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Fiddler on the Roof (Special Edition)Rating:
Release Date: 02 October, 2001 Retail Price: $19.98 OUR Price: $13.77 You SAVE: $6.21! Cast: Complete Cast (7 total) |
Fiddler on the Roof (Special Edition) Reviews
A man who just wants to things not to change!!
Tradition!
That is the way Tevye(outstandingly protrayed by Topol) lives his life. A Jew living in Russia at the turn of the century, his life is anything but luxurious. A poor farmer barely scraping out a living with a wife who loves him and three daughters
Each of the daughters breaks one of the time honored traditions Tevye holds so dear. And the musical is about how he handles it. The ending is not a happy one.
It's called 'Fiddler on the Roof' because life is shaky, like a fiddler trying to maintain his balance on the roof. One slight shove and it all comes toppling down.
Excellent music and acting. My favorite scene was the dream sequence.
Acting was corney, storyline was racist against nonjews.
Fiddler on the Roof is based on several stories by Sholem Yakov Rabinovitsh, better known by his pen name as Sholom Aleichem. Sholom Aleichem is a resource for stories and historical data in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Sholom was born in the Ukraine and eventually left after the Czar instituted pogroms. The result was an influx of jews into New York in the early 20th century. The musical orbits around the life of Tevye the Milkman. From both Sholom's writings and the musical, as played by Chaim Topol, it is clear that Tevye is a model jew.
The musical paints an idealistic portrait of the jewish village. Everyone is working hard, studying hard and arranging marriages between sons and daughters and sometimes, daughters and old men. There is a concern about wealth since many of the people are poor merchants. The rabbi holds the community together. The momma and the papa are important symbols in yiddish life. The story is quite a contrast to the portrait offered by Isaac Bashevis Singer who wrote in "the Spinoza of Market Street" about "thieves, prostitutes, gamblers and fences" who loafed in the square. The latter is less idealistic.
Tevye the Milkman has five daughters. Of the three oldest ones, one is engaged to a communist, one marries an orthodox jew even though Tevye agreed she marry an old man, and the third marries a Russian without Tevye's approval. The latter marriage dissapoints him and he never forgives her for it. The racist hatred against nonjews is clearly demonstrated. This explains why the Czar had so much difficulty with dealing with jews. Sholom, who was a zionist, clearly approved of the resolve of the character Tevye had in building a wall between jews and nonjews. It is that mentality that built the wall in Israel dividing jews from Palestinians.
Eventually, the nice Russian officer tells Tevye to leave, and he embarks to New York with a host of other jews. This issue figured prominently in the zionist thinking of Sholom who resolved that jews cannot accept nonjews. Tevye is stubborn in his belief that for a jew to marry a nonjew is like "a bird falling in love with a fish. What kind of home can they have together?" Tevye allows tradition to be broken with regard to the communist proposing to his daughter outside of his permission, and without the assitance of a matchmaker. Tevye allows tradition to be broken at the dance when the men dance with the women. Tevye restates the saying that "times are changing." But, he refuses to accept a nonjew. His daughter is alarmed when he refers to Russians as animals or "goyem." The musical is quite informative for my interests and therefore is entitled to an additional star.
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