Fiddler On The Roof review

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

The passage of time has not been kind to this schmaltzy three-hour film version of the smash Broadway musical. Reissued for its 30th anniversary, it's a model of how not to adapt a stage show for the big screen.

Israeli singer Topol is Tevye, the Jewish milkman living in a small village in pre-revolutionary Ukraine. A believer in the old ways, he plans to marry off his three daughters. However each of his children decide to follow their own hearts.

There's something patronising about the way Norman Jewison portrays all these poor but cheerful Yiddish types. The choreography is clumsy, the acting caricatured, and the songs themselves painfully overblown.

NOVERDICT

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.