I have been waiting for the DVD version of "Yentl" to come out for SO LONG! I kept checking Amazon.com and then I finally signed up for the "Let me know if the DVD makers ever catch a clue and put this incredible movie on DVD" notification. I must have signed up for it 3-4 years ago...maybe longer. And then...last month, it came...an email from Amazon.com. "Your waiting is over. Come buy your copy of "Yentl" on DVD. I don't even know why, but when I first got the notification, I kind of brushed over it...a few days later, I realized what I had read. "Yentl" is FINALLY ON DVD!! The movie was made in 1983 and it just came out on DVD February 3, 2009. It was worth the wait.I know most people haven't even seen this movie...I don't know why. It is another one of those labors of love, as "Schindler's List" is to Steven Spielberg, so "Yentl" is to Barbra Streisand. Perhaps it is the fact that it is a musical that causes people to turn away from it...but ask a Streisand fan if they have seen "Hello, Dolly!" and they will all say yes. This movie is such a masterpiece - she wrote it, directed it, starred in it, sang in it. Ahhh.
See Mandy Patinkin before he got too big for his britches.
The cinemetography is georgeous. The film was done inPrague, New York and Liverpool. The scenes in Prague are stunningly beautiful and capture that Eastern European flavor.
This is a great story for girls and women that illustrates how much our world has changed - from a time when the book vendors recommended "Picture books for women" and would not allow girls to study or learn to read. Here is a quote from the movie:
Yentl: If we don't have to hide my studying from God, then why from the neighbors?
Yentl's Father: Why? Because I trust God will understand. I'm not so sure about the neighbors.
There is the most stunning scene between Yentl (Barbra Streisand) and Avigdore (Mandy Patinkin) that I think is one of the most perfect love scenes ever filmed - she reveals herself to him as a woman and falls to her knees - the light is pouring in from the window and she looks up at him for this brief moment - perfection.
The music- if for no other reason than the music..."Where is it Written?", "Papa Can You Hear Me?", "A Piece of Sky"...it doesn't get much better than this. If you want to give a little listen, you can listen to pieces of the songs here. People haven't really heard "Papa Can You Hear Me?" if they have never heard the movie version. People started mocking it and doing parodies, but it is really a beautiful song and a beautifully realized piece of film.
Here are some clips to tempt you. Meanwhile, I'm going to go watch it!
"Papa Can You Hear Me"
Original 1983 Trailer
well, i will have to put it on my list, because just recently i discovered that i love barbara striesand. i mean, she is just amazing. not one for musicals, they kind of scare me, or maybe its just that i'm disappointed that life can't be like a musical, where people just spontaneously burst into song and coordinated choreography. none-the-less, will netflix this one on your recommendation!
ReplyDeletep.s. my word verification tonight: hot rat!