Yentl is a 1983 American romantic musical drama film co-written, co-produced, directed by, and starring Barbra Streisand in her directorial debut. It is based on Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy".
The film incorporates music to tell the story of Yentl Mendel, an Ashkenazi Jewish woman in Poland in 1904 who decides to disguise herself as a man named Anshel so that she can receive an education in Talmudic law. The film's musical score and songs, composed by Michel Legrand, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, include the songs "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" and "The Way He Makes Me Feel", both sung by Streisand.
Yentl was theatrically released in the United States on November 18, 1983, by MGM/UA Entertainment Company. It received generally positive reviews from critics, and was a box-office success, grossing $68.7 million against the production budget of $12 million. The film received the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy and Best Director for Streisand, making her the first woman to win Best Director at the Golden Globes.
Plot Yentl Mendel is a woman living in an Ashkenazi shtetl named Yanev in Poland in 1904. Yentl's father, Reb Mendel (“Papa”), secretly instructs her in the Talmud despite the proscription of such study by women according to the custom of her community. Yentl refuses to be married off to a man.
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 Yeshiva, a Jewish religious school in Bychawa. There she befriends a fellow student, Avigdor, and meets his fiancée, Hadass Vishkower. Upon discovering that Avigdor lied about his brother's death (a suicide, not pneumonia or flu as Avigdor claimed), Hadass' family cancels the wedding over fears that Avigdor's family is tainted with insanity. Hadass' parents decide that she should marry "Anshel" instead, and Avigdor encourages "Anshel" to go ahead with the marriage, so Hadass can marry someone she knows rather than have a stranger for a husband. "Anshel" reluctantly marries Hadass so Avigdor will not leave town; the marriage remains unconsummated: "Anshel" claims it is a sin for a woman to give herself to a man while she loves another. "Anshel" starts to teach Hadass the Talmud. Meanwhile, Hadass develops romantic feelings for "Anshel", while Yentl herself is falling in love with Avigdor.
Yentl leaves for a trip to the city with Avigdor that will take him away from home for a few days. In their lodging in the city, Yentl finally reveals her true identity to Avigdor. At first, Avigdor does not believe his friend is a woman, but Yentl proves her womanhood by showing him her breasts. When a confused and frightened Avigdor asks her why she did not tell him, Yentl breaks down in his arms, showing she has revealed her real self to him out of love. Avigdor is stunned, but, after a moment, reciprocates the feeling and remarks how beautiful Yentl's features are. The two kiss, but, Avigdor breaks away suddenly, remembering Hadass. Yentl assures him their marriage is not valid. Avigdor suggests he and Yentl elope. Yentl realizes that she will not be able to continue her studies if she marries Avigdor, and that she wants more from life than to be a wife. Yentl and Avigdor part ways, knowing they will always care for each other. It is implied that Hadass and "Anshel"'s marriage is annulled, as it was never consummated. Avigdor returns to marry Hadass. In the following scene, the two are successfully reunited and reading a letter from Yentl, learning that she is going to a new place and will love them both always. Yentl leaves Europe on a boat bound for the United States, where she hopes to lead a life with more freedom. With a smile on her face, Yentl finishes her story by singing: "Papa, watch me fly."
Cast Barbra Streisand as Yentl/“Anshel” Mandy Patinkin as Avigdor Amy Irving as Hadass Vishkower Nehemiah Persoff as Reb Mendel (“Papa”) Steven Hill as Reb Alter Vishkower Allan Corduner as Shimmele David de Keyser as Rabbi Zalman Miriam Margolyes as Sarah Doreen Mantle as Mrs. Shaemen Lynda Baron as Peshe Kerry Shale as Yeshiva Student
Production After reading Isaac Bashevis Singer's story "Yentl: The Yeshiva Boy" in 1968, Barbra Streisand sought to make it her next film after her completion of Funny Girl. The screen rights were gained in 1969, with Streisand to be the star. In 1971, Czech director Ivan Passer was originally hired by First Artists to direct the film. Singer wrote the screenplay and retitled it Masquerade, but because of his belief that Streisand's age and celebrity would detract from the film, Singer backed out.
In 1973, Streisand read Singer's story to her then-partner, producer Jon Peters, to gain further support for the film. However, like Passer, he was convinced that Streisand was too old and feminine to convincingly play the part the film would demand. By 1976, after completing A Star Is Born (1976), Streisand became convinced that she was, in fact, too old to play the part in Yentl, and would take up the film as director. Because she had wanted to be both the star and director, studios continued to draw back from funding the film, with the fear that Streisand as a rookie director would be unable to responsibly handle a multi-million dollar project. Additionally, Streisand reported that studios claimed the film was "not commercial" because it was "too ethnic". In 1978, Streisand's friends, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, suggested that Yentl be re-imagined as a musical. It was hoped that a musical starring Streisand would be accepted and better received by a studio.
Peters attempted to persuade Streisand to drop the project and perform at Wembley Stadium in London instead, for an offer of $1 million. She refused that offer, as well as a $2 million follow-up, to reconsider. Another offer by Peters, which was to be in excess of $10 million for Streisand to perform in Las Vegas, was also promptly turned down in favor of pursuing the Yentl project. Her attitude regarding her age quickly changed after she disguised herself as a man, temporarily confusing Peters into thinking that a stranger had broken into the house. Peters, now convinced of her ability to play a male, agreed to sign a three-year production contract with Orion Pictures in March 1978. To combat the age she was to play in the film, she changed Yentl from being 16 to 26.
According to various sources, Streisand became increasingly inspired and determined to bring Yentl into production when, in the summer of 1979, she and her brother Sheldon (Streisand) visited their father Emanuel's grave at Mount Hebron Cemetery for the first time in 30 years. For the sake of making memory of the occasion, Streisand had her brother take a photo of her standing next to her father's tombstone. The photo revealed that Emanuel Streisand's grave was directly next to that of a man named Anshel, the name of Yentl Mendel's dead brother that Yentl adopts when she takes on a male identity. Intrigued, Streisand complied with her brother when he suggested they contact a psychic to perform a séance, convinced that her father was beckoning them both from beyond the grave.
In 1979, Streisand finally reached an agreement with Orion Pictures to direct and star in Yentl. She was working with a script by Ted Allen at the time, but discarded a majority of it, keeping the musical segments. The film was to be co-produced by Streisand's friends and associates: Joan Marshall Ashby and Peters. To prepare for the film, Streisand exhaustively researched the many aspects of Judaism, ceremonies, relentlessly studied the Torah, and consulted numerous rabbis, one being Rabbi Daniel Lapin, whom Streisand appointed as the main religious consultant for the film.
Orion Pictures made the announcement that it had agreed to produce Yentl as Streisand's directorial debut in the late summer of 1980. Traveling to Prague with a Super-8 camera and song lyrics, Streisand scouted out film locations while also shooting film of herself walking through the city in costume with early recordings of Yentls soundtrack being played in the background. However, not long after her return, Heaven's Gate (1980), a Michael Cimino picture produced by United Artists, lost $35 million at the box office, bringing Orion to cancel all films that exceeded a $10 million production cost in order to preserve itself. Yentl, which was priced at $14 million, was cancelled. The film was turned down again and again until Peters, Peter Guber, and Neil Bogart formed PolyGram Pictures and agreed to produce the film. However, due to creative differences and personal disputes between Streisand and Peters, Yentl was dropped once again.
Fifteen years after its original conception and 20 script variations later, Yentls production finally began on April 14, 1982 in the Lee International Studios of London, after United Artists merged with MGM and gained the new leadership of Freddie Fields and David Begelman—Streisand's former agent from the late 1960s. Yentl was green-lighted as Streisand's directoral debut at a budget of $14.5 million. Shooting concluded in October 1982, which was to be followed by Streisand requiring ten weeks to dub the soundtrack. In the end, the film went $1.5 million over budget, which Streisand paid for with her salary, as stated in the contract with UA.
Themes Yentl begins with the same premise as Singer's original story. Streisand's character is a young woman growing up in an oppressive society that will not let her pursue her religious education. She is told she must have the "soul of a man" because of her desire to learn. Her talent, curiosity and ambition are considered strictly masculine by her society and religious tradition. Unwilling to live without access to education on the basis of sex, Yentl leaves her home and conceals her sex to be able to pursue the scholarly occupation of a Jewish man. In doing so, Yentl inadvertently embarks on a journey of self-discovery that defies traditional ideas of gender roles within her community.
Yentl's defiance of social expectation and her reversal of traditional gender roles crosses deeply rooted religious boundaries, particularly once Yentl marries Hadass Vishkower (Amy Irving). Until this point, Yentl only adopts the appearance and occupation of a man, but now she lives as a man in a more complete sense, as a husband, occupying the traditionally male role in her household. Her identity as a woman, not only socially and religiously, but also personally and sexually, is called into question, as she occupies this role and develops an intimate, loving connection with Hadass, complete with hinted sexual chemistry.
In Singer's story, this dual betrayal of nature and the divine plan dooms Yentl to a life of pain, alienation, and shameful dishonesty. After her marriage ends in disaster, Yentl remains trapped forever in her disguise, unable to find redemption from her rejection of a normal life—a take on the legend of the Wandering Jew.