West Side Story – 2021 movie

Have you ever seen a production that you knew well in a foreign language you don't speak without subtitles ? I have several times and it's quite tedious - there's more to dialogue than just "the story". Also, if it was "authentic" then everyone wouldn't be singing would they ? 

Yes I have, and it allows you to be immersed in the body language, facial expressions and tonality, like in any context where I don't understand the language. If you go into it open-minded then there is a lot more to communication than just words. And there is a lot more to acting than just words.

But if people can't be bothered to give it a chance then clearly this is a film they shouldn't see. Given only one review I've read so far has even mentioned it, seems to me it likely won't be an issue.

Regardless of anything you say about body language, facial expressions etc, if you dont know what is being said in the dialogue, then you really can't appreciate the plot or characters properly. How can you understand humour if you dont know what they're joking about or what the punchline is, how can you fully appreciate nuances within a character when you can't understand a word they say. You can't. I really love Tony Kushners writing and i want to he able to understand it fully as he meant it.

You could also have completely forgotten everything about Romeo and Juliet, or not been paying any attention when you studied it at school. It’s not specified in the credits that it’s based on R+J so it’s not necessarily that commonly known.

Exactly. People in this thread are acting as if this is something new and objectionable when it's been part of art for hundreds of years. It's baffling!

Ah but I am talking about the people likely to see this film, not the world as a whole.

That said, I am younger than middle aged and don't know anyone who doesn't know Romeo & Juliet. We all came across it at school. And the first thing I and all my peers do if we don't know something is pull out our phones and type it into Google, so I'm not sure it is elitist or middle-aged to be talking from my own experience of younger people who weren't around when the original film came out!

All these nasty people daring to speak languages that I don't understand. What are they saying about me, trying to hide from me? I have a right to know. Maybe Spielberg and Kushner are making a point to highlight the barriers between the rival gangs, making the audience put themselves in that position. From a commercial point of view there will be nothing that can't be understood by a broad audience as it would make no sense to do so. Stop WHINING about hypothetical stuff that doesn't matter, in a film you haven't even seen yet!

Yeah I think this is all getting blown out of proportion at the moment. I can only see one reaction on twitter that even mentions this and even they say that it was an inspired choice. The review embargo lifts tomorrow so I’m sure if it’s a big problem then we’ll be sure to hear about it.

Presumably now you know that there is some Spanish dialogue you can easily give your 8 year old a one minute run down of the plot though? And might be worth warning them it is a dark, gritty version of the story anyway - it's been rated PG-13 in the US because of it.

You're missing the point and seeking something that isn't intended - you are not supposed to know precisely what they are saying. If you were, there would be subtitles. There aren't - Kushner and Spielberg deliberately made it that way. You said you wanted to know what Kushner meant, well to do that you have to view it as it is intended.

It isn't about the exact words, it's about extracting the general meaning, mood and feeling. That's what silent films were all about (that was my point on that which you entirely missed - as there is no dialogue meaning can only be conveyed in other ways, through acting!), that's what opera was all about before people decided to translate them. It's not condescending to say that if you concentrate you will pick that up, as that is clearly the case. That's part of acting, it is never just the words conveying the meaning, or it shouldn't be when done effectively.

In fact I've just watched an interview with Rachel Zegler where she said Spielberg gave her the note to act with her eyes, and one with Mike Faist where he said he was never given the English translation of the Spanish dialogue and that added to the effect for him of disconnect between the Jets and the Sharks, and the lack of understanding between the. That is what I've been trying to explain - it's about more than words. Words shouldn't actually be necessary in that respect, they just add to the mood created.

You get the essence, not the specifics. If you are looking for more then you are missing the artistic point entirely.

Ah but you have countries like Germany where they'll steamroller over everything with dubbing anyway.