8 Great Movie Musicals To Watch This Holiday Season

4. Fiddler On The Roof

Watch With: Your dad or granddad. Norman Jewison's 1971 film adaptation of the much-loved Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof has a compelling story, a brilliant score, endearing characters, humour, drama and pathos. These winning components have rendered the film a classic. The film's protagonist is Tevye (Chaim Topol) the head of a Jewish family living in the poor village of Anatevka in Tsarist Russia. Tevye only wants the best for his family and hopes to arrange successful and prosperous marriages for his five daughters. As the film unfolds, the previous stability of Tevye's life in Anatevka is thrown off balance by his headstrong three eldest daughters and the threatening outside forces of Tsarist Russia which threaten to change life in Anatevka forever. Topol's performance as Tevye is ranked among the greatest in movie musical history. He acts the role of Tevye with a sensitivity and power which makes him absolutely believable as the family's patriarch. Despite the musical numbers, the film is grounded in a realism which results in part from the cinematography by Oswald Morris. Morris wanted the film to have a muted, earthy tone, which he famously realised through putting a woman's nylon stocking over the camera lens. The method might sound eccentric, but the effect was lauded and Fiddler on the Roof's simplistic, yet effective cinematography is one of the reasons the movie remains so well-regarded. The film poignantly portrays father/daughter relationships, making it the ideal choice for Christmas viewing with your dad or granddad.