Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 1971 | 181 mins. | G
Opening in September of 1964, the Harold Prince production of Fiddler on the Roof was inarguably one of the most beloved stage musicals of the second half of the 20th century. Based on a series of short stories by Ukranian writer Sholom Aleichem (the “Jewish Mark Twain”), the original musical ran for an astounding 3,242 performances. More than seven years later, when director Norman Jewison’s screen version was released, millions around the world were already familiar with the story of Tevye and his family.
An epic musical, Fiddler on the Roof features a solid plot, deals with a serious subject and features and ending that can’t be considered completely happy. Using the impending Russian Revolution as a backdrop, the film becomes a somber reflection of how the passage of time can quickly erase centuries-old traditions and history.
The story takes place around 1905, in the town of Anatevka, in Tsarist Russia. It’s a time of great unrest, due to rising anti-Tsarist sentiment (which would lead to the Revolution), and the approach of World War One. It is under these conditions that Jews are clinging to their long held traditions. One of the most important, is the means by which Jews have been married: a matchmaker chooses a wife for a man, the girl’s father approves the match, and the ceremony is held. That’s how Tevye (Topol) and his wife, Golde (Norma Crane), were united, and that’s how the hard-working milkman believes his five daughters should find their husbands. But Tzeitel (Rosalind Harris) has more modern ideas. She rejects Tevye’s selection of a mate, the wealthy butcher Lazar Wolf (Paul Mann), in favor of her childhood sweetheart, the poor tailor Motel (Leonard Frey). Reluctantly, Tevye eventually agrees to her choice, but, in doing so, he acknowledges the freedom of all his children. Subsequently, his second daughter, Hodel (Michele Marsh), decides to marry a young revolutionary, Perchik (Paul Michael Glaser). And Tzeitel and Hodel’s younger sister, Chava (Neva Small), falls in love with a non-Jew by the name of Fyedka (Raymond Lovelock). This is one match that Tevye cannot tolerate, and warns of dire consequences if Chava goes through with the marriage.
During his opening monologue, in which Tevye appears to be speaking directly to the audience, he likens his life in Anatevka to that of a fiddler making music on the roof. While poverty can be endured, a Cossack attack cannot. It’s clear that the people in this small town feel like nothing short of a miracle will save them from being torn apart by war.
Despite the solid story, as with any musical, the focus never strays far from the songs, and Fiddler on the Roof contains a number of instantly recognizable tunes, from the lively and uplifting “Tradition,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” and “To Life” to the delightful “Matchmaker” and the sublime “Sunrise, Sunset.” In all, the film contains more than a dozen songs.
Topol is excellent as Tevye. He looks completely comfortable throughout, and perhaps that’s because he was already familiar with the role, having played it in London and Tel Aviv productions. His performance, which garnered him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, is deeply human, and provides the glue that hold the movie together.
Topol is aided by an international cast of fine supporting performances. Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, and Neva Small play Tevye’s three oldest daughters and the late Norma Crane is his wife. Leonard Frey (Boys in the Band) brought his interpretation of the lovestruck-but-timid Motel from Broadway to the screen. The respected Molly Picon took on the key role of Yente, the matchmaker, and Paul Mann is the bug-eyed Lazar Wolf. Finally, Paul Michael Glaser, who would go on to become a TV star (as Starsky in “Starsky and Hutch”), is Perchik, who represents the biggest change to Tevye and his family’s traditions.
Fiddler on the Roof isn’t a perfect picture—at just over three hours, it’s too long, and there are some instances where the songs are obviously lip synched—but overall this is a solid, enjoyable production. Norman Jewison obviously took great care in capturing every detail. The cinematography (by Oswald Morris, who won an Oscar) is gorgeous, starting with a glorious sunrise over Anatevka and concluding with a long-distance view of Tevye and his family silhouetted against a slate-gray sky. It’s easy to see why the film version of Fiddler on the Roof continues to endure, forty years after its release.
Fiddler on the Roof looks better here than I’ve ever seen it on a home theater setup. There are a few things to mention. Some details remain hazy,, some inconsistencies in the transfer print, but for the most part, this is a sizable BD upgrade. Color quality is particularly impressive, with bold yellows and oranges coming through just as cleanly as more delicate flesh tones, and black levels are inky from start to finish.
This DTS-HD 7.1 mix really exploits the surround setup, but the rest of the film is still pretty front-centered. The movie was originally designed for a 6-track presentation, so to call this a simple mono mix is to undermine it, but even with surrounds kicking in more frequently than in most other movies from Fiddler‘s period, this track is pretty cut-and-dry. Dialogue sounds fine, effects and atmospherics are well-defined. With as much fidelity and exploitation of dynamic range as one could hope, Fiddler may not stun as a whole on this lossless track, but its music sounds awesome.
A French DTS 5.1 track is included, as are a Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0 mix and English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
We get the following special features:
- Commentary by Jewison and Topol obviously recorded separately, but is well edited and provides wonderful information about the background of the piece, as well as the filming which took place largely in Yugoslavia.
- Norman Jewison Filmmaker (SD; 49:33) is a vintage featurette from the time of the film’s production and looks at some of the challenges of filming on location in a foreign country.
- Norman Jewison Looks Back is a set of shorter snippets devoted to various subjects. These include On Directing (SD; 3:28) where Jewison recounts how he got the Fiddler assignment; Strongest Memory (SD; 00:57) where Jewison talks about the people of Yugoslavia; Biggest Challenge (SD; 1:11), devoted to the ever changing weather; On Casting (SD; 1:20) an interesting dissertation on why Zero Mostel would have never worked for the film version; and A Classic? (SD; 2:34), where Jewison talks about the universality of Fiddler‘s themes despite its Jewish focus.
- Tevye’s Dream in Color (SD; 5:56), with Jewison introduction, presents the sequence, which is presented largely desaturated in the final film version, in its original version.
- Side By Side Comparison (SD; 1:39) offers a split screen look at the dream sequence, sliced into desaturated and original color halves.
- John Williams: Creating a Musical Tradition (SD; 11:32) focuses on the iconic composer, who acted as adapter, conductor and co-orchestrator of the film version of Fiddler.
- Songs of Fiddler on the Roof (SD; 14:43) interviews with original collaborators Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.
- Deleted Song: Any Day Now (SD; 3:07). a song which was meant to introduce Perchik. It’s presented here via a Bock demo (replete with orchestra), set to clips and stills from the film.
- Tevye’s Daughters (SD; 16:28) is a nice retrospective featuring the three actresses who played Tevye’s eldest girls. Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh and Neva Small are all interviewed and remember what it was like to be cast and then work on the film.
- Set in Reality: Production Design (SD; 9:50) looks at the incredible production design of Robert Boyle.
- Storyboard to Film Comparison (SD; 21:04) features several musical sequences.
- Trailers, Teasers and TV Spots
- Standard Definition DVD copy of the film
