Fiddler On The Roof: 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (1971/DVD-Video)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: B Film: B
After the
traditional musical was all but dead, Norman Jewison made a hit out of Joseph
Stein’s Fiddler On The Roof in 1971
and Stein even wrote the screenplay.
Adapted from the classic book Tevye’s
Daughters by Sholom (or Sholam) Aleichem, the story tells of how Tevye must
deal with an empty nest syndrome when they all want to marry. It is Russia before the Communist Revolution
and even in the face of anti-Semitism, Tevye goes about his job as a milkman.
It has
been a very long time since I watched this in its entirety and was never the
biggest fan of the film, but Jewison took advantage of a Rock aesthetic without
letting it become a Rock Opera when the soundtrack was recorded and it gives
the film an extra kick without betraying the naturalness he tries to retain in
the film. The other thing that makes the
film endure besides Jewison’s competent directing is the extraordinary performance
of Topol as Tevye, who often talks to the audience. He is as strong and dynamic here as Yul
Brynner was in The King & I and
in some ways, this is sadly the last of the long road
of Classical Hollywood and British Musicals.
The film
retains Jerome Robbins choreography and features classic songs like Matchmaker, Tradition, If I Were A Rich
Man and Sunrise, Sunset. Of course, the title refrain from If I Were A Rich Man became part of a
hit song by Gwen Stefani and many have no idea it comes from this musical. At 181 minutes, it is a long sit, but it pays
off and the only way this can be done well is with a leisurely pace. This is a top-rate production and especially
in an age of digital video, colorless junk and bad editing, the film gets
better with age. It may not be one of
the greatest Musicals ever made, but it is often close. Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon, Paul
Michael Glazer and Vernon Dobtcheff co-star with a very large cast.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image was shot in real anamorphic Panavision
by Oswald Morris, B.S.C., who was the cameraman on the Oscar-winning 1968
Musical Best Picture Oliver! You can see why they wanted him here. Though the film is credited as having color
by Deluxe, there were both 70mm blow-up film presentations and three-strip 35mm
dye-transfer Technicolor prints made.
The color here is not bad, but far from Technicolor and the softer
transfer looks like the older DVD transfer.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 is better than the three Dolby 2.0 Mono language options, mixed
from the original 70mm 6-track magnetic stereo with the older configuration of
five speakers behind the screen. That is
why it can be front-heavy a bit and there is some traveling dialogue and sound
effects. However, there is also good bass
sound and it is too bad this is not in DTS, but the Blu-ray should have
that. Music is by Jerry Bock with Isaac
Stern joining in on the recordings.
Extras
include a feature-length audio commentary by Director/Producer Norman Jewison
and lead actor Topol on DVD 1. DVD 2 has
Deleted Scene/Deleted Song - "Any
Day Now", Norman Jewison,
Filmmaker, Easter Egg - The Tale of the Beggar, interview with John
Williams: Creating a Musical Tradition featurette, interview with Tevye's
Daughters (with cast members), photo galleries, original theatrical trailer and
these additional featurettes: Historical
Background with Photographs by Ann Weiss, Norman Jewison Looks Back, Set
In Reality, Tevye's Dream in Full
Color, The Songs of Fiddler On The
Roof and The Songs Of Sholam Aleichem.
That is a
serious set of extras, but MGM is serious about giving this United Artists hit
the best possible treatment and this set delivers.
- Nicholas Sheffo
