Yentl (1983)

Director:

Barbra Streisand

Writers:

Jack Rosenthal (screenplay) and
Barbra Streisand (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 December 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

A film with music.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Talmud | Jewish | Love | Tradition | Torah

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 12 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

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | France:U | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

Answering certain reviews that suggested all the songs in the film "sounded the same," songwriters Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman responded that there are indeed similarities in the songs because they wanted them to reflect the lessons of the Talmud, in which each lesson often reflects the lesson before it.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the scene where Streisand sings "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" toward the beginning of the film, Yentl's glasses are laid down in front of her and the style of glasses shown in this scene have modern temple/ear pieces - inappropriate for the time period. However, during other scenes where Yentl takes off or puts on her glasses, the glasses are the old-fashioned, cable-temple/wrap-around-the-ear-style glasses - appropriate for the time-period.

Quotes:

Tailor: A tailor's like a doctor, what's to be ashamed?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words (#20.6)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Will Someone Ever Look At Me That Way?

Phantastic

Yentl is a young Jewish woman who shall be married, but she is too curious, she wants to know more and she wants to learn all about the Talmud, which is forbidden to women by this time. So she dresses herself like a young man and goes to the yeshiva, always frightened to be discovered, and there she meets Avigdor, a brilliant student, who is meant to be her mentor, and she fells in love with him. He is in love with a beautiful Jewish girl (Amy Irving) but he cannot marry her, because his brother died of suicide. So he asks Angel (Barbra Streisand) to marry her, and she does....

It's a real Barbra Streisand masterpiece, I think no one could have done this picture more sensual and beautiful like she did. A story, that never should be forgotten, of a woman that fights against the male world, wants to be more than the role that was meant to be hers. Brilliant songs, perfectly written by Michael Legrand, brilliant directed and also the sets are chosen very well, the picture of a Jewish world like it was in former times is set originally. Also Mandy Patinkin and Amy Irving are brilliant actors who can show their different faces in this movie. Thios movie is a MUST for everybody.