“West Side Story”(2021) directed by Steven Spielberg

The area around Lincoln Center wasn’t always the setting for “Turandot” and Pinchas Zuckerman recitals. Sixty-odd years ago, it was occupied mostly by poor Italians and Irish, whose tenements were destroyed to make room for the Metropolitan Opera house. This displacement was further aggravated by the arrival of Puerto Ricans into the neighborhood, bringing with them a culture that white ethnics neither liked nor cared to understand.

It is in this combustible environment that Bernstein and Robbins set the original “West Side Story,” a musical which has seen so many stage iterations since 1957, most Americans know the songs and story as well as they know their times tables.

The only thing we never really know is what the next interpretation of WSS will bring. Which brings us to Steven Spielberg’s film version of “West Side Story.”

Spielberg-ophiles like me will find many of his signature touches throughout the film, particularly in the production numbers. The opening battle between the Jets and Sharks is so graphic, it will call to mind the grisly opening of “Saving Private Ryan.”  The exuberant high school dance scene is so awash with color, it recalls “Catch Me If You Can.” The playground during “Maria” is so beautifully illuminated, it may remind you of scenes from “ET,” of all things.

Even in the less over-the-top, more intimate scenes, the Spielberg magic and his attention to New York sensibilities shine through. In the “Tonight” number, Tony (Ansel Elgort) serenades Maria (Rachel Zegler) by scaling the fire escape just like a West Side juvy would. And when was the last time you saw a WSS scene set in the Cloisters, where Tony and Maria sing “One Hand, One Heart?” Answer: you never did.

As for the cast standouts, Mike Faist is terrific as the wormy Riff as is David Alvarez as the fiery Bernardo. Rita Moreno from the original WSS is funny and sage as the neighborhood matriarch who runs the pharmacy. Much of her dialogue, and that of the Sharks, is delivered in Spanish, which you may off-putting or an attempt to keep it real. (I vote B.)

Admittedly, WSS isn’t perfect. The pace tends to drag in between the production numbers and the running time is lonnnng: close to 3 hours. But if you love the score as much as I do, you won’t find it long at all and you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

If you listen to the media, you will hear nothing but stories about the “failure” of WSS, the alleged sexual harassment by Ansel Elgort, and pearl-clutching tales of how empty the theaters are. Allow me to point out that my fellow audience members were so enthusiastic, they giggled and burst into applause throughout.  And our movie house was packed—which may or may not have had something to do with where we saw it. Right outside Lincoln Center, where “West Side Story” was born.