There are few musicals quite as beloved and enduring as West Side Story, which continues to cast a unique spell over half a decade since the original movie entered theaters. The new movie from Steven Spielberg manages to capture much of what made the original movie musical so endearing while also charting its own path, giving audiences new interpretations of its timeless characters.
While all of them have their own unique charms, it has to be said that not every character demonstrates the same level of intelligence as the plot unfolds.
10 Officer Krupke
In some ways, Officer Krupke has the most unenviable job in the movie, since he is one of the lower-level cops in charge of keeping the peace between the Jets and the Sharks. And, as he shows time and again, he really isn’t up for the job.
He constantly struggles to keep even the most basic of conflicts from breaking out, and he doesn’t have the know-how to even be able to keep the precinct from descending into chaos.
9 Bernardo
Brooding, violent, and passionate, Bernardo is one of the movie’s most complicated characters. While he clearly loves his sister, he lacks the emotional intelligence to really see her as a full person rather than as someone that he must protect at any cost.
What’s more, he also lacks the subtlety to fully grapple with the reality that the rumble between the Jets and the Sharks will end up serving neither of them and will destroy far more lives than just his own and Riff’s.
8 Riff
Like Bernardo, Riff is a character far more complicated than his grim and violent exterior would suggest. However, it’s also true that, like Bernardo, he lacks a certain kind of emotional intellect that would allow him to see a life beyond the world that confines him.
Instead, he tends to see everything in very stark terms, and his us vs. them mentality is as corrosive and destructive for him personally as it is for everyone that surrounds him. Ultimately, his lack of insight costs him his life, just as is the case with Bernardo.
7 Anybodys
The character of Anybodys is one of the most fascinating changes to West Side Story, since they are explicitly framed as transgender. What’s more, they also show that they have a crucial kind of savvy that most of the other gang members lack, in that they are able to procure important information without getting caught.
At the same time, they are also stymied by an ever-present desire to be part of a gang that consistently mistreats (and misgenders) them, even after all that they do to help their compatriots.
6 Tony
Tony is the essential romance hero, the type of person that is quite willing and able to fall in love with someone after first meeting them at a dance (leading to one of the best songs in West Side Story).
While he is a bit of a hopeless romantic, it’s also true that he is a smart person, someone who has come to realize that his old way of being in the world–organized around violence and destruction–is neither sustainable nor desirable. At the same time, he also lacks the thoughtfulness that would allow him to interrogate whether or not Maria was actually dead.
5 Chino
Though he is one of the movie’s minor characters, Chino nevertheless has an important part to play, especially as he is close with Bernardo and is one of Maria’s love interests. He clearly is a very intelligent young man, as he has worked hard and has shown that he has what it takes to become financially successful.
At the same time, he also lacks the emotional insight to realize that Maria doesn’t really feel for him, and he allows his anger at Tony to get the better of him, leading to his own tragic fate.
4 Maria
Maria is, of course, the romantic heroine of this movie, and with her poignant singing voice and innocent demeanor, she casts a spell that is all her own. Of all of the characters, she is arguably the one with the greatest amount of emotional range, which is what allows her to see that there might be a future for her and Tony that transcends the ongoing and bitter feud between the Sharks and the Jets.
And it’s also that capacity that allows her to realize that casting Tony of out her life will neither bring Bernardo back nor make her happy. As a result, she emerges as one of the most likable characters in West Side Story.
3 Lieutenant Schrank
Corey Stoll is known for being in a wide variety of important roles, and though his Lieutenant Schrank is a relatively minor character, he is also one of the smartest.
He’s the kind of clever person that knows how to utilize the feud between the Sharks and the Jets to set one against the other, and he is also sharp enough to know how to get the information that he wants. What’s more, he also has the foresight to realize what the future holds for the neighborhood.
2 Anita
In addition to being one of the most fascinating characters in the movie, Anita is also one of the brightest. She has the type of sensitivity that allows her to get along with and tame some of Bernardo’s worst impulses, even as she has a sort of business acumen that bodes well for her future as an entrepreneur.
However, there is also a darker side to her intelligence, and she knows that lying to Tony about Maria’s death will probably result in his own destruction (which it does).
1 Valentina
Rita Moreno has been in some very great roles during her career and, just as she originally brought Anita to life, now she plays Valentina, the older store owner who takes Tony under her wing. She’s astute enough to see that there is potential for him if he’s given the right kind of guidance, love, and understanding.
More than anything else, though, she has been intelligent enough to know how to not only survive but also to thrive in the neighborhood, so it’s no wonder that she is seen as a voice of authority and respect by most.
About The Author
