Fiddler on the Roof DVD MGM/UA, 2001 Fiddler on the Roof: 30th Anniversary Edition EMI, 2001   Reviewed by Tony Buchsbaum	I've seen it perhaps 20 times, and still I get chills. I think it's got something to do with the way Topol -- as Tevye the milkman in Fiddler on the Roof -- moves his upper body as he dances along a dirt road, followed by his lazy horse, singing "Tradition" amid various montages of Jewish totemic imagery, boys and girls and husbands and wives going about their daily business, and other momentary jewels. Topol does a similar jig in the barn, again with that horse, when he sings "If I Were a Rich Man." These are Moments in the history of Hollywood, up there with "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn," "My name's Bond, James Bond," "Hello, gorgeous," and "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." Moments like these are what we see movies for, and movies that have moments like these last forever. As it happens, Fiddler on the Roof has lasted only about 30 years on film, so far. And that anniversary is being celebrated on both DVD and CD, with the release of spiffed up editions of the film and its celebrated musical score. The special edition DVD (MGM Home Entertainment 1002566) is a treasure chest of materials, and the film itself is just the first verse of the Torah, as it were. The film has been beautifully restored. The colors are as vibrant as the day they were shot, and the film comes alive in ways even its makers couldn't have foreseen all those years ago. Presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio (that is, in widescreen), every inch of director Norman Jewison's work has been preserved. The soul of Fiddler is, of course, Topol, the gifted Israeli actor who made Tevye his own, not an easy feat after Zero Mostel's triumph in the role on Broadway. Topol brings incredible vitality to the part, acting as much with his eyes as with his voice. If acting is subtext, then Topol is a genius. Mostly, it is his conversations with God that tell us more about Tevye than anything else. Slowly, throughout the film, Tevye's devotion to God -- to tradition -- is challenged, as each of his three eldest daughters find young men to marry. Tzeitel (played by Rosalind Harris) wants to marry a poor tailor, Motel (Leonard Frey); Hodel (Michele Marsh) wants to marry Perchik (Michael Glaser, later of TV's Starsky and Hutch), a loudmouthed revolutionary; and Chava (Neva Small) wants to marry Fyedka (Raymond Lovelock), a Gentile Russian boy. Neither choice is what Tevye or his wife Golde (Norma Crane) would choose for them, and it is the interplay of their father's initial defiance and eventual acceptance -- as well as his longing for each girl's happiness -- that gives the film its heart and power. Yes, it's a Jewish-themed film, but at a more important level, it's a human-themed film -- about parents and children, fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, individuals and cultures and what is expected of both in relation to the other. Probably the most famous scene -- if the opening with "Tradition" isn't it -- is the wedding of Tzeitel and Motel. Musically, the scene's centerpiece is the classic "Sunrise, Sunset," and after that there is the famed bottle dance, in which a half-dozen black-jacketed dancers place tall wine bottles in their hats, on their heads, and dance intricate, dramatic steps that kick up the dust and the emotions in just about anyone who's ever seen it. The number was the brainchild of director/choreographer Jerome Robbins, who created it for the Broadway stage. Jewison lifted it for the film and gives Robbins all the credit in his insightful commentary track. Fiddler is filled with comedy, heartfelt drama, and almost indescribable beauty and tragedy, especially when the cast is forced to abandon the little village of Anatevka at the end of the film. These people may never see each other again, and not just families, but people within families. Will Tevye and Golde ever see Hodel and Perchik again? What about Chava and Fyedka? Fiddler was brave enough (and smart enough) to end without providing all the answers, but it doesn't spare the viewer the awful knowledge that, as winter has descended on Anatevka, an even colder season is about to arrive in the form of Hitler's reign over most of Europe. Not only will most of these people not see each other again, most will not survive what's just around the corner. The DVD is loaded with extras that are designed to augment the experience of the film. Norman Jewison and Topol provide a commentary track that runs the length of the film. Both offer keen insights into the lengthy production, and they are often laugh-out-loud funny. Especially interesting is the fact that Jewison is not, as many people assume, Jewish. But he might as well be, bringing as he does the complex sensibilities of someone who understands Torah and Jewish law and Jewish culture to the film. Even more fun to learn is that Topol was only 35 when he made Fiddler, playing a man in his 50s. In the late 1980s, Topol played Tevye again in a touring stage production that I saw in New Orleans. His wife Golde was played by Rosalind Harris, who'd played Tzeitel in the film. In the intervening years, Topol had become Tevye's age and Harris had become his wife's. The DVD also includes Michael Glaser (later Paul Michael Glaser) singing "Any Day Now," a song recorded for the film but cut from it before filming began. Norman Jewison presents an historical perspective on the film, complete with many archival photographs, and he reads two of the original Sholem Aleichem stories the film is based on. There is the full-color version of Tevye's Dream, a sequence which had its color desaturated in the film. There is also a generous set of production stills, as well as a gallery of the various marketing materials used to sell the film, including poster art from perhaps a dozen countries and an interactive version of the lavish full-color program that was distributed during the film's first run. Fiddler's music from the film was adapted from the stage version by composer John Williams, who at the time was just on the verge of his massive breakthrough in Hollywood. In quick succession after Fiddler he would compose scores for The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, Jaws, Star Wars, and Close Encounters. Williams won his first Academy Award for his work on Fiddler on the Roof, and it's no wonder. His brilliant work is evident from the start. The orchestrations are lush yet appropriate, and his use of violin virtuoso Isaac Stern was inspired. Williams also provided a dramatic score, which is heard for the first time on the new soundtrack CD (EMI Records 72435-35266-2-7V). "The Wedding Procession," the "Entr'Acte," and "The Rejection Scene" are wonderful, evocative pieces. But it is the brief -- less than two minutes -- "First Act Finale" that is most effective, scoring the moment, after Russian thugs trash Tzeitel's wedding reception, that Tevye looks to God for explanation, for some small answer to the question Why? It's a question Tevye asks but once, and the music is justifiably powerful, melodramatic, and hugely orchestrated in an almost biblical way. Here, one can hear the John Williams to come. While it could have become campy and dated, time has not harmed Fiddler on the Roof. It is as vital and electrifying now as it was when it opened, and that is a testament to its power not as a tale about Jews but as a tale about each of us coming to grips with our faith and our world. There is perhaps no better time to reexamine the wisdom of this film, as it may provide valuable ideas about how to come to grips with our own. | November 2001 Tony Buchsbaum is the author of Total Eclipse. At night he works on another novel and a screenplay. Days, he writes advertising copy in Lawrenceville, NJ, where he lives with his wife and sons.	While it could have become campy and dated, time has not harmed Fiddler on the Roof. It is as vital and electrifying now as it was when it opened, and that is a testament to its power not as a tale about Jews but as a tale about each of us coming to grips with our faith and our world.