Story are two very similar movies. Though they are alike in many ways, they arealso very different as well. The two movies mirror each other all the way untilthe fight in West Side Story and until Mercutio dies in Romeo and Juliet. WhenTony dies in West Side Story and Maria, acting as a Juliet, the majordifferences start to show.
In Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers both die, in WestSide Story, Maria lives. Instead of fighting between families, as the Montaguesand the Capulets, West Side Story brings out the gang activity, Sharks vs. Jets. Some of the characters in West Side Story are the same personality-type as theones in Romeo and Juliet. These characters: Maria as a Juliet, Tony as Romeo,Bernardo as Tybalt, Anita as the Nurse, etc.
, have the same attitudes. These areonly a few of the similarities. The opening scenes in both movies are similaralso. In West Side Story the Sharks harass a man, as the members of his gangshow up to his side. They dont exchange words; they just start singing anddancing.
This is when the cops come to break up the two gangs, just like Esclas(?)did in Romeo and Juliet. There is another time when Riff talks Tony intoattending the dance at the gym as Benvolio talks Romeo into attending the ball. At the dance, there appears a young girl, Maria, just as in Romeo and Juliet,the exact ideal when Juliet appears. When Anita is telling Maria that shecant possibly be in love with Tony; for he is an American, and Lady Capuletand the Nurse speak to Juliet about the differences between the two families.
Both girls know that their love is chancing, they still are strong-willed inkeeping it. Both girls are also there to marry people they are not in love with. And again, their Ladies tell them that they should just marry who they are toldto marry. In West Side Story, Tony and Maria first meet at the dance just as inRomeo and Juliet, where they both first meet at the ball. It is like love atfirst sight in both stories. The balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet also reflectsthe fire escape scene in West Side Story.
Both men speak to the girls as a partof the sky, the sun, moon, etc. Anita finds out about the love between Tony andMaria, as the Nurse with Romeo and Juliet, yet both are supportive. The gangactivity in West Side Story doesnt come that close with the gang activity oftoday. Today, gangs are a lot more violent, there is a harsher way to prove yourloyalty whereas today, like having to kill someone or cut off their fingers,etc. In West Side Story, to be in gangs you must just prove your loyalty throughyour honesty. In gangs today, they surely dont sing and dance around.
Thenames that the gangs have in West Side Story are not harsh names, either. Today,they are ugly names with harsh meanings. The only similar things with the gangstoday and in West Side Story that I have seen is that they stick together, pushtheir publicity, and have certain things about them that they all do together. One example, being the color, number, race, name, etc. , that todays gangs useto distinguish themselves with also is used in West Side Story.
Roxanne andCyrano de Bergerac also have similar qualities to them. First, the names ofRoxanne and C. D Bales, maybe standing for Cyrano de Bergerac and of course bothgirls are named Roxanne. In both movies, the whole town loves a man, but the manfears that he could never have the love of a woman because he has such a bignose. Both movies strike a universal note because maybe that we all have sometype of thing or way about us that we secretly fear people may ridicule. InCyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano falls in love with Roxanne, as does Christian.
Thisreflects Bales falling in love with, again, Roxanne just like Chris. In Roxanne,she falls in love with Chris first because of the outer features, but hedoesnt know how to talk to woman. C. D Bales is good with woman and gentlewith them, just like in Cyrano, how Roxanne is in love with Christians faceand Cyranos words. There is also a
