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Amos Lassen wrote on 01/10/2009:

“Yentl”

Barbra, Can You Hear Me?

Amos Lassen

Miss Streisand, I love this movie. Every so often we will have a film that the critics do not care for it but the public loves. “Yentl” is a perfect example. The critics were not too kind to Barbra’s project—the movie she always wanted to make—but we loved it. In “Yentl”, LaStreisand did it all. She co-authored the screenplay, she starred, she directed and she took an important step in doing all these things. She entered an area that was dominated by men and she gave us a memorable and touching film. She did it with skill and class and we are all better because if it.
“Yentl” is the film that Streisand says she always wanted to make. Her script is based loosely on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer and takes place in a shtetl in Poland. Yentl is a klutzy girl and the only child of the long widowed rebbe, Mendel, who is the teacher in the village. He secretly teaches Talmud (commentary on the Torah and Jewish law) to his daughter; this is an activity reserved only for men). When he dies, Yentl is left alone in the world and disguised as a boy, leaves her village and is accepted to a Yeshiva, a school for men, where she wants to study. She becomes friendly with Avigdor (Mandy Patinkin). He is engaged to Haddas (Amy Irving), a lovely girl. However Avigdor’s brother committed suicide and the wedding is called off for fear that Avigdor may suffer from the same madness. Yentl, now under the name of Anshel, is called in as a substitute groom so that Haddas can be married. Haddas of course cannot consummate the marriage because of the obvious as well as the fact that she is in love with Avigdor. Complications ensue all around but it all comes to a happy ending.
Now, after a very long wait, we finally have “Yentl” on DVD. It was worth the wait and the film still holds its own. We have a story about conquering fears and achieving dreams. The music and the songs are integral to carry the plot along. This is Barbra Streisand everywhere, She gives us a story of a woman who fights against the world which is dominated by men; it is a story of a woman who wants to be more than what was dictated to her by her gender. Here is a woman who challenges the male world. This is a different kind of musical—it is actually a drama that happens to have some songs (which are beautifully written by Michele LeGrand). Streisand casts her spell over the audience and succeeds at pulling us in. She is a diva, if not the THE diva and we love her for it.