Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

I cannot vouch for the authenticity of Fiddler on the Roof, a nominee in 1971 for Best Picture, but its depiction of Jewish life in pre-revolutionary Russia is pretty spectacular. You get a sense, if the depictions are accurate (or even if they are just close), of what life must have been like for the peasants at that time. And, to go with it, you get some glorious songs, great singing and dancing, and a moral or two about the universal need to fall in love and be with the person you truly love.

The focus of the story is Tevye (played by Topol), a milkman with five daughters and a frustrated but sharp-tongued wife, Golde (played by Norma Crane). Much of the film deals with attempts to find suitable husbands for the couple's daughters; this is sort of a different take on the events of Pride and Prejudice, really. However, the daughters have other plans. When, for example, the matchmaker Yente shows up to say that she has found the perfect match for the oldest daughter (Tzeitel), Tevye and Golde have to contend with Tzeitel's earlier but secret pledge to marry the poor tailor, Motel. Motel is played by Leonard Frey, who is light years away from the character he played in The Boys in the Band.

Similar situations occur with two other daughters, much to the initial dismay of their parents. However, the film (and the musical upon which it was based) is so life-affirming and love-affirming. Tevye has several scenes where he is forced to rethink his way of understanding situations. This is all the more ironic given the opening number of "Tradition," in which he espouses a need to hold fast to the way things have always been done. Of course, hardly anything gets done in the traditional way during the course of the film, but that is perhaps the point. We have to grow and adapt and adjust.

You've undoubtedly heard many of the songs already, and there are some great ones here: "Matchmaker," "If I Were a Rich Man," "To Life," "Sunrise Sunset" (still such a moving song), and one of my favorites, "Do You Love Me?" That last song is sung between Tevye and Golde, who are only now realizing after 25 years of marriage and five children that they do, indeed, love each other. I was also moved by "Far from the Home I Love," sung by Hodel (Michele Marsh) to her father before she boards a train that will take her to her husband in Siberia. You'd have to be a very hard-hearted person not to feel some strong emotions in that moment.

The dancing is first-rate, particularly in the extended wedding sequence. The bottle dancers are just astounding. If you have seen the film, you know what I mean. If not, you should rent it just to see them. Don't worry; you'll certainly figure out who they are. There's also a pretty amazing sequence earlier in the film involving male Jewish and Russian dancers having a sort of "dance-off."

As a backdrop to all of the scenes of day-to-day peasant life and romance and such are the rumors of pogroms being carried out against various other Jewish villages in tsarist Russia. A "demonstration" at Tzeitel and Motel's wedding is the first direct sign of what is in store for the village. It is only at the end of the film that the Russians' plans for the Jews are made clear, yet the villagers pack up and plan for their futures in new places, including America. Even in the midst of tremendous degradation, they still are able to find a sense of hope. While it may sound like a happy ending, it's truly more of a melancholy one. You may have a sense that all will turn out okay, but you are still saddened by the depths to which people have sunk over the years to belittle their fellow human beings.