Yentl (1983)

A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training.

Director:

Barbra Streisand

Writers:

Jack Rosenthal (screenplay), Barbra Streisand (screenplay)

Stars:

Barbra Streisand, Amy Irving, Mandy Patinkin

Won 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barbra Streisand	...	Yentl
Mandy Patinkin	...	Avigdor
Amy Irving	...	Hadass
Nehemiah Persoff	...	Reb Mendel 'Papa'
Steven Hill	...	Reb Alter Vishkower
Allan Corduner	...	Shimmele
Ruth Goring	...	Esther Rachel
David de Keyser	...	Rabbi Zalman (as David De Keyser)
Bernard Spear	...	Tailor
Doreen Mantle	...	Mrs. Shaemen
Lynda Baron	...	Peshe (as Lynda Barron)
Jack Lynn	...	Bookseller
Anna Tzelniker	...	Mrs. Kovner
Miriam Margolyes	...	Sarah
Mary Henry	...	Mrs. Jacobs

Storyline

In an Ashkenazic shtetl in Poland, Yentl Mendel is the boyishly klutzy daughter and only child of long widowed Rebbe ("Talmud Teacher") Mendel, who teaches Talmud (a codification of Jewish Law) to local boys - and to Yentl, but secretly because girls were not allowed to learn the law in those days. When her father dies, Yentl is all alone in the world. She takes the momentous decision to leave the village and - disguised as a boy and calling herself by the name of her late brother, Anshel - seeks and gets admitted to a Yeshiva, to study the texts, traditions, subtleties and complexities of Torah, Talmud, etc. She befriends Avigdor who is engaged to Haddas, but her family discovers his brother committed suicide so they call off the wedding (in case Avigdor possesses the same madness). Anshel then finds "him"-self in the awkward position of being called into service as substitute bridegroom, so that the wedding can go ahead and Haddas will have a husband. It is a marriage that never ...

---

Plot Keywords:

study | yeshiva | talmud | wedding | love | 

---

Taglines:

A film with music.

---

Genres:

Drama | Musical | Romance

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Йентл

Filming Locations:

Blewbury, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$30,400,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Barwood Films, Ladbroke

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby 4-Track Stereo (Dolby Magnetic 35mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Even though costars Amy Irving and especially Mandy Patinkin were known as accomplished singers (by the time he was cast in Yentl, Patinkin had already won a Tony Award for his role in the Broadway musical Evita and would later go on to be nominated for two more musical performance Tonys), Barbra Streisand is the only cast member who performs any songs in this movie musical.

---

Goofs

Anshel's suit coat is buttoned as if it were a woman's coat. It's not a flipped shot; Avigdor is wearing a man's coat in the same frame.

---

Quotes

Bookseller: You're in the wrong place, storybooks for women are over here.
Yentl: [holding a book] I'd like this one, please.
Bookseller: [takes the book away] Sacred books are for men.
Yentl: Why?
Bookseller: It's the law.
Yentl: Where's it written?
Bookseller: It doesn't matter where it's written, it's the law.
Yentl: Well if it's the law it must be written somewhere, perhaps in here
[the book]
Yentl: . I'll take it.

---

Crazy Credits

At the very end of the closing credits: This film is dedicated to my father... and to all our fathers.

---

Connections

Referenced in Glee: Grilled Cheesus (2010)

---

Soundtracks

The Way He Makes Me Feel
Music by Michel Legrand
Lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
Performed by Barbra Streisand

User Reviews

Blazing a New Professional Trail for Women

Barbra Streisand has referred to herself as 'an actress who happens to be a singer'. I doubt I am alone in viewing her professional legacy in the reverse: as a great singer who happens to be an actress . . . director, producer, screenplay writer, musical score composer, humanitarian, and lately, concerned with using her production and direction talents to bring out important social issues (like ageism--"The Living Century" is about centurions--people a hundred years old or more).

"Yentl" marks the beginning of a woman blazing a new trail as a director, singer, composer, her hands in the screenplay, and production. She's spoken in a segment on "The Directors," about how various cultures have treated her as a result of her deliberate transcendence of Hollywood's gender-biased boundaries. One of her most interesting points reveals how well she was treated in England by the British filming crew. Since gender-bias against women is not even comparable to gender bias in the US, because England is so far advanced beyond gender discrimination because one is a woman, Streisand remarks how much easier it was for her to accomplish her goals on the set because the British film crew treated her without gender-bias, and with the respect she is certainly due.

"Yentl" royally upset the AFI in the US because Streisand entered into no woman's land when she had a hand in nearly every aspect of the motion picture. "Yentl" has some of the most memorable, touching, humanely familiar music and lyrics, yet it received no Academy Award. The direction was brilliant--no Academy Award. The screenplay was one that was serious, hilarious, religious, spiritual, and even addressed the issues of gender-bias head on--no Academy Award. Streisand's and Amy Irving's acting was stupendous--no Academy Award.

Streisand paved the way and took the non-recognition by the Film Academy without stopping. This musical motional picture pales many that are classics. The story is an extra interesting one, the likes of which have not been reproduced with anything close to as much skill and class.

I'll give this classic about six Academy Awards, including several that go to Streisand alone.