It's been a while since I sat down and watched this movie. The last time I remember seeing it was back in 2007, I think. I put it on for background noise while I did laundry. This time I actually gave it my full attention.Tevye (Topol) is a poor but happy milkman in a small Russian town. Anatevka is home to a thriving Jewish community as well as a small contingent of soldiers. The two groups get along without a great deal of interaction and things remain as they have traditionally. Tevye likes tradition because it lets him know exactly where he stands and what to do in almost any situation. That is, until his oldest daughter (Rosalind Harris) wants to marry a man of her choice rather than the man the matchmaker has chosen. Tevye is forced to think outside of his comfortable roads if he wants his children to be happy. Meanwhile, trouble in the capital manages to trickle out to the furthest reaches of the steppes, bringing danger to the entire town.
This is a great movie, one of the classic musicals, and I feel like it's an important movie. The history of the Jewish diaspora is often very bleak and depressing. There are not a lot of light-hearted moments over the course of hundreds of years of ostracization and calumnies. As someone who is not a member of the diaspora, it's probably not my place to say but I'm grateful for the chance to see some of the happier customs and traditions as well as the reminder of the effect on people when their rights are not respected because of religious intolerance. It's important to see people as people, with hopes and problems and dreams, not just a label.
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