Plot
The film takes place in 1905, in the fictional village of Anatevka, a typical shtetl somewhere in Ukraine, part of the Pale of Settlement in Imperial Russia. Tevye is Anatevka's poor Jewish milkman; he and his bossy, sharp-tongued wife Golde have five daughters: Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Shprintze and Bielke. Tevye compares the lives of the Jews of Anatevka to a "fiddler on the roof", using tradition to "scratch out a pleasant, simple tune" without breaking their necks.
Yente, the local matchmaker, has arranged for Tevye's eldest daughter, Tzeitel, to marry Lazar Wolf, Anatevka's affluent butcher, who is older than Tevye. However, Tzeitel is in love with her childhood sweetheart, Motel Kamzoil, the tailor; Tevye does not think very highly of Motel, considering him timid and meek. Worried that Yente will soon find her a husband, Tzeitel urges Motel to ask Tevye for her hand. Motel is reluctant, afraid of Tevye's temper and tradition dictates that marriages must be arranged by a matchmaker. Motel is also very poor and is saving money to buy a sewing machine to show Tevye that he is able to support a wife.
While making his rounds, Tevye meets Perchik, a Jewish student from the university in Kyiv. Perchik has modern religious ideas and Bolshevik political views; the local men dismiss him as a radical but Tevye invites Perchik home for the Sabbath meal and offers him room and board in exchange for tutoring his two youngest daughters.
Upon arriving home, Golde informs Tevye that Lazar Wolf wants to see him, but does not tell him why, knowing that Tevye doesn't like Lazar. Tevye assumes that Lazar wants to discuss buying his milk cow to slaughter.
After the Sabbath, Tevye visits Lazar and once the misunderstanding over the cow is cleared up, Tevye agrees to the match; married to a wealthy butcher, Tzeitel surely will never go hungry. The two men then go to a nearby tavern and everyone celebrates Lazar's good fortune with drinking and dancing.
On his way home, Tevye meets the local Constable who warns him that a pogrom (calling it an "unofficial demonstration) by a gang of thugs will attack Anateveka in the near future. The Constable is sympathetic toward the Jews but is powerless to prevent the violence.
The next day, Tevye informs Tzeitel that she is now engaged to marry Lazar Wolf. Tzeitel is devastated and begs her father not to force her to marry the butcher. At first, Tevye is adamant that Tzeitel marry Lazar but after Motel arrives, he tells Tevye that he and Tzeitel gave each other a pledge to marry. Tevye is incredulous, but after some soul-searching and consideration of their feelings, he finally relents and gives Tzeitel and Motel permission to marry, despite Lazar Wolf's humiliation. Worried that Golde will not accept the marriage, Tevye pretends to have a nightmare in which Tzeitel is fated to marry Motel and Fruma-Sarah, Lazar's dead wife, will seek terrible retribution if Tzeitel marries the butcher. The superstitious Golde interprets the false dream to be prophetic and believes that Tzeitel's marriage to Motel is for the best.
The wedding day arrives and all the Jews of Anatevka attend the ceremony. There is much celebration until an argument erupts between Lazar Wolf and Tevye over the broken agreement. Perchik tells everyone that it should be left for the couple to decide who they marry. He creates further controversy when he asks Hodel to dance with him, crossing the Mechitza. Initially, the crowd is shocked but they soon warm to the idea and the wedding proceeds with great joy. Suddenly, a mob arrives and the pogrom begins; when Perchik attempts to intervene, he is injured in the attack. The Constable appears and immediately stops the raid. Sheepishly, he tells Tevye he must carry out orders. Tevye then orders everyone to clean up. As the attacks continue elsewhere, Tevye is bewildered and silently wonders why God would allow such atrocities.
Later, as Perchik prepares to leave Anatevka to participate in the revolution in Kyiv, he asks Hodel to marry him and she accepts. When Hodel and Perchik tell Tevye of their intention to marry without his permission, Tevye is initially furious but he ultimately gives them his blessing because they love each other. During a demonstration in Kyiv, Perchik is arrested and exiled to Siberia. Hodel leaves home to join him there, much to Tevye's sorrow.
Meanwhile, Tevye's third daughter, Chava, has fallen in love with Fyedka, a young gentile. As with Tzeitel and Hodel, Tevye attempts to understand Chava's feelings but concludes that he cannot countenance his daughter marrying outside the Jewish faith. Chava and Fyedka elope and marry in an Orthodox Christian church. When Tevye learns of the marriage from Golde, he tells her Chava is now dead to them.
Chava appears and begs her father for his acceptance, but Tevye ostracizes her.
Finally, the people of Anatevka are notified by the Constable that they have three days to vacate the village; after that, the Imperial Russian government will force the Jews to leave. Tevye, his family and their neighbors pack and head variously for New York, Chicago, Jerusalem, and other places they have never been. Chava and Fyedka arrive to inform Tevye that the two of them are moving to Kraków, Poland. As they say their goodbyes, Tevye at first ignores Chava but then quietly says "God be with you", which Tzeitel happily repeats to the couple. Tzeitel, Motel and their baby will join the family in America when they have saved enough money. As Tevye pulls his wagon full of possessions down the muddy road, he hears the fiddler playing behind him; he motions for the fiddler to follow as Tevye, Golde and their two youngest daughters continue down the road.
