Amazon.com essential video: Barbra Streisand made her directorial debut with this 1983 adaptation of the Isaac Bashevis Singer story about a young Eastern European woman (Streisand) who disguises herself as a male at the turn of the century in order to get an education. Except for an excessive musical score with too many songs and Streisand's tiresome tendency to play characters who suppress their beauty, the film is crisp and engaging, and the gender-bending love story complications are fun, if gimmicky. Streisand gives a smart, vulnerable performance and gets fresh work from costars Mandy Patinkin and Amy Irving. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Where is the DVD?
I agree with others in wondering where the DVD is of this movie. I saw this movie in the theater when it came out and loved it then. Lately I have been listening to the music again and realizing it is some of Streisand's best. I wanted to see the movie again but, alas, no DVD after extensive searching!! I think it is long overdue.
Rating: - Forget DVD. Release it to BluRay
It's hard to believe that DVDs have come and gone and still no high def Yentle.
Well, now BluRay is here. Come on! Give us Yentle the directors cut! Barbra already finished it! Just release it!!!
Rating: - Prodigious Labor of Love Still Holds Up Due to Streisand's Heartfelt Approach
As the first of only three films she has directed (so far), Barbra Streisand's 1983 labor of love still holds up as a charming turn-of-the-last-century fable that blends a contemporary sense of its three principal characters with an elaborately orchestrated soundtrack. The movie plays out very much like the way she uniquely sings a song - beautifully lush, emotionally intimate and a bit overdone albeit forgivably so. Regardless, what makes this film genuinely successful is the heartfelt manner in which Streisand chooses to tell her version of Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story, Yentl the Yeshiva ... Read More
Rating: - Fine Literature turned into Maudlin Claptrap via Streisand's Ego
YENTL is a classic example of Star Ego run amok. The quirky and fine piece of literature from which it is taken, I.B. Singer's short story, "Yentl the Yeshiva Boy", is the story of a transgendered young woman from a shtetl in Eastern Europe, who, at the end of the story, chooses to live the rest of her life in the male persona of Anshel.
Singer himself was furious at what Streisand did to his story and wrote a stinging rebuke to her in the New York TIMES when the film premiered, ending by congratulating Streisand on turning it into such a terrific vehicle for herself.
Rating: - Yentl
This is an amazing work by Barbra Streisand. It has made a profound imprint on me in a variety of ways. The role of women and what they had to do in order to become what they were meant to achieve and the lyrics of the songs and how it relates to me personally and to other women. Also, how the theme of the play is so Barbra in her responsibilities to this movie. I recommend the soundtrack, the musical, the story behind the story, Barbra's desires to make this musical, the connection to the original play, the differences between Barbra's version and the original play. Bravo Barbra!
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