Fiddler on the Roof (film)
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| Fiddler on the Roof | |
 Movie poster by Bill Gold |
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| Directed by | Norman Jewison |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Norman Jewison |
| Written by | Sholem Aleichem Joseph Stein |
| Starring | Chaim Topol Norma Crane Leonard Frey Molly Picon Paul Mann Rosalind Harris Michèle Marsh Neva Small |
| Music by | Jerry Bock Lyrics Sheldon Harnick Conduction John Williams |
| Cinematography | Oswald Morris |
| Editing by | Antony Gibbs Robert Lawrence |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | November 3, 1971 |
| Running time | 181 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English Hebrew |
| Budget | $9,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | $98,300,000 |
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 as Tevye instead of Zero Mostel 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". 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.
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[edit] 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 neighbors.
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 go 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), Hodel 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 when he asks Tevye's daughter Hodel (Michèle Marsh) to dance with him, crossing the barrier between the men and women. Eventually, the crowd warms up to the idea and the wedding proceeds with great joy. Suddenly, a mob of local peasants 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. 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.
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 variously for New York, Chicago, Palestine, and other places they know nothing about. 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.
[edit] Roadshow presentation
Because the film 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.
[edit] Cast
- Chaim Topol as Tevye
- Norma Crane as Golde
- Leonard Frey as Motel Kamzoil
- Molly Picon as Yente
- Paul Mann as Lazar Wolf
- Rosalind Harris as Tzeitel
- Michèle Marsh as Hodel
- Neva Small as Chava
- Paul Michael Glaser as Perchik (as Michael Glaser)
- Raymond Lovelock as Fyedka
- Elaine Edwards as Shprintze
- Candy Bonstein as Bielke
- Shimen Rushkin as Mordcha
- Zvee Scooler as Rabbi
- Louis Zorich as Constable
[edit] 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.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Fiddler on the Roof at the Internet Broadway Database
- Fiddler on the Roof at the Internet Movie Database
- Fiddler on the Roof at Allmovie
- Fiddler on the Roof at Box Office Mojo
- Fiddler on the Roof at the TCM Movie Database
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