A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training.A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training.A Jewish girl disguises herself as a boy to enter religious training.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 6 wins & 17 nominations total
- Peshe
- (as Lynda Barron)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBarbra Streisand hand-picked Mandy Patinkin for this movie, and he politely declined several times because he did not like the script. He was eventually invited to Streisand's house where they could discuss the parts he wanted to change. He then agreed to be in the film.
- GoofsThe final scene (on the ship to America) begins with a Jewish child supposedly reading a book, while following his reading with a finger on the lines of text. The book is visibly in Hebrew, language were reading is done from right to left. Yet, the child's finger goes from left to right.
- Quotes
Yentl: Why is it that every book I buy, every bookseller has the same old argument?
Yentl's Father: You know why.
Yentl: I envy them.
Yentl's Father: The booksellers?
Yentl: No, not the booksellers, the students. Talking about life, the mysteries of the universe and I'm learning how to tell a herring from a carp.
Yentl's Father: Yentl, for the thousandth time, men and women..."
Yentl: [cuts him off] have different obligations, I know, but...
Yentl's Father: [cuts her off] and don't ask why.
Yentl's Father: [sees her disappointment] Go on, get the book.
Yentl: Thank you, papa!
Yentl's Father: The shutters, darling.
Yentl: We don't have to hide my studying from God, then why the neighbors?
Yentl's Father: Why? Because I trust God will understand. I'm not so sure about the neighbors.
- Crazy creditsAt the very end of the closing credits: This film is dedicated to my father... and to all our fathers.
- ConnectionsEdited into Barbra Streisand: Papa Can You Hear Me (1984)
- SoundtracksWhere Is It Written?
(uncredited)
Music by Michel Legrand
Lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
Performed by Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand had wanted to make this film since 1968, but everyone in the industry told her she was crazy. In 1979, she was still determined to make the film, even if the studio's weren't. She was turned down by every motion picture company at least twice, until finally in the early eighties, MGM/UA picked up the project. Made on a then-above average budget of about $14 million, YENTL was released to mostly positive reviews and eventually grossed a surprisingly strong $50 million in the US alone and did twice as well around the world. The only disappointment is that Streisand was snubbed by Oscar.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $40,218,899
- Gross worldwide
- $40,219,251
- Runtime2 hours 13 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1