Watching The Fiddler on the Roof

I just love the movie adaption of The Fiddler on the Roof, from the musical, which was adapted from Sholem Aleichem's short stories. It's set in Russia in the early twentieth century. The main character is Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman who has five daughters. It's the story of a changing Russia, with revolutionaries full of big ideas, and pogroms. It's also Tevye's individual story and that of his daughters. And watching it all from the roof, is Tevye's "fiddler". We're not really sure who he is, but Tevye often talks to himself (and God) about things.

I haven't actually seen the musical, but I love the songs in the movie. They have really good lyrics, and a really good melody. I love the characters too: Tevye, Golde, Tzeitel, Hodl, Chava...They're all amazing, and each of the three older daughters' stories are interesting in their own right.

For reasons I won't go into, I only watched the first half of the movie this time around, but nonetheless, I love the whole thing. Though it is an obviously dramatized, Hollywood version of Jewish culture depicted in this movie, The Fiddler on the Roof is still both entertaining and deeply moving, with a great cast.