Rendezvous with the fiddler
Set in the small village of Antevka in Russia, the film, ‘Fiddler On The Roof’, narrates the efforts of Jews to cope with their existence under the harsh Tsarist rule. In the same village lives Tevye, a poor milkman with his wife and five daughters. He is also the narrator of the story. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and has been described as the ‘best music film ever made’.
Catchy songs like If I Were A Rich Man, and Sunrise, Sunset justify these claims. Tevye, a Jew by religion, struggles to keep up with his tradition but at the same time lets his daughters marry their beloved.He discards the Jewish tradition as per which only a matchmaker can find a husband for a girl. As all his efforts to remain in the village, where he is raised, fails and he leaves for America with his family. As he leaves, the fiddler on the roof plays violin and follows them out of the village.
“The music is the lifeline of this film and the photography is excellent. I fully agree that this is the best film I have ever come across. Though the film has so many songs, we never feel it is overburdened with music. The dialogues are punchy and evoke laughter. It is really worth to watch this movie,” said Shwetha, a movie buff, present on the occasion. The film not only deals with young love which comes in the way of family tradition, it effectively discloses the injustice a man can do on another man. By exiling the Jews from their village, the Tsars had nothing to gain. Still, they failed to live in harmony with the other community. “The same situation prevails today also. We should learn to live and let others live,” said Sampath, after watching the movie.