West Side Story

West Side Story takes place during the mid-1950s in New York City. There are two rival street gangs, the Sharks and the Jets. The Jets are white, and the Sharks are Puerto Rican. They are constantly fighting over territory and harassing each other. When Tony meets Maria at the school dance, they instantly fall in love, but since he was a founding member of the Jets, although he no longer takes part in the street warfare, and Maria's brother is the leader of the Sharks, they are not able to be together. Secrectly, they begin a relationship together, and Tony tries to break up the fight between the two gangs. After Maria's brother Bernado stabs Riff, Tony stabs Bernado and a huge fight breaks out. When they hear sirens, everybody runs, and Tony finds Bernado dead in the midst of battle. When Chino informs Maria that Tony killed her brother, she is in denial. Tony goes to her house, and they decide to stay together forever because they say they are in love. Anita agrees to help Maria by giving Tony a message, but after the Jets mess with her at the store, she lies and tells them that Chino shot and killed Maria. When Tony learns that Maria is "dead," he cannot believe it. In the streets, Tony is mourning her death when he sees her and is relieved. When they reunite, he is shot by Chino. Tony dies in Maria's arms with both gangs watching. The gangs proceed to fight once Tony dies, but Maria stops them and grabs the gun from Chino. After the gangs realize what they've done, they stop fighting for good.