I have always been skeptical of making Broadway hits into films. It seems that far too often, what works so well on the stage doesn’t always translate well to film. They are two very different mediums both for the actors as well as the audience. Far too often, too many changes have to be made to the script and the overall presentation to make the play work for the big screen. In doing so, some of the magic of the play, especially if you have seen it live, is lost. One of the exceptions to this rule is the subject of this review, Fiddler On The Roof, which takes on a whole new dimension on the silver screen.
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I am sure that all of you know just a tad about this film even if you have never seen it or have even heard about it. We all know the opening lines of ‘if I were a rich man, da da deed dum, da da dee da daddle dum….” and have all heard the song “Sunrise Sunset” one place or the other. However, Fiddler On The Roof is so much more and is a very deep and moving film.
The film is set in the Ukraine in Zarist Russia in 1905. The film takes place in the small jewish village of Anatevka and follows Tevye, his wife Golde and their 5 daughters. Tevya is played by Topol (nominated for best Actor for his work in the film) who was in the same role in the play as it played in London, with Zero Mostel in that role in New York. Teyva is the central character in the play. He is a milkman in this very small and very poor village who is looking to marry off his oldest daughter to the rich and much older butcher in town. However, something intervenes in this plan, namely the 20th Century and the concept on romantic love.
It seems that Tevya’s oldest daughter wants to marry for love and does not want to accept the prior tradition of arranged marriages. In fact, the tensions between the old traditions and new ways of the 20th Century are what is at the heart of the film, from romantic love to the use of modern machinery to interfaith marriages, it is all covered here, all set against the backdrop of a small traditional and orthodox Jewish village. It is not just Tevya and his family that are caught up in the turmoil of change but the entire town too as the film is also set against the background of the Russian revolution. The end of traditions indeed.
What makes this film so special for me is that they were able to take the play off stage, keep most of the dialogue intact and place you in the town with the family, to give you a glimpse of what it must have been to live in the town at that time. The acting and writing is superb as are the songs and orchestrations by John Williams. The acting, direction, sets and music here are all top notch and well worth a look. if you haven’t seen this film, do yourself and favor and do so.
If you have already seen the film, see it again. A bit of warning, it is a long film and is broken into two acts. You may want to break up your viewing of the film into two nights. Check it out, you will be glad you did. This film is very highly recommended.
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I was more than happy with the look of the film. The film has a very natural looking color palette. Where it falls a bit short, is in the level of detail and blacks levels. The film, like too many films of its vintage (in this case 1971) is a bit soft. As a result, fine facial detail and background details are lacking in all but the extreme closeups. Black levels are also a bit inconsistent and never deep and inky. At best, they are a dark gray. As a result, the image lacks a bit of depth. However, the film otherwise looks quite nice and pleasing to the eye. The print looks to be in excellent shape as well and has undergone an very nice restoration for this 40th Anniversary release of the film. The look of the film on Blu-ray should more than please fans of the film.
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The audio here is presented in a 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio mix. Given the age of the film and the overall original sound design of the film, I found this to be rather surprising. The film is very front heavy with sparse use of the surrounds. Given this fact, a 5.1 mix would have been more than adequate and a 7.1 mix, simply overkill, adding little to the overall audio presentation of the material.
The overall fidelity of the recorded sound is quite good, sounding full, rich and warm. Dynamics are good but no where near reference. The dialogue track is well recorded and placed in the mix although it did appear to me that there were small sync issues with the recording of the songs which did not always match up properly with the picture. This was rare and very very minor but noticeable enough for me to check my system to make sure it was functioning properly. In case you are wondering, it was. The orchestrations here by John Williams sound great with a wonderful warm and rich sound that I found to be very pleasing. If you are looking for a totally immersive sound experience with room rattling dynamics, Fiddler On The Roof is not the film for you. However, given the age of the film and its original sound design, I found the audio here to be more than presentable.
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The extras here are fairly extensive, although it appears to me that most were ported over from the prior DVD release of the film.
- Audio commentaries by director Norman Jewison and Topol as well as a look at Norman Jewison as a film maker.
- Retrospective interview with Norman Jewison about the film entitled Norman Jewison Looks back which I might add I found rather informative.
- Interview with John Williams about the musical score entitled “John Williams: Creating a Musical Tradition” which I also found to be interesting. There is a look at the songs featured in the film entitled quite appropriately “Songs of Fiddler On The Roof”.
- One deleted song from the film “Any Day Now” which features the actual recording of the song with pictures of the actors singing given that the filmed sequence has been lost.
- A look at the three actresses who played Tevye’s three oldest daughters in the film including interviews with each.
- Set designs and locales for the film as well as a story board to film comparison.
- Teyve’s dream sequence with a comparison between the live color footage that was compared directly side by side on screen to the desaturated almost black and white footage that was actually included in the film.
- The remaining extras consist of trailers and TV sports for the film.
Fiddler On The Roof is a two disc combo pack and also contains a DVD copy of the film as well. If you are a fan of the film, there is quite a bit to go through here with most of it being quite interesting and informative and well worth your time.
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Fiddler On The Roof is a great film that has more than withstood the test of time. The film has never looked or sounded better in the home than it does on this release and is a worthy addition to the collection of any serious film fan and is very highly recommended.
