Yentl 10/12/12 Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score 1983
I am totally conflicted on this movie, I feel like culturally I should love this film and tell everyone to see it, you will gain a great understanding of Jewish culture and history from early 20th century Europe. I just don’t know if I can. It wasn't terrible (is this like a backhanded compliment?), but I think I would have liked it without the singing, I don’t think it needed to be a musical. I’m not even sure it’s a true musical, it’s really only Barbra Streisand who sings, isn't Mandy Patinkin a singer? How come he didn't warble a little something? How come there wasn't great cantorial music (I don’t know if that’s a word, but if you know what a cantor is, then you understand). The movie is set in Eastern Europe (Poland I think, although in the early 20th century, those things weren't always clear) in 1904 and Yentl is a young woman who wants to study and learn about the Talmud, which is not allowed; women aren't supposed to read and learn. After her father dies, Yentl embarks on a journey to study the Torah and the Talmud by masquerading as a young man. All kinds of things happen, including a friendship with Mandy Patinkin, and an eventual ‘marriage’ to Amy Irving (this was fun for me to watch because I enjoyed the wedding celebration with the traditional dancing) and the great reveal. Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote the original short story in Yiddish on which this was based, and from what I could gather, Barbra Streisand went to great lengths to get this movie made, so it really was a labor of love for her. I wish I had millions to work on my labors of love. It was easy to imagine the shtetl where Yentl lived to be one where my great-grandparents may have lived, going to the market, going to synagogue, etc. Parts of the movie were filmed in Prague (doubling as Lublin) and they cross the Charles Bridge and I wanted to love the movie more; maybe less singing would have helped. I don’t know, something just didn't click. Maybe I was hoping for Fiddler on the Roof? The movie won for Best Original Song Score or Adaption Score which was done by Michel LeGrand (he of The Thomas Crowne Affair soundtrack) and Marilyn and Alan Bergman, there were only three nominees, perhaps they should have skipped that category. On a side note, Amy Irving was nominated as Best Supporting Actress, she lost out to Linda Hunt in The Year of Living Dangerously, which was the right choice, in my opinion. I’m not sure how she got nominated, the role was pivotal but she wasn't (you can see Amy Irving in Crossing Delancy another cultural favorite set in the 1980s or 1990s in New York City). So, again, should you watch it? Yentl, I mean. See Fiddler first, set about 20-30 years earlier in Tsarist Russia; it’s much more of a musical, with the great Zero Mostel. That should hold you for a bit.
