I am not generally a fan of musicals that have been adapted to the screen, but "Fiddler on the Roof" remains as one of the notable exceptions, thanks largely to the genius of director Norman Jewison ("In the Heat of the Night", "Moonstruck", "The Thomas Crown Affair, "Jesus Christ Superstar"), the endearing charm, vitality, and humanity of (Chaim) Topol, the ability of the rest of the cast to meet the elevated standard set by the lead, the innovative cinematography of Oswald Morris ("Lolita", "Oliver!", "The Entertainer", "Guns of Navarone") and the wonderful music, originally written by Jerry Bock and so capably adapted to the screen by John Williams.As to the excellent cast, note that there isn't one, single Hollywood superstar on the list, but they nevertheless succeed in creating one of the best musicals ever adapted to film and a movie that still survives on my list of favorites after many viewings. Personally, I would have loved to see Bea Arthur reprise her Broadway role as Yenta, but that's show business. Jewison's pick of Topol over Zero Mostel, however, was another one of his strokes of brilliance. Although Topol was mostly unknown outside of his native Israel, Jewison made a bold decision to cast him as Tevye, and this was only one example of the director's daring, innovative thinking that enhanced his directing and producing endeavors. He also agreed to cast Norma Crane as the female lead, Golde, who compliments Topol perfectly, even though I don't recall ever seeing her in a film other than her part as the mean and nasty town slut in "Tea and Sympathy" fifteen years earlier. Only Jewison had the ability to see her as "the perfect match" for Tevye. Right? Of course right!The story, based on the Yiddish short stories of Sholom Aleichem, is a familiar one for the Jewish people as they steadfastly struggle to hold to their traditions and values in the face of a rapidly changing environment that becomes increasingly hostile to their existence as both a religious and ethnic minority. As bad as conditions were for them during pre-revolutionary Russia and Ukraine, their situation would only worsen, especially when the Nazis came to power in Germany and conquered much of the rest of Europe only a few decades later.The fiddler in the play is a symbol of the perpetually precarious existence of Jews who have often depended upon the kindness of strangers throughout much of their thousands of years of history. Beyond the unique Jewish experience, the fiddler represents the universal fragility of all of our lives, regardless of our specific faith or ethnicity. Indeed, the uncertainties of life itself are like...they're like a fiddler on the roof!

I loved this movie! We get to learn more about the Jewish faith. And we get to see life from so many so many different points of view. From the Father, from the Mother, from each of the 3 oldest daughters and from their 3 beaus, and even from government agents.Talking points - which is easier, young love or love after 50 years of marriage? Which do you think you have to work at more? What do you think of arranged marriages? How were they better or worse than marriages when you choose your own spouse? In what ways is your religion important to you? How would you feel if a child of yours embraced another religion? Do you think it would be easy or hard to see your child get married? What would make it easier or harder? If someone thinks a law is wrong should they enforce that law? To whom do we owe our highest allegiance? Do husbands and wives sometimes disagree? Is that normal? In what ways is disagreement good or bad?

To celebrate my 1600th review for this site I turn to another of my favourite films. Like a number of other cinematic genres, such as the war film and the Western, the traditional Hollywood musical was to go into something of a decline in the late seventies, but the early part of the decade had seen two very fine examples, "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Cabaret". "Fiddler" is set in the Russian village of Anatevka in 1905. Actually, Anatevka is really two villages, one Jewish and one Christian, and there is little interaction between the two. Nearly all the main characters are drawn from the Jewish community.It amazes me that anti-Semites have sometimes attempted to brand Jews "rootless cosmopolitans", as Jewish communities have always struck me as very conscious of their roots, their traditions and identity. The film, like the Broadway musical on which it is based, can be seen as an exploration of the role of tradition in Jewish life. In the opening song, actually entitled "Tradition", the main character Tevye explains the importance of tradition to him and his neighbours. Several Jewish traditions, including a wedding and a Sabbath meal, are reproduced in the film.The film, however, also shows how the traditions which Tevye holds so dear are being challenged from within and threatened from without. Within Anatevka and the wider Jewish community the younger generation are starting to question the values which their parents have lived by. The threat from outside comes from state-sponsored anti-Semitism in the form of the pogroms. The film's title comes from a line of Tevye's; he compares the predicament of Russian Jews to that of a fiddler on the roof, desperately trying to keep his footing and to play a merry tune while in a precarious situation. Tevye intends this as a metaphor, but an actual fiddler appears in the film at various points.The story is a simple one. Tevye, a poor village milkman, and his wife Golde have five daughters but no sons. The three elder girls are all of marriageable age (the younger two are just children), and all three find husbands who, in one way or another, represent a breach with tradition. Tzeitel, the eldest, would rather marry her childhood sweetheart Motel, a poor tailor, rather than the wealthy but elderly widower found for her by the village matchmaker. Hodel, the second daughter, falls in love with Perchik, a politically radical student, and stands by him even when he is exiled to Siberia for his part in a demonstration. And the third daughter, Chava, wants to marry a Gentile. (Motel and Perchik are both Jewish). Marrying outside the faith is a step too far for Tevye, even though his love for his family has led him to give his blessing to Tzeitel and (rather reluctantly) to Hodel. He refuses Chava his permission to marry, and disowns her when she defies him by marrying her beloved in a Christian ceremony.There are a number of reasons why I have long regarded this as one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest, of all screen musicals. The first is that the songs (music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick) are very fine ones. They range from the rousing ("Tradition", "To Life!") to the deeply moving ("Sunrise, Sunset", "Far from the Home I Love") to the humorous ("Matchmaker, Matchmaker"), although the humour is sometimes rather dark. The song "If I Were a Rich Man", for example, contains some humorous descriptions of Tevye's imagined life if he were to become rich, yet is also a complaint addressed to the heavens against his poverty.The second reason why I love this film is the performance of Topol in the central role. Tevye is the dominant figure in the film, not only its main character but also its narrator, addressing the audience directly. Topol, only 36 at the time, was considerably younger than the part he was playing; Tevye, the father of three adult daughters, is probably supposed to be at least ten years older. The makeup department do a good job in making him look older, but Topol nevertheless brings a younger man's energy and vitality to the part, making a Tevye powerful, larger- than-life figure. He also has a fine singing voice. There are too many good supporting performances to mention them all, but I must single out Norma Crane as Golde, Leonard Frey as the timid Motel and a pre-"Starsky and Hutch" Paul Michael Glaser (here billed simply as "Michael") as the idealistic Perchik.My final reason for loving the film is the direction of Norman Jewison. (According to one story, he was only given the job because he was wrongly thought to be Jewish because of his surname). The original Broadway production was dominated by bright colours, inspired by the art of Marc Chagall, but the look of the film is much more realistic; the only time it veers into fantasy is during Tevye's dream sequence. (Location shooting actually took place in Yugoslavia, about the only part of Eastern Europe where American film crews would have been welcome in 1971). I think that this was the right decision; what works well on stage is not always the right choice in a film. Jewison's sombre photography helps to anchor the film in a particular place and time but also adds to its timeless appeal. The villagers of Anatevka are people we can identify with, who speak to us through the years about the problems of their own time and of ours. (Nobody can watch the film without being uncomfortably aware that in years to come the Jewish population of Eastern Europe were to suffer tribulations far worse than anything the Tsarist regime could devise). Jewison, Bock, Harnick and all those involved with the film invest it with the universality which is the hallmark of all great art. 10/10

...I would watch this every day. And, I do watch it a lot. It is an amazing musical and my personal favorite. Topol is fantastic! While i admit the ending is sad (when they leave Anatevka), it is totally realistic. The songs are amazing, and I listen to them all the time. "Tradition' is my favorite, but there are other good ones as well. The movie is really long, over three hours, so you will need to set aside time to watch it. It probably doesn't need to be as long, but that is my only complaint, What a great movie! Totally worth watching in my opinion. If you get the chance, watch it. Believe me you won't be sorry.