Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Fiddler on the Roof
Directed by Norman Jewison
Written by Joseph Stein from stories by Sholem Aleichim
1971/USA
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Perchik: Money is the world’s curse.
Tevye: May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover.

This was better than I remembered from back in the day.  Great cast, beautiful images, beautiful songs, what more could you ask?

The setting is early 20th Century Russia, when progroms against Jews were causing a mass migration West.  Tevye (Topol) is a poor and pious milkman trying to support  his wife Golde and five growing daughters in the shtetl of Anatefka.  The eldest three are of age and the family is looking to arrange marriages to upstanding men who will not demand a dowry.  The local matchmaker tries to pair the eldest daughter Tzeitel with the local butcher Lazar Wolf, a 62-year-old widower.  Tevye agrees with the match but Tzeitel has already pledged herself to impoverished tailor Motel (Leonard Frey).

Tevye is somewhat of a softy and changes his mind.  But how to get Golde to agree? The next daughter falls for a revolutionary and Tevye blesses this union as well.  But when the youngest starts keeping company with a gentile, paternal impulses are stretched to the limit.  While all this domestic drama is going on, the local Russians are gradually making things in Anatefka intolerable for their Jewish neighbors.

This movie is three-hours long but it didn’t drag for me, always a good sign.  The recreation of the village is beautiful with all the weathered old faces lovingly captured.  The script is full of memorable quips and some of the songs have become classics.  My favorite part of the movie is when Tevye describes how Golde’s grandmother came to him in a dream with some strong advice.  Recommended.

Fiddler on the Roof won Oscars for Best Cinematography; Best Sound: and Best Music, Scoring Adaptation and Original Song Score.  It was nominated in the categories of Best Picture; Best Actor; Best Supporting Actor (Frey); Best Director; and Best Art Direction-Set Decoration.