Yentl

Yentl

Director:   Barbra Streisand

Cast:

  1. Amy Irving, Nehemiah Persoff,
  2. Steven Hill, Allan Corduner,
  3. Ruth Goring, David De Keyser,
  4. Bernard Spear, Doreen Mantle,
  5. Lynda Baron, Jack Lynn

Yentl is a 1983 American romantic musical drama film from United Artists (through MGM) that was directed, co-written, and co-produced by, and stars Barbra Streisand. It is based on Leah Napolin and Isaac Bashevis Singer's play of the same name, itself based on Singer's short story "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy."

The dramatic story incorporates humor and music to relate the story of an Ashkenazi Jewish girl in Poland who decides to dress and live like a man so that she can receive an education in Talmudic Law after her father dies. This cultural gender asymmetry that Yentl endures has been referenced in the medical community with the coining of the phrase Yentl Syndrome. The film's musical score and songs, composed by Michel Legrand, include the songs "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" and "The Way He Makes Me Feel", both sung by Streisand. The film received the Academy Award for Best Original Score and the Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy and Best Director for Streisand, making her the first woman to have won Best Director at the Golden Globes.

Barbra Streisand portrays Yentl Mendel, a girl living in an Ashkenazi shtetl named Pechev[2] in Poland in 1904. Yentl's father, Rebbe Mendel (Nehemiah Persoff), secretly instructs her in the Talmud despite the proscription of such study by women according to the custom of her community.

After the death of her father, Yentl decides to cut her hair short, dress like a man, take her late brother's name, Anshel, and enter a Jewish religious school in Bychawa. Upon entering the yeshiva, Yentl befriends a fellow student, Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin), and meets his fiancée, Hadass (Amy Irving). Things get complicated when Hadass's family cancels her wedding to Avigdor over fears that his family is tainted with insanity (his brother committed suicide), and decides that she should marry Anshel instead. Meanwhile, Hadass develops romantic feelings for Yentl (as Anshel), while Yentl herself is falling in love with Avigdor. After much turmoil, Avigdor and Hadass are reunited, while Yentl leaves Europe to go to the United States, where she hopes to lead a life with more freedom. 1

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