Who made the new film
Steven Spielberg directed and Tony Kushner wrote the screenplay. Rachel Zegler plays Maria, Ansel Elgort plays Tony, Ariana DeBose plays Anita and David Alvarez plays Bernardo. DeBose won the 2022 Academy Award for supporting actress. Rita Moreno, Anita in the earlier film, plays Valentina in this version.
Why Valentina matters
Valentina runs the drugstore and takes on some of the dramatic function of Doc. The film gives her “Somewhere,” turning the number into an expression of memory and experience. Compare the scene with the stage dream sequence. The speaker changes the imaginative viewpoint of the song as well as its place in the story.
A neighbourhood being cleared
The opening places the Jets in a landscape marked by demolition. That detail changes how the struggle for territory reads. The territory itself is disappearing, regardless of which gang wins a fight. For a close-reading exercise, list three signs of building work or displacement visible before the central couple meets, then describe what each adds.
Language and audience
The English-language release leaves Spanish dialogue unsubtitled. Observe how gesture, relationships and setting convey information before looking up dialogue. For a class, separate this formal decision from questions about the film's historical accuracy. A fictional scene can make an audience notice language hierarchies while still simplifying a community's history.