsodise about art is always worth the admission. But the central thrust of his argument, building out from a critique of a single scene, is this: Steven Spielberg’s film is a brilliant synthesis of the essential qualities of cinema and, as a result, is a reminder of what the art form can achieve.
