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Jan 28, 2019Feemaedchen rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Outstanding film starring the incomparable Topol as a poor, Jewish milkman in a village in Czarist Russia and featuring Isaac Stern in the most jaw-dropping violin virtuosity I’ve ever heard. My ONLY complaint about this DVD is that the English subtitles are only included for the speaking lines but NOT the song lyrics. I’d borrowed this DVD to share with a family member who has hearing difficulties and wanted to become familiar with the musical prior to watching a stage production. It is often difficult for hearing impaired individuals to make out words within a song; Why on earth the DVD producers opted to omit the lyrics from the subtitles is beyond me. Otherwise, a great family film with a strong history lesson about intolerance and upheaval in pre-WW1 Russia.