Yentl (1983) - DaaVeeDee

Yentl (1983) (DVD) (*)

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Screened, competed or awarded at:
Golden Globes
Oscar Academy Awards
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
Danish ( Subtitles )
Dutch ( Subtitles )
English ( Mono )
English ( Subtitles )
Finnish ( Subtitles )
French ( Mono )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Mono )
German ( Subtitles )
Hebrew ( Subtitles )
Italian ( Mono )
Italian ( Subtitles )
Norwegian ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Mono )
Spanish ( Subtitles )
Swedish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Italy ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
128 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.66:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1983 and produced in:
Czech Republic ( Russia, Eastern Europe )
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Barbra Streisand

Written By:
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Jack Rosenthal

Actors:
Allan Corduner ..... Shimmele
Amy Irving ..... Hadass
Anna Tzelniker ..... Mrs. Kovner
Barbra Streisand ..... Yentl (aka Anshel)
Bernard Spear ..... Tailor
David de Keyser ..... Rabbi Zalman
Doreen Mantle ..... Mrs. Shaemen
Jack Lynn ..... Bookseller
Lynda Baron ..... Peshe
Mandy Patinkin ..... Avigdor
Mary Henry ..... Mrs. Jacobs
Miriam Margolyes ..... Sarah
Nehemiah Persoff ..... Reb Mendel 'Papa'
Ruth Goring ..... Esther Rachel
Steven Hill ..... Reb Alter Vishkower

Synopsis:

Barbra Streisand's directorial debut, Yentl, is a musical adaptation of a story by the beloved Jewish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer. Yentl (Streisand) is a young woman who wants nothing more than to study religious scripture. She is denied that possibility because she is a woman. She moves, passes herself off as a male named Anshel, and then begins her studies. She becomes close to fellow student Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin), eventually falling in love with him, although she can not reveal her true self as she would then be expelled. Avigdor is in love with Hadass (Amy Irving), but religious law forbids him from marrying her. Avigdor attempts to fix Anshel up with Hadass, leading to Hadass falling in love with Anshel. Yentl received four Academy Award nominations, including two Best Song nods.

Dramatization of "Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy," by Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902-1991); originally published in Yiddish c. 1960, then in English c. 1983. The story: In an Ashkenazic shtetl in Poland, Yentl Mendel is the boyishly klutzy daughter and only child of long widowed Rebbe ("Talmud Teacher") Mendel, who teaches Talmud (a codification of Jewish Law) to local boys - and to Yentl, but secretly because girls were not allowed to learn the law in those days. When her father dies, Yentl is all alone in the world. She takes the momentous decision to leave the village and - disguised as a boy and calling herself by the name of her late brother, Anshel - seeks and gets admitted to a Yeshiva, to study the texts, traditions, subtleties and complexities of Torah, Talmud, etc. She befriends Avigdor who is engaged to Haddas, but her family discovers his brother committed suicide so they call off the wedding (in case Avigdor possesses the same madness). Anshel then finds "him"-self in the awkward position of being called into service as substitute bridegroom, so that the wedding can go ahead and Haddas will have a husband. It is a marriage that never gets consummated - apart from the more obvious reasons, because Haddas still wants Avigdor (though she eventually falls in love with Yentl, too). After numerous complications (including Avidor and Yentl falling in love with each other, briefly, after she reveals her secret to him, along with her bosom), the film ends with everybody getting what they always wanted - Haddas and Avigdor to live happily ever after with each other, while Anshel, now Yentl once again, goes off to America to pursue her dream of serious study in Yeshiva, where she will be able to study without needing to hide her identity as a woman.

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

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 27 February, 2019.