This intimate documentary sees the trailblazing Hollywood icon tell her remarkable story in her own words.
Sixty years ago, Rita Moreno made Oscars history when she became the first Latina to win an acting Oscar for her role as Anita in the 1961 musical West Side Story – famously, she also gave one of the shortest speeches. A true Hollywood trailblazer, Moreno’s career stretches all the way back to the old studio system, when she was spotted by an MGM talent scout as a teenager in New York City.
“I can’t think of anybody I’ve ever met in the business who lived the American dream more than Rita Moreno,” says Norman Lear at the start of this documentary, which takes a linear approach to Moreno’s long list of achievements (she is one of just 16 people with an EGOT) and the numerous challenges and setbacks she has faced since moving from Puerto Rico at aged five.
Mariem Pérez Riera’s film offers insight into the casting practices of Old Hollywood that saw Moreno emulate Elizabeth Taylor in a bid to impress MGM mogul Louis B Mayer. There were no performers who looked like Moreno at the time and Taylor was the closest she had to a role model. To contemporary audiences, it is shocking to see the heavy dark makeup applied to a young Moreno in a string of “native girl” parts (as Moreno refers to them). This was still the case for the Hispanic performers when West Side Story was made.
Now in her eighties, Moreno is still probably best known for her role as Anita, but this film isn’t merely a West Side Story retrospective. Clips are not relied on but help to illustrate Moreno’s impact as a versatile film, stage and television performer. The mix of talking heads – featuring Moreno and the likes of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Gloria Estefan and Whoopi Goldberg – with present-day vérité footage and archival interviews paints a vivid portrait of Moreno’s personal and professional struggles and triumphs.
One recurring theme is of a woman who has been treated like a doll through various stages of her life. Moreno’s on-off relationship with therapy adds to this, and topics such as the Hollywood men who sexually assaulted her, her tumultuous relationship with Marlon Brando, and a marriage that was not as happy as it seemed are clearly difficult for her to discuss. Moreno’s painful recollection of a backstreet abortion is juxtaposed against the current political climate in the US; her stance on this issue is unwavering (“A woman should have the right to an abortion if she needs it”).
Through all the accolades bestowed by colleagues, critics and even presidents, the documentary is at its strongest when it speaks to Moreno’s impact on future Latin American performers, giving them the role model she never had. At the time of writing, Moreno is still the only Latina to win an acting Oscar. Despite the shifts in Hollywood that are covered here, there are still barriers to break through.
Published 6 Dec 2021
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