Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof is a stage musical based on a collection of short stories written by Sholem Aleichem. These stories were collectively called Tevye the Dairyman or sometimes Tevye's Daughters, and centered on the character of Tevye, his wife, and his seven daughters. The stories proved immensely popular. Composer Jerry Bock, writer Joseph Stein, and lyricist Sheldon Harnick teamed up to adapt the stories into the musical play Fiddler on the Roof which debuted on Broadway in 1964. It has been performed in numerous countries throughout the world and has been translated into several languages. In 1971 it was further adapted into a critically successful movie that received a commanding eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, losing to the crime drama The French Connection. 

The eroding of long standing traditions is at the heart of Fiddler on the Roof, as embodied by each of the three eldest daughters of Tevye (Topol). The film opens with the rousing musical number “Tradition” which lays out the basics of what we should know about the Jewish life in the village of Anatevka in Tsarist Russia. Each part of the family gets a verse dedicated to their part in the family with the daughters’ verse stating: “And who does mama teach to mend and tend and fix. Preparing me to marry whoever papa picks.”  Throughout the course of the film each of Tevye’s three eldest daughters will go against that tradition. The first will refuse the rich husband chosen for her in favor of a poor tailor that she loves. The second child doesn’t even wait for a husband to be chosen for her but goes to her father and tells him she is getting married with or without his permission. The third daughter choses to marry outside the Jewish faith, a choice that will get her shunned by Tevye who, having broken with the traditions with both of the older daughters finds himself bent too far with this one and cannot accept her choice of a husband.

Tevye often breaks the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience or to God above to expound an inner monologue for the sake of the viewers. It not only allows us to understand his thoughts and frustrations but it endears us to him as many of these moments serve to humanize him and add a level of whimsy to his character. He may be a poor Jewish farmer in Russia during the early 1900’s but his wants in life are not unlike our own. He sings “If I Were a Rich Man,” and every lyric rings home even as we smile at the humor in that song. Then he turns this silly little number serious as he expounds that the best part would be to have more time to devote to his religious studies. He’s singing the song directly to God so he’s not lying in this declaration, believing that God knows his heart. 

The marriages of the daughters marks a steady progression of breaking with tradition. It’s justified by stating that the world is changing. For hundreds of years change has not come to Anatevka and now the outside world is creeping in. Yente, the matchmaker, matches the eldest daughter, Tzeitel (Rosalind Harris) to Lazar Wolf, a man much older than she, a prospect she won’t accept despite tradition stating she is to have no say in the matter. She has already chosen the man she wants to marry, Motel, a poor tailor, but he’s afraid to ask her father for her hand. When an agreement to marry Tzeitel to Lazar is accepted she pleads with her father to not force her to marry him. He loves his daughter and cannot bring himself to do this to her when she is so against it.

A young tutor, Perchik (Paul Michael Glaser), comes to the house of Tevye with ideas from the city of Kiev where traditions are no longer so rigorously followed. He instigates dancing between the men and the women during Tzeitel’s wedding, something even the Rabbi has to admit is not strictly forbidden in the scriptures. He leads protests in the streets of Kiev, protests that get him arrested. He also steals the heart of Hodel (Michele Marsh) who, after his arrest and imprisonment in Siberia, leaves the family to be near him while he serves his prison sentence. Her determination to marry Perchik puts Tevye in a bad position because he already broke tradition by allowing Tzeitel to marry Motel instead of the man that was chosen for her. Hodel’s insistence that they are to marry whether he agrees or not forces his hand and he once again breaks tradition for the sake of his daughter.

The third daughter’s decision is where Tevye finally cannot let his love for one of his daughters dictate his decision. When Chava (Neva Small) announces to him that she intends to marry Fyedka (Raymond Lovelock), a Christian, he forbids the marriage. He has a moment, much like the ones he had when the older daughters challenged the traditions, but this time it is too much and he refuses to budge. She marries Fyedka anyway and he cuts her off from the family, refusing to even talk to her anymore. “She is dead to us,” he tells his sobbing wife. He doesn’t relent from this within the film but does soften enough to offer the prayer of “God be with you,” as she leaves with Fyedka, never to see them again. He utters that little prayer but does so after she is out of earshot.

With the breaking of their traditions also comes the abandoning of their homes and ancestral lands. Persecution of the Jews has become more pronounced and the Russian government has escalated from vandalizing to forcing them to leave behind their homes. Every one of the Jews is given three days to sell what they can and be gone. They cannot stand against the military and thus they must leave. This long standing community that once danced with joy and happiness now is reduced to hand carts on a muddy road. The film opens with a fiddler on the roof representing the traditions of a proud people where one false step can bring him falling to the ground. It will end with the same fiddler playing music while following Tevye as he takes his family away from Anatevka. Tevye looks back at this fiddler, then gestures for him to come along, the two still together even as everything else has been forced from him.

Chaim Topol is Tevye for generations of fans of this film. He took over the role from Zero Mostel which was considered controversial at the time as Mostel was so beloved on stage. But Mostel was a stage actor, not a movie actor, and was considered too broad for film. Topol ended up being so popular in the role that he would go on to play Tevye on stage for years afterwards in ncluding in revival shows years later. His performance is just perfect. He’s a man who sees himself as the man of the house but has to scheme sometimes to get his wife on the same side as him. His phony dream to convince her to let Tzeitel marry Motel is hilarious. Later, when breaking news about Hodel he says it quickly, then flees the house in a feeble attempt to avoid his wife’s fiery temper. His love for his wife is one of his driving forces and the sweet song he sings her asking her if she loves him really cements just how different the generation he grew up in is from that of his daughters.

The music of Fiddler on the Roof is amongst the best ever written for a musical. There is not one song that isn’t great on this soundtrack. John Williams composed the score, adapting the music and themes from Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick. His orchestrations open up the film and drive the moments, both happy and sad. The celebratory moments are punctuated by a bombastic orchestration that highlights the native Russian dance choreography as well as the religious undertones. When things turn more introspective he is able to blend in melodies that sell those emotions, too. John Williams is amongst the greatest modern composers in film history and one of the most decorated, too. He would receive an Oscar for this film.

Fiddler on the Roof is amongst the greatest musicals of all time, period. It runs over three hours and yet feels like a movie half that length because of the amazing music, the story that is completely relatable, and the mesmerizing performance of Topol leading it all. Revisiting it after over twenty years I could still quote it, sing along with it, and remember every beat of the story. It’s the type of film that stays with you long after watching it. Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, it is one of just a few stage musicals that translated perfectly to the big screen and became a film that simply must be seen. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Norman Jewison

Best Director: Norman Jewison

Best Actor: Topol

Best Supporting Actor: Leonard Frey

Best Art Direction: Robert F. Boyle, Michael Stringer and Peter Lamont

Best Cinematography: Oswald Morris (won)

Best Music - Scoring Adaptation and Original Song Score: 

John Williams (won)

Best Sound: Gordon K. McCallum and David Hildyard (won)

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Release Date: November 3, 1971

Running Time: 181 Minutes

Rated G

Starring: Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon and Paul Mann

Directed By: Norman Jewison