: I found this documentary after watching Fiddler On The Roof today. I have loved the film all of my life. It was one film that was repeated many times in my parent's house and I have watched it at least 60 times.
When I saw the description of this documentary I was very interested in learning more about how tge story came to be so beloved. First as a Broadway production, then as the film. It is one of the most beloved musicals in history and the documentary covers the origin of the story. Tge story of Tevye the milkman by Sholem Aleichem was the foundation that the musical was born. It is a story of a Jewish village in Russia called Anatevka, but the story's themes of tradition, family, and struggle resonate across cultures. The documentary focuses on the fact that Fiddler was huge in Japan, because their society is rooted in tradition. There are interviews with the creators of the musical and some of the cast members from 1964 until today. They speak about some of tge difficulties and changes that were made to.make the play one of tge most successful Broadway productions ever. It doesn't spend much.time on the 1971 film that stars Topol as Tevye. This is my favorite part of the documentary. I am more a fan of the film than the stage play. To me the film is the definitive version and Topol is by far the best Tevye. There are some brief clips of Topol talking about filming that are very poignant.
The makers of this documentary obviously love this story and feel that it resonated for decades after it's introduction in the 60's. They make tge point that tge themes are relevant today. And I don't disagree. But then toward the last 5 minutes the filmmakers decided to do something that ruins the documentary for me. They insert politics itied into the film. They start by talking about the parallels of the Jews in Anatevka that suffered Russian pogroms and were forced to leave their homes and just about every pet left wing cause today is just pathetic!!! What's worse is they try to compare our current political situation with the injustices in the Holocaust and infer that people that have different political ideas are somehow like the oppressors of the past . It's insulting that a documentary celebrates the universal themes of Fiddler On The Roof that cross cultural and national lines but in the end make it about their preferred political agenda.
I was thoroughly enjoying this film until the not so subtle political agenda of the filmmakers was introduced literally 5 minutes before the thing ended. They have a right to their opinion but to dump it like that suddenly was cheap and ruined my enjoyment of the documentary.
It is pathetic that a loving documentary about a beloved human story would ultimately be just a way to make it all about politics!!!
Grade: C-