This 90 minute documentary, directed by Mariem Perez Riera traces the life of Latino icon Rita Moreno, from her birth in Humacao, Puerto Rico in 1936, to her upcoming role reprising “West Side Story” with Steven Spielberg. (电影定于12月发行e). This was its World Premiere at Sundance.
Director: Mariem Perez Riera
Cast:Rita Moreno，Gloria Estefan，Morgan Freeman，Whoopi Goldberg，Eva Longorio，Justine Machado，Karen Olivo。
摄影师: Pedro Juan Lopez
Composer and Music Supervisor: Kathryn Bostic and Maureen Crowe
Along the way, such luminaries as Gloria Estefan, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, and Eva Longorio, among others, give testimony to the achievements of the 87-year-old singer/dancer/actress.
I’m of the generation that thrilled to “West Side Story” with Rita Moreno in the pivotal role of Anita when the movie premiered in 1961, based on the 1957 stage version. Watching Anita dance in the clips from “West Side Story” of the sixties is watching pure talent on the hoof.
只是为了表明她不是一栏小马，那个女人是赢得埃格特的少数几个：艾美奖，格莱美，奥斯卡和托尼- 第一个这样做的拉丁裔。她赢得了奥斯卡的“西边故事”，她的电气公司专辑《格莱美》，她的托尼（Tony）在“丽思”（The Ritz）中扮演googie Gomez，而不是一个，而是两个艾美奖（Emmys），为Muppet Show，她从1971年到她出演过，1977年。
When Gloria’s mother divorced her father and moved with Gloria to New York City, Rita shares that they sailed on a ship, the S.S. Carabobo, whose name, in English, literally means Stupidface. Upon seeing the Statue of Liberty as a small child, she thought the green lady was the president holding an ice cream cone in her right hand.
诺曼·李尔和林恩·曼努埃尔·米兰a teamed up to share with the world the story of this chameleon-like talent who “made herself into someone she wasn’t to please other people.” This was true, initially, of Rita’s career, which was mired in stereotypical roles as an accented beauty, whether the role was Latino or some other ethnicity. Rita also had to cope with sexual discrimination from the likes of Harry Cohn and, at one point, attempted suicide after a failed romance with Marlon Brando that led to an unwanted pregnancy, a botched abortion, and her overdose with pills.
When she talks about Brando today, she says, “I think about it now and say, ‘What was there to love?’”But, at the time, Brando was the biggest star of the 50s; the two were together for nearly eight years. It was Brando who recommended that Moreno try therapy, of which she said, “Examining and finding value in yourself is the only way. And I chose therapy.”
Married for many years to cardiologist (and, ultimately, her manager), Leonard Gordon, the pair remained married from 1965 until his death in 2010. Their daughter, Fernanda Gordon Fisher, is the mother of Rita’s two grandsons. Moreno frankly admits, she is okay with living alone and, in some ways, felt liberated after the death of her husband of 45 years. She admits that there were times she thought of exiting the marriage, but stayed in the relationship for the sake of the family.
现年87岁的丽塔开始performing at age 6, has a role as Valentina in the re-boot of “West Side Story” planned for a December release. The cast will feature primarily Latino actors and actresses, although Ansel Elgort(“The Fault In Our Stars”)is of Norwegian, Russian, German and English ancestry. Another key fact of Elgort’s casting as Tony may well be the 5 years (ages 9 to 14) that he spent at the American School of Ballet, plus Elgort’s keen interest in music (他饰演Ansolo）。他在2014年被评为20岁以下最佳演员之一，在电影巡演中令人印象深刻。
It will be interesting to see Rita Moreno’s career come full circle with her appearance in the same film, 60 years after she burst to stardom in it. The original budget for “West Side Story” was only $6 million and it went on to make $44,062,203 worldwide. The 2021 Spielberg effort has a $100 million budget with 144 cast members and is in post production.
Moreno says “It’s interesting how we keep dragging our past into the present. Damn the shadows and here’s to the light.” Morgan Freeman sums up this great talent’s career by saying, “Life is what it is—but it is what you make it.”
