Fiddler on the Roof is the 1971 American film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name. It was directed by Norman Jewison. The film won three Academy Awards, including one for arranger-conductor John Williams. It was nominated for several more, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Chaim Topol as Tevye, and Best Supporting Actor for Leonard Frey, who played Motel the Tailor (both had originally acted in the musical; Topol as Tevye in the London production and Frey in a minor part as Mendel, the rabbi's son). The decision to cast Topol, instead of Zero Mostel, as Tevye was a somewhat controversial one, as the role had originated with Mostel and he had made it famous.
Recording was done at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England. Most of the exterior shots were done in Croatia: in Mala Gorica, Lekenik, and Zagreb.
The film follows the plot of the stage play very closely, retaining nearly all of the play's dialogue and even adding a new scene showing Perchik being arrested, although it omits the songs "Now I Have Everything" and "The Rumor". ("I Have Heard") It takes place in the Jewish village of Anatevka in Tsarist Russia in 1905 and centers on the character of Tevye, a poor milkman, and his daughters' marriages. As Tevye says in the introductory narration, the Jews have relied upon their traditions to maintain the stability of their way of life for centuries; but as times change, that stability is threatened on the small scale by Tevye's daughters' wishes to marry men not chosen in the traditional way by the matchmaker, and on the large scale by pogroms and revolution in Russia. A newly intended song for Perchek was recorded, however, it was omitted from the final print due to it's unmemorable tune. When the film was re-released in the late 1970s, several minutes were omitted from the film, including the songs "Far From The Home I Love", and "Anatevka", therefore, disappointing many "Fiddler" fans.
Plot
The film centers on the family of Tevye (Topol), an Orthodox Jewish milkman in the village of Anatevka (probably in the Pale of Settlement) in Tsarist Russia, in 1905. Anatevka is broken into two sections: a small Orthodox Jewish section; and a larger Orthodox Christian section. Tevye notes that, "We don't bother them, and so far, they don't bother us."
The opening title sequence is shown, not right at the beginning of the film, but immediately after the first musical number, as in The Sound of Music. When Tevye says "Our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof", the camera pans to the fiddler, who, seated on the roof of Tevye's house, plays a three-minute medley of music from the film as the opening credits are shown.
Throughout the movie, Tevye breaks the fourth wall by talking at times directly to the audience or to the heavens (to God) for the audience's benefit. Much of the story is also told in musical form.
Tevye is very poor despite working hard, as are most of the Jews in Anatevka. He and his wife, Golde (Norma Crane), have five daughters, and cannot afford a dowry to marry them off. Life in the shtetl of Anatevka is very hard and Tevye speaks not only of the difficulties of being poor but also of the Jewish community's constant fear of harassment from their non-Jewish neighbours.
The film begins with Tevye explaining to the audience that what keeps the Jews of Anatevka going is the balance they achieve through obedience to their ancient traditions. He also explains that the lot of the Jews in Russia is as precarious as a fiddler on a roof: trying to eke out a pleasant tune while not breaking their necks. The fiddler appears throughout the film as a metaphoric reminder of the Jews' ever-present fears and danger. While in town, Tevye meets Perchik (Michael Glaser), a student with modern religious and political ideas (clearly a Marxist). Tevye invites Perchik to live with him and his family in exchange for Perchik tutoring his daughters.
Through Yente the matchmaker, Tevye arranges for his oldest daughter, Tzeitel (Rosalind Harris), to marry Lazar Wolf (Paul Mann), a wealthy butcher. However, Tzeitel is in love with her childhood sweetheart, Motel (Leonard Frey) the tailor, and begs her father not to make her marry the much older butcher. Tevye reluctantly agrees. To get Tzeitel out of her previous engagement, Tevye pretends to have a nightmare, which he tells to Golde. In the nightmare, he says that Golde's deceased grandmother Tzeitel told him that Tzeitel is supposed to marry Motel, as it was decided in heaven. Also in the nightmare, Lazar Wolf's late wife Fruma-Sarah warns Tevye that if Tzeitel marries Lazar, she will come and kill Tzeitel after three weeks of marriage. Golde concludes the dream as message to be followed from their ancestors, and Tzeitel and Motel arrange to be married.
Meanwhile, after one of Perchik's lessons with Bielke and Shprintze (the youngest of Tevye's daughters), Tevye's second daughter Hodel (Michèle Marsh) mocks Perchik's Marxist interpretation of the Bible story he told the two. He, in turn, criticizes her for hanging on to the old traditions of her religion. He tells her that the world is changing. To illustrate this, he dances with her, because the opposite sexes dancing together is considered forbidden to the Orthodox Jews. The two are shown to be falling in love, and Perchik tells Hodel that they just changed an old tradition.
Later, at Tzeitel and Motel's wedding, an argument breaks out between the guests over whether a girl should be able to choose her own husband. Perchik addresses the crowd and says that since they love each other it should be left for the couple to decide. He creates further controversy by crossing the barrier between the men and women and asking Hodel to dance with him. The two begin to dance, and gradually, the crowd warms up to the idea—with Tevye and Golde joining, then Motel and Tzeitel. The wedding then proceeds with great joy. Suddenly, the military presents in the town or the constable arrive and begin a pogrom, attacking the Jews and their property.
Later, as Perchik prepares to leave Anatevka to work for the revolution, he proposes to Hodel and she accepts him. When they tell Tevye, he is furious that they have decided to marry without his permission, and with Perchik leaving Anatevka, but he eventually relents because they love each other. This time, Tevye tells Golde the truth - and as a side effect, is prompted to re-evaluate their own 25-year arranged marriage and relationship. Weeks later, when Perchik is arrested in Kiev for protesting and is exiled to Siberia, Hodel decides to travel to join him there. She promises Tevye that she and Perchik will be married under a canopy there.
Not long after that, Tzeitel and Motel become parents, and Motel finally buys the sewing machine for which he has long scrimped and saved. By now they are becoming, in their own right, respected members of the community, and a close, almost father-son relationship is developing between Motel and Tevye—who not so long ago had scorned Motel as a nobody.
Meanwhile, Tevye's third daughter, Chava (Neva Small), has fallen in love with a young Russian—and Orthodox Christian—man, Fyedka (Raymond Lovelock). She eventually works up the courage to ask Tevye to allow her to marry him. Horrified, Tevye forbids her to see him again, but they elope and are married in a Russian Orthodox church. In a soliloquy, Tevye concludes that he cannot accept Chava marrying a non-Jew, in effect abandoning the Jewish faith, and he disowns her.
Finally, the Jews of Anatevka are notified that the Russian government will force the Jews to leave the village; they have three days to pack up and leave. Tevye and his family and friends begin packing up to leave, heading for New York, Chicago, Israel, and various other places. Just before the closing credits, Tevye spots the fiddler and motions to him to come along, and the film ends with the fiddler following Tevye down the road, playing the "Tradition" theme.
Soundtrack
- Chaim Topol - Prologue & Tradition & Main Title
- Rosalind Harris, Michèle Marsh & Neva Small - Matchmaker, Matchmaker
- Chaim Topol - If I Were a Rich Man
- Chaim Topol & Norma Crane - Sabbath Prayer
- Chaim Topol & Paul Mann - To Life
- Leonard Frey - Miracle of Miracles
- Chaim Topol, Norma Crane, Rosalind Harris, Patience Collier & Ruth Madoc - Tevye's Dream
- Chaim Topol , Norma Crane, Paul Michael Glaser & Michèle Marsh - Sunrise, Sunset
- Chorus & Orchestra - Wedding Celebration & the Bottle Dance
- Chaim Topol & Norma Crane - Do You Love Me
- Chaim Topol & Michèle Marsh - Far From the Home I Love
- Chaim Topol - Chava Ballet Sequence (Little Bird, Little Chavelah")
- Chaim Topol, Norma Crane, Paul Mann, Molly Picon, Barry Denin & Shimen Rushkin - Anatevka
- Chorus - Finale
Roadshow presentation
Because the movie follows the play so closely, and the play did not have an overture, the filmmakers chose to eliminate the customary film overture played before the beginning of most motion pictures shown in a roadshow style presentation. However, there is an intermission featuring ent'racte music, and exit music is played at the end after the closing credits.
Cast
Awards
The film won three Academy Awards and two Golden Globes in 1971.[1] It won Academy Awards for Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound. It also won Golden Globe's "Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy)" category, and "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy" for Topol's acting.
References
External links
