Review of the DVD Fiddler on the Roof starring Topol:

Perhaps it is because I have five daughters myself, and that my three oldest have parallels to the three eldest in the musical, Fiddler on the Roof, that I really like this movie version and have such an affinity for the lead character Tevye.   My Tzeitel married someone that initially her mother and I had serious misgivings about but has turned out to be a great provider.  My Hodel followed her not-so-radical future husband to a “far-off” place called Texas.  I still remember standing in the front yard of our home and watching their car pass out of my sight, waving until I could see them no longer.  And my Chava, she married someone whose background was totally different from that of our family but who treats her well.  Each scene from the movie in which Teyve must break ever more increasingly with tradition to accommodate the wishes of his daughters, I relive the weakening of the traditional ties I had with my own.
Now there is more that I like about this movie than just being simpatico with Tevye.  The music is phenomenal. After seeing this film, what man has not found himself at least humming, if not outright singing, “If I Were a Rich Man.”  But there is more.  There is “To Life” which includes an incredibly energetic dance scene.  The bottles on the hats is amazing.  There is “Sunrise, Sunset” which was sung at my eldest daughter’s wedding.  There is “Sabbath Prayer”, “Do You Love Me”, and one that just tugs at the heart as this little Jewish community is forced to leave the only home they have ever known, “Anatevka.”
The pogroms of Czarist Russia on the cusp of the Bolshevik revolution would not seem like a good choice as the backdrop for a musical, but that is what we have with Fiddler on the Roof, and it works.  In fact, everything about the film adaptation of this popular Broadway musical works.  The cinematography, the choreography, the scenery,  the story,  but especially the characters.  From Tevye and Golda to the three eldest daughters and their beaus, to the ever-complaining matchmaker, Yente, and the rotund butcher, Lazar Wolf, to the subtle performances of the rabbi and Mendel the beggar, all are memorable. Little wonder that this movie received eight Academy Award nominations while winning three.
It is rare that there is a movie that has a great story with great performances that is thoroughly entertaining.  Fiddler on the Roof is one of the rarest.
“If I were a rich man,Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum. All day long I'd biddy biddy bum. If I were a wealthy man.  Ha!”
Reviewed by Richard Dick, Library Assistant, O’Kelly Memorial Library



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