Although I'm not normally a great fan of musicals...people on the screen constantly bursting into song for no good reason generally irritate me...this one's a masterpiece. Story, theme, characters (especially the main one, Tevye), and of course, incomparable music.
This musical is set in the Russian village of Anatevka during the early 1900's of the Tsarist regime. It tells the story of the village's Jewish inhabitants (Tevye's family, in particular), their traditions (and the disturbing trend toward departing from them), their hardships and persecutions, and most of all their optimism, camaraderie, humor, and especially faith in God through it all.
Topol is magnificent as the main character, Tevye, the village milkman, who imparts to anyone who'll listen his pearls of wisdom from the Good Book and has conversations aloud (sometimes musical ones) with God, complaining good naturedly about his troubles and of course the importance of maintaining, yes... TRADITION.
He's the father of five daughters and much of the story line revolves around the older three, who reject the old customs of the Matchmaker, Yente, and insist on choosing their own most unsuitable husbands... Tzeitel, who prefers the poor, shy, awkward but endearing tailor, Motel, to the much older, wealthy, ruddy faced butcher (Lazar Wolf) selected for her by her father; Hodel, who chooses a student activist, Perchik, even if it means exile in Siberia; and Chava, who defies her father by marrying a Gentile, Fyedka, in an Orthodox Christian Church. Teyve loves his daughters and always tries to see their choices from the alternate, optimistic side ("on the other hand"...), but some traditions are too difficult to see broken. The issue of Judaism notwithstanding, like all parents of faith even today, Tevye finds it much easier to deal with his son-in-law's economic or political unsuitability than with major religious differences.
My personal favorite scenes are of Tzeitel's wedding...the magnificent cinematography, the beautiful candle lit procession, the solemnity of the sacred marriage vows under the Jewish canopy, the bride supposedly plain but absolutely radiant, the traditional breaking of the wine glass by the groom, all to the moving strains (tears fill my eyes even now) of the immortal "Sunrise, Sunset" which asks the timeless question of every parent at their offspring's wedding...where has the time gone? how did my child grow up so quickly?
This film touchingly depicts the close knit village life (where everyone knows everyone else's business) but especially in relation to the threatening external forces, the pogroms of Pre Revolutionary Russia. Racial prejudice against these Jewish villagers is an ongoing theme, and nowhere is this more dramatically and touchingly revealed than at Tzeitel's wedding reception. I won't give away the details, but your emotional response will be outrage. It's a picture that's worth a thousand words. Lots of humor, too, especially in the interactions between Tevye and his devout, long-suffering wife, Golde. Now, this is a couple that knows the true meaning of love. For me, the funniest scene in this movie was the sewing machine, absolutely precious.
Wonderful music of course throughout. The "fiddler on the roof" plays his hauntingly beautiful strains, especially effective during the moving, emotional ending. All the songs in this picture are catchy but, unlike most ditsy musicals, also have deep meaning. Everyone seeing this movie at the theatre left humming the incomparable, lively "If I Were a Rich Man". In fact, they're probably humming it still.
If you haven't yet seen this musical...and you must be one of the few who haven't...then you absolutely MUST see it. Make sure your kids see it. It's just not acceptable to go through life without the benefit of Teyve's wisdom, and whether you can carry a tune or not, you'll be singing some of these songs in the shower for the rest of your life.
This musical is set in the Russian village of Anatevka during the early 1900's of the Tsarist regime. It tells the story of the village's Jewish inhabitants (Tevye's family, in particular), their traditions (and the disturbing trend toward departing from them), their hardships and persecutions, and most of all their optimism, camaraderie, humor, and especially faith in God through it all.
Topol is magnificent as the main character, Tevye, the village milkman, who imparts to anyone who'll listen his pearls of wisdom from the Good Book and has conversations aloud (sometimes musical ones) with God, complaining good naturedly about his troubles and of course the importance of maintaining, yes... TRADITION.
He's the father of five daughters and much of the story line revolves around the older three, who reject the old customs of the Matchmaker, Yente, and insist on choosing their own most unsuitable husbands... Tzeitel, who prefers the poor, shy, awkward but endearing tailor, Motel, to the much older, wealthy, ruddy faced butcher (Lazar Wolf) selected for her by her father; Hodel, who chooses a student activist, Perchik, even if it means exile in Siberia; and Chava, who defies her father by marrying a Gentile, Fyedka, in an Orthodox Christian Church. Teyve loves his daughters and always tries to see their choices from the alternate, optimistic side ("on the other hand"...), but some traditions are too difficult to see broken. The issue of Judaism notwithstanding, like all parents of faith even today, Tevye finds it much easier to deal with his son-in-law's economic or political unsuitability than with major religious differences.
My personal favorite scenes are of Tzeitel's wedding...the magnificent cinematography, the beautiful candle lit procession, the solemnity of the sacred marriage vows under the Jewish canopy, the bride supposedly plain but absolutely radiant, the traditional breaking of the wine glass by the groom, all to the moving strains (tears fill my eyes even now) of the immortal "Sunrise, Sunset" which asks the timeless question of every parent at their offspring's wedding...where has the time gone? how did my child grow up so quickly?
This film touchingly depicts the close knit village life (where everyone knows everyone else's business) but especially in relation to the threatening external forces, the pogroms of Pre Revolutionary Russia. Racial prejudice against these Jewish villagers is an ongoing theme, and nowhere is this more dramatically and touchingly revealed than at Tzeitel's wedding reception. I won't give away the details, but your emotional response will be outrage. It's a picture that's worth a thousand words. Lots of humor, too, especially in the interactions between Tevye and his devout, long-suffering wife, Golde. Now, this is a couple that knows the true meaning of love. For me, the funniest scene in this movie was the sewing machine, absolutely precious.
Wonderful music of course throughout. The "fiddler on the roof" plays his hauntingly beautiful strains, especially effective during the moving, emotional ending. All the songs in this picture are catchy but, unlike most ditsy musicals, also have deep meaning. Everyone seeing this movie at the theatre left humming the incomparable, lively "If I Were a Rich Man". In fact, they're probably humming it still.
If you haven't yet seen this musical...and you must be one of the few who haven't...then you absolutely MUST see it. Make sure your kids see it. It's just not acceptable to go through life without the benefit of Teyve's wisdom, and whether you can carry a tune or not, you'll be singing some of these songs in the shower for the rest of your life.