"Nothing's Impossible."

Consider first that Barbra Streisand is in every scene except one. Consider also that she sings every song in this musical. She also directed and produced this movie. In other words, it greatly helps to be a Streisand fan when watching Yentl.

This film tells the story of a Jewish girl named Yentl who studies the Talmud. Her single father secretly allows her to read and study it in the privacy of their home. At the turn of the century in Lithuania, Jewish women were not allowed to study religion. In one of the first scenes a peddler calls out 'Religious books for men. Picture books for women.'

Upon the death of her father, Yentl cuts her hair and dresses as a man in order to attend a Yeshiva to study the Talmud. Yentl is of course naive to the world and ways of men.

Many humorous events befall her. In one scene she has to share a bed with a classmate, Avigdor, who doesn't know she is a girl. She keeps falling out of the bed as she tries to stay away from him as much as possible. In another scene she gets dragged along to a swimming hole where all the guys are going skinny-dipping.

The movie though, is more of a drama than a comedy. Yentl finds herself falling n love with Avigdor. He is meanwhile in love with Hadass. Hadass is a traditional girl. She knows nothing of religion or philosophy. She knows how to cook and flirt.

Things get even more complicated when Avigdor is forced out of his engagement to Hadass. Yentl, now called Anshel, steps in as the new groom. In order to make Avigdor happy, Yentl follows through with the marriage.

Yentl and Avigdor go away for the weekend in the best dramatic scene in the movie. In the privacy of a hotel room, Yentl bares her soul as well as her breasts. For about 5 seconds, Yentl's dream is a reality. After some yelling, Avigdor accepts Yentl for what she is, but then he explains how she will have to hide her studies. Yentl realizes she can never have a life with Avigdor. He is a victim of his time as much as she is.

The movie is 132 minutes long. It is based on a short story by Isaac Beshivas Singer. The bloated plot definitely needed to be trimmed. The early moments with her father were nice enough, but they didn't advance the plot any more than a quick scene at her father's funeral would have.

'Where Is It Written?' could have been song over the opening credits, then the movie could have open on her fathers funeral. Someone could have said they heard that old maid Yentl was secretly studying Talmud. Then skip to her dressed as a man walking down the road. That alone would have cut at least 15 minutes. And all of the needed plot exposition would have been explained.

The songs of this movie are excellently appropriate. They all invoke the emotions and opinions of Yentl. Many of these songs written by long time Streisand friends, Alan and Marilyn Bergman are often quite philosophical. I think that this line from 'A Piece Of Sky' is brilliant: 'The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.'

Barbra Streisand put everything she had into making this movie. The detail and the emotions of the film are all evident of that. However, Streisand forgot the old adage that less is sometimes more.

Did you enjoy Eric's review? +11 -6

 

The secret to enjoying this movie is to accept that everyone else believes Yentl to be Anshel. If you can’t buy Streisand as a boy then the entire movie is unwatchable. I agree with Eric that the beginning could have been trimmed. I also think the ending goes on too long. For me the middle portion of the movie is great. The love triangle between Avigdor, Hadass and Yentl/Anshel is brilliant and quite unique. You will wonder just how Yentl can possibly get herself out of the situation she is in.

Recently this movie was finally released on DVD. Streisand has included a director’s cut that has a few added scenes. While they are interesting they do not add to the overall movie. Streisand’s direction is quite impressive for a debut and she became the first woman to win a Golden Globe for directing a movie. She was also the first woman to produce, direct, star and co-write the screenplay for a feature film. All in a days work for this remarkable woman.

The cast all give decent performances, with Mandy Patinkin being the standout, but to be fair he is given the showiest role. He handles the drama well and has nice chemistry with Streisand as the boy Anshel. Amy Irving has less to do but manages to leave a nice impression with her more subtle role. Streisand gives one of her best performances here. Especially good is the scene where Anshel tells Avigdor her secret. It is an emotional tour-de-force.

The balance between comedy and drama is pretty well done. Although as Eric said it leans more to the drama. Much of the humor comes through in the songs. My favorites are “This is one of those moments” and “Tomorrow Night”. The final note that Streisand sings is held for 18 seconds at the top of her lungs. More than a quarter century later she has yet to make another musical and I don’t think she ever will. After all how can she top that?

Did you enjoy Patrick's review? +12 -6

 

To quote In & Out, Barbra Streisand was too old for Yentl. I know that's not original, but her age, the age of nearly all the other actors in the movie, and the fact that she doesn't make a believable boy, all weaken this movie. I mean, how come no one ever notices that Anshel is a real dick for 3-5 days every 4 weeks?

Watching this movie all the way through for the first time in a long time, the thing that really struck me is, why didn't anyone think Anshel was gay? He notices the china, he's not interested in sex with his hot wife and he practically drools over his best friend. Sure this was 100 years ago, and people didn't talk about such things so openly, but it's not like homosexuals didn't exist.

However, as you say Patrick, if you just accept that everyone in the movie believes that Anshel is a man, this is a very enjoyable movie with some comedy, but much more drama. And as you both mentioned, the big reveal scene is well done and crammed with emotion.

What really makes this movie work though, is the songs. You mention "This is one of Those Moments", Patrick, which is my favorite as well, although "Piece of Sky" is the show-stopper, both literally and figuratively. One of the great things about the music from this movie is that it doesn't seem dated at all. If you don't know Streisand well, you might not be able to guess what year this movie was made.

Sure this movie could be trimmed up a bit, but I don't really find it to be overly long. The one part for me that seems to stretch is from Anshel and Hadass' wedding until the big reveal. For one thing, being married makes it even more unbelievable that Yentl can keep her secret, but also because we really just want to get on with things by that point.

Streisand's directing is quite good, especially for a first time director. She doesn't over direct the movie, as first-timers are apt to do. And there are some well-filmed scenes. I particularly like the way they cut together the scene of Anshel's wedding suit fitting with the actual wedding ceremony.

I also have a radical suggestion that Streisand purists would probably hate me for, and that is that she should have confined herself to just directing and singing in the movie and left the part of Yentl to someone else much younger and more believable. She could still have sung the songs in the same place, only they would have been the character of Yentl's thoughts instead of more literally her singing them as is shown.

I agree with you Eric only from a different angle perhaps. If Streisand had used less of herself in front of the camera, I think she could have improved the movie more overall.

Did you enjoy Scott's review? +10 -6