For much of the late-20th century, Barbra Streisand was a ubiquitous star of stage, record, and screen. But the EGOT winner’s artistic vision was never clearer than in her three forays into producing, directing and starring in movies: “Yentl” (1983), “The Prince of Tides” (1991) and “The Mirror Has Two Faces” (1996).
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Each film features a touch of Streisand’s cross-medium talents: a little musicality, a little slapstick comedy, and a little Judaism and feminism intermingling to define the persona of an underexplored icon.
Fitting into spaces occupied by gentile and male stars-turned-auteurs like Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, and Robert Redford, Streisand took complete control of her films in the ‘80s and ‘90s as a fearless artist, creating a fascinating (if under-appreciated) body of work. With “The Prince of Tides” freshly added to the Criterion Collection and Streisand celebrating 78 trips around the sun later this month, Be Reel dives into her trio of directorial efforts.
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