Yentl

Set in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century, Yentl centres on a young Jewish woman whose father, a rabbi, has secretly taught her the Talmud even though religious study is closed to women. After he dies, she cuts her hair, dresses as a man and leaves her village to continue her education at a religious school. There she falls in love with a fellow student, Avigdor, who does not know she is a woman, while he is expected to marry Hadass. The situation grows more complicated as the three become bound to one another.

Barbra Streisand directs and stars as Yentl, and wrote the screenplay with Jack Rosenthal; she also produced. Mandy Patinkin plays Avigdor, Amy Irving plays Hadass, and Nehemiah Persoff appears as Rebbe Mendel. Made for about 12 million dollars, the film took roughly 40 million dollars worldwide. It was Streisand's first outing as a director, ahead of The Prince of Tides, The Mirror Has Two Faces and Streisand: Live in Concert 2006.

The film is a musical drama, running 132 minutes. On IMDb it holds 6.6 out of 10 from around 17,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7 out of 10 from some 271 votes; a critics' rating of 6.6 out of 10 from 78 reviews places it at much the same level as the audience response.