Official Synopsis (just in case you’re dim like me when it comes to classics)
This lavishly produced and critically-acclaimed screen adaptation of the Tony Award®-winning Broadway sensation tells the life-affirming story of Tevye (Academy Award®-nominee Topol, For Your Eyes Only), a poor but soulful milkman whose love, pride and faith help him face the oppression of turn-of-the-century Czarist Russia. Tevye and his wife Golde (Norma Crane, “1984”) attempt to arrange suitable marriages for their five strong-willed daughters in poignant—and often amusing—moments that celebrate life and love.
I find this movie extremely entertaining. The music is quite easy to fall in love with, as it is packed waith classic songs like ‘Matchermaker’ and ‘If I Were A Rich Man’. Not only that, but the music is also composed by Academy Award winning composer John Williams. This portion of the movie is so good that I’ve got the song ‘Tradition’ floating in my head as I’m typing this review. So to say that the music drives the film would be the understatement of the year. The soundtrack is nothing short of amazing and it sounds positively breathtaking on this Blu-ray disc (coming to you in 7.1 DTS-HD).
While I admit that the songs certainly are a powerful portion of the film, the story is not secondary by any means. The movie starts out with the song ‘Tradition’ and you will immediately understand two things:
1. Life is simplistic — the good folks love God, their families, hard work and good times.
2. Tradition is important — As Topol explains through song, Tradition keeps the town in check and working splendidly.
So with this set up at the beginning, it’s no surprise when certain elements start creeping into the peaceful town to disrupt and change everyone involved. Starting with the news that the Tzar’s troops have driven away an entire town to the emergence a of man named Perchik that is teaching change. On top of this, Tevye’s daughters have begun to separate from their traditional ways (such as finding husbands on their own instead of waiting for the matchmaker to help them). The looming idea of traditions changing and even disappearing is the underlying theme for the entire movie. This theme makes the story very interesting and it drives all the wonderful moments that appear. It creates wonderful tension, and sometimes some great comedic moments for Tevye. It also produces a very powerful ending that gives hope when all is lost for Tevye and his family.
Jewison did a great job of evenly directing the collapse of the world, as the process is very subtle. He knew where to put the songs, he knew were to put the plot points and it all flowed together just as well as the music the movie is known for. Fiddler on the Roof was so well done that you won’t realize it’s a musical (and if you do there’s nothing wrong with that either). Of course, Jewison’s decision-making and wonderful eye for creating a very contained world couldn’t have been done without the help of a good cast.
Most of them were unknowns, and most still are in comparison to traditional Hollywood big names. The main character Tevye is played by Topol (no last name needed), who actually has the biggest resume of every one. His commanding voice and father-like attributes made him the perfect man for the job. His supporting cast wasn’t that bad either, led by Tevye’s daughters played by Michele Marsh (Hodel), Rosalind Harris (Tzeitel) and Neva Small (Chava). Each brought a strong personality and a individual presence that played perfectly off of Topol’s Tevye. Of course, out of all the characters that got to butt heads with Tevye, Norma Crane’s Golde was the most fun to watch interact with the bearded beast. Watching Tevye and Golde yell at each other really drove home the fact that they were an ‘old’ married couple that had three daughters. Anyway, all of these roles were entertaining to watch in this story and worked perfectly.
So is the movie flawed in any way? God, no. This movie was perfectly put together and I dare anyone to say this classic is nothing short of perfect. It’s entertaining with its story and memorable for its music; you can’t beat that combination.
So what about the Blu-ray? Well, we already covered the audio; so let’s talk video. The video portion of the film is amazingly beautiful. While there are a scattered amount of moments in the 181 minute film that show some grain and artifact, this 1971 beauty is improved with the HD transfer. There are so many beautiful shots that deserve the graceful upgrade of high definition and they do shine on this Blu-ray. The opening shot of the movie with the fiddler playing on the roof as the sunsets is simply gorgeous. It’s much better than the DVD version, which is always the goal. It exceeds expectations and is worthy of a ’40th anniversary edition’ Blu-ray label. It looks very young in 1080p.
As for features, you get some great commentary from director Norman Jewison and Topol. You also get some featurettes from Jewison on his experience with the film (it’s broken up into small segments), which include him getting the job and what he did to prepare the Broadway play for the big screen. Other featurettes include interviews with the three daughters and some good featurettes on the music of the film. You get to see a wonderful segment with John Williams. The only disappointment I have with these features (and there are a lot) is that they are in SD. I am an HD snob and I do expect more than rehash. At the end of the day you still get some great features, especially if you have never watched them.
