Yentl

"In a time when the world of study belonged only to men, there lived a girl who dared to ask..."why?""

1983 2h 12m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🍅

69%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.6

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 271🍅69%Rotten Tomatoes●68Metacritic★6.6IMDB · 17,169

MusicDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In a time when girls were forbidden to study religious scriptures, a Jewish girl masquerades as a boy to enter religious training and unexpectedly finds love along the way.

“In a time when the world of study belonged only to men, there lived a girl who dared to ask..."why?"”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

MGM+ Amazon ChannelSubscription

PhiloSubscription

MGM Plus Roku Premium ChannelSubscription

MGM PlusSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Barbra Streisand
Yentl
Mandy Patinkin
Avigdor
Amy Irving
Hadass
Nehemiah Persoff
Rebbe Mendel
Steven Hill
Reb Alter Vishkower
Allan Corduner
Shimmele
Ruth Goring
Esther Rachel
David de Keyser
Rabbi Zalman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Barbra Streisand
Writers: Barbra Streisand, Jack Rosenthal
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

43 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Barbra Streisand, shot by David Watkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michel Legrand. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Terry Rawlings shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Barbra Streisand and Mandy Patinkin and Amy Irving carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In a time when the world of study belonged only to men, there lived a girl who dared to ask..."why?"".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0086619 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Barbra Streisand directs. David Watkin behind the camera. Michel Legrand scores. Terry Rawlings cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

143 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Barbra Streisand, shot by David Watkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Michel Legrand. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Terry Rawlings shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Barbra Streisand and Mandy Patinkin and Amy Irving carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "In a time when the world of study belonged only to men, there lived a girl who dared to ask..."why?"".
7IMDB entry: tt0086619 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 9 themes, including "musical", "studies", "judaism", "disguise".

The technical file

Cinematography: David Watkin
Original score: Michel Legrand
Editing: Terry Rawlings
Production design: Roy Walker
Costume design: Judy Moorcroft
Makeup / hair: Jan Jamison
Sound: Aaron Rochin
Runtime: 132 min · 2h 12m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $12,000,000
Box office: $30,400,000
Return: 253% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Yentl (1983)
Rotten Tomatoes: 69% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 68/100
IMDB rating: 6.6/10 · 17,169 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 6 wins & 17 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Original Song Score
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Barbra Streisand

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-01-17
★ 6/10
The eponymous young woman (Barbra Streisand) has been brought up by her father (Nehemiah Persoff) to be a free thinking and curious young girl, and one who is determined to get an education even though it is only boys who are allowed to go to university. When he dies, she hits on quite a riskily innovative idea. She will cut her hair and dress as boy. Voilà - "Anschel" is born and of he goes to further study the Talmud. Once there, she befriends "Avigdor" (Mandy Patinkin) and his fiancée "Hadass" (Amy Irving) and her association with them gradually makes her realise that there is much more to life than books and philosophy. Life must be for living. Except, well perhaps no-one would be prepared for the favour her new friend asks of her; one that compromises the very purpose of her study and search for independence. It's at this point that what was a powerful and personable drama starts to come off the rails. There is a cruelty to the narrative that no amount of power-ballading is going to mitigate. I went from being broadly engaged by the "Yentl/Anschel" character to being really rather disgusted by the selfishness on display. Certainly that's partly a testament to the acting of Streisand and to the scene-stealing Irving, and it's a potent indictment of marital traditions that don't just exist within the Jewish community, but I still found the preparedness of this would-be scholar to engage in something quite so unkind rather put me off a story about which I no longer cared. The production design is authentic looking and the supporting cast for the first part of the film are engaging, lively and even a little mischievous. "Papa" and "A Piece of Sky" clearly demonstrate the Legrand/Bergman/Streisand partnership at it's most musically powerful but in the end did this film show us a woman bent on self-improvement or one just concerned about herself? I think however pertinent the purpose of a film may be, it's important for the audience to feel some sympathy with the plaintiff, so to speak. Here I started off like that, but quickly felt a lack of objectivity around the development of the lead characterisation led to the creation of a persona I didn't especially respect and I certainly didn't trust.

Production companies