Last month, a group of our friends got together to watch this great classic movie: Fiddler on the Roof. To tell you the truth, I've watched this movie 5 or 6 times already and counting. This film was produced back in 1971. It seems to be an old classic, but today, you see this movie played in Broadway shows over and over again. People just love this old classic. Whenever this movie is played as a drama in my local playhouse theatre, I always go and watch these live performances.
The movie is actually based on Sholoam Aleichem’s book on Tevye and His Daughters, which was originally written in Yiddish back in 1894.
The message of this movie is so good. Every word counts. Not a word is wasted! This is the main reason why you see high school and art school classes pushing their students to re-enact the film over and over again. Once, I got nominated to play the role of the eldest daughter. It was a blast!
Imagine, this is a movie that is 3 hours long!
And you are probably wondering how the movie keeps your attention for so long without falling asleep. The conversations that go on between people are what makes the movie flow and flow. There is no time for you to doze off. On top of this, it is actually a musical drama. There are lots of music and dancing that at one point, I wanted to go out there to the stage to dance also! That is how involved you can get watching this movie.
And so the movie begins with this musical phrase: TRADITION ... TRADITION!
For those of you who know this movie, I can almost hear you singing those 2 words.
The story focuses on Tevye. the poor Jewish father, who tries to keep up with the status quo of what is expected of him from his family and friends. He works hard to support his family in a small town, Anatevka at the western edge of the Russian Tsarist empire which is now known as Ukraine. He is a simple dairyman. He tries to be a good Jew maintaining the cultural traditions such as the keeping of Sabbath and to raise the family to embrace Jewish faith and heritage.
You see him posing his questions to God.
He is actually praying you know, but with eyes open so that you can see how he relates to his God.
The producer Norman Jewison does a super job in picking the right man to play this role.
Right at the beginning of the movie, you are drawn into the thoughts of this man. I am a firm believer that a lot of time needs to be crafted in setting the stage of the movie. The producer has done a super job on this. If the beginning of a movie does not drive your curiosity to watch, you best just pack it in and not waste your time.
After talking to God, Tevye turns around talking to you.
He is asking deep-seated questions: “We always keep our heads covered. That is tradition.”
He is struggling with his role as a father: “Who does Mama teach to mend and tend and fix, preparing me to marry whoever Papa picks?"
It is their TRADITION that the father picks the right man for their girls to marry! This is how they always function in the village.
Of course, the parents want to pick someone who is rich for their girls so that they have a good life, and so they thought . . .
Tevye discovers that there's actually a lot more to marriage than money!
The eldest daughter wants to marry for love. But the mother found a matchmaker for her to marry the town butcher who is old enough to be her father. The butcher has money. The butcher has food on the table for her girl every day. But the butcher is old.
The daughter said: "he has no hair!"
The mother said: "If you want hair, go and marry a monkey!"
Ha ha . . . Very funny indeed.
And so you see these struggles that go on between 3 eldest daughters with their parents as they need to fight their way out of TRADITION.
And you see Tevye dancing all the time time to fight his way out of TRADITION!
Look how FREE he becomes when he embraces new ideas from the outside world!
And so the beginning of the storyline is very captivating to show how Tevye is forced to change as he listens to his daughters. It seems that it gets worst and worst for Tevye to accept the non-tradition thinking of his daughters but he manages to stay afloat.
At least the first daughter asked his father not to make her marry the butcher and also gracious enough to ask permission from the father to marry the tailor she loves. At least the tailor is a Jew. He is just a poor tailor.
The second daughter falls in love with an educated revolutionary and she doesn't even ask for permission from his father to marry this guy. She has decided on her own. "TRADITION, TRADITION!" Tradition does not allow that! Tevye has to wrestle with his pride and conscience that young people can be so 'daring' to act on their own without consensus. In the end, he supports his daughter.
The third daughter chooses her path and falls in love with a local Christian man. Knowing that her parents would not approve, she runs away. How DARING! In Tevye's mind, this daughter is dead. "TRADITION, TRADITION!". It is all against his Jewish beliefs and stand points. He cannot break away from his tradition and disowns this daughter.
And as the story unfolds, Tevye begins to realize that the outside world has different ideas. The younger generation needs to pursue a new world.
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical with music by Jerry Bock and lyrics written by Sheldon Harnick. As you watch the movie, pay attention to the words of the lyrics also. The message here is as powerful as the conversations that occur in the movie.
I love the song Sunrise Sunset! "What happened to that little girl that used to . . . " I am sure these words echo the hearts of many fathers.
I want to cry!
Next time when you have a family gathering and needs entertainment, watch this movie together. It is more FUN watching in a big group than to watch it alone by yourself. The fun is in the song, the dancing, and yes ... ask: What is the Fiddler on the Roof doing there?
You want to know?
Watch the movie this weekend.
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