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Barbara Streisand Interview provided by El Rey network
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00:10Mark.
00:11That's a cute little one.
00:13These are tiny little ones, though.
00:14I like that.
00:15Yeah, you can swipe those too.
00:21Can I have you say one thing to the camera?
00:22This is Barbara Streisand and you're watching El Rey Network.
00:35I'm beyond excited to be sitting down with the incredibly talented and always inspiring
00:41Barbara Streisand.
00:43A multi-hyphenate, if there ever was one.
00:46Actress, singer, director, writer, composer, producer, designer, author, photographer,
00:55I got tired just listing it.
00:57Thank you, Barbara, for being here on El Rey Networks, the director's chair.
01:00My pleasure to be with you.
01:02I think a filmmaker automatically doesn't know how another one approaches directing,
01:07because we all do it differently.
01:08So this show is about a director asking another director questions about the craft.
01:11They never get.
01:12I went and watched little interviews with you.
01:14They're asking you about fluff stuff.
01:16No one's asking you about process.
01:17Exactly.
01:18So I'm putting an end to that tonight.
01:19Good, good, good.
01:20So I have an unusually long intro for a filmmaker, but it warrants it with you.
01:25Really?
01:25You were so inspiring.
01:26My five sisters, you know, my mom.
01:29Five sisters?
01:30They were empowered.
01:31Five sisters and five brothers?
01:33I mean, four brothers and you?
01:34Mm-hmm.
01:35And when you went into directing, that inspired us and me as a filmmaker in a whole other way,
01:40because you broke through where no one else had ever broken through.
01:43Wow.
01:44And it's inspired, especially if you're from the outside looking in, if you're Hispanic
01:48or from, you know, a minority or a woman who's a minority in Hollywood.
01:54Yes.
01:54And what struck me when I first met you, because it struck me when I saw you,
01:58wow, no one has ever come close to your level of talent, accomplishments in so many areas.
02:05Even after all these years, no one's come close, much less equal.
02:08They're topped.
02:08You're kidding.
02:09And the other thing that shocked me right after that was realizing, and no one ever will.
02:14No one ever will.
02:15Think about it.
02:16There's not.
02:16The times have changed.
02:17No one's going to go do what you did in movies and music.
02:21Oh, I see.
02:21You know, she sold more records than the Rolling Stones.
02:25I mean, if someone did this today, they'd be the second coming.
02:28But what happens is when someone is at a level and no one's even at your level,
02:33they tend to get taken for granted after a while because people are just so used to them being around.
02:37Around?
02:37Well, none of us here tonight are taking you for granted, Barbara.
02:41Well, that's so sweet.
02:41We're here to jump right into your career.
02:44All right.
02:45As a recording artist.
02:50As an actress.
02:52Funny girl.
02:53Who is a pip with pizzazz?
02:55Who is all ginger and jazz?
02:58Who's an American beauty rose with an American beauty nose?
03:03Hello, Dolly.
03:05Hello.
03:07I am going to marry Horace Van Gelder and send his money out into the world.
03:13As you always used to say, Ephraim, money is like manure.
03:17It's not worth a thing unless it's spread around, encouraging young things to grow.
03:23What's up, Doc?
03:24What's up, Doc?
03:25I beg your pardon?
03:26Judy Maxwell.
03:27How do you do?
03:28How do you do?
03:29Could you let go of my hand?
03:30I don't think so.
03:33Up the sandbox.
03:34You women live like slaves.
03:37In order to change your status, you must have female military leaders.
03:41We don't want your kind of power.
03:44No, we do not have to become more like you, sir.
03:46We only have to become more like ourselves.
03:49The way we were.
03:51Do things still come too easily?
03:52Huh?
03:53In a way, he was like the country he lived in.
03:56Everything came too easily to him.
04:00As a star and as a producer of A Star is Born.
04:04You can trash your life, but you're not gonna trash mine.
04:08Watch closely now.
04:11Are you watching me?
04:12Johnny!
04:17Johnny!
04:18Do you watch me now?
04:19As a director.
04:20Papa?
04:21Yentl.
04:21Can you hear me?
04:24Papa, can you see me?
04:27Papa, can you find me in the night?
04:32Nothing's impossible!
04:34Prince of Tides.
04:35Is this what people pay you to do?
04:37Turn him into someone else?
04:38My son didn't try to kill himself!
04:40Oh, give him time, Lowenstein!
04:41Give him time!
04:42You son of a bitch!
04:44Mirror has two faces.
04:45Why do people want to fall in love when it can have such a short shelf life and be devastatingly
04:51painful?
04:52I think it's because while it does last, it feels great.
04:57That's right!
05:01Our early years really sometimes define us as an artist.
05:06What was it that got you thinking about getting into the performing arts in particular?
05:11Because you have such a breadth of talent.
05:12You could have gone into many different things and applied creativity to it.
05:15What drew you towards that in particular?
05:18Probably coming from a dysfunctional home.
05:25I mean, looking for beauty, love, kindness.
05:32So I went to the movies a lot.
05:35Kurosawa, you know, Seven Samurai.
05:38After seeing The Red Shoes, you know, I wanted to be a ballerina.
05:41Although it was scary that they ran away with her, which was interesting to see.
05:46That passion can run away with you.
05:50That wanting, longing can run away with you.
05:54And then I went to see Guys and Dolls.
05:56They call you Lady Luck.
05:59And fell in love.
06:00I was a huge fan of Marlon Brando's.
06:04It was the only movie I ever sat through twice.
06:08Because, you know, in those days we had a double feature.
06:10So you had to sit through the other picture to get back to Guys and Dolls.
06:15The world was prettier.
06:18Love was there and romantic.
06:21And I thought, oh, my God, they get to fall in love.
06:26And I thought, I'd like to be in the movies to pretend that.
06:31So your first film is such an amazing film, Funny Girl.
06:35It's like the greatest arrival of a star in a movie ever.
06:40Hello, gorgeous.
06:42Because the character becomes a star.
06:45And you can see a star being born in you for the first time on the screen.
06:49They also wrote a song called I'm the Greatest Star.
06:51Cause I'm the greatest star.
06:56It's, to go back and watch it now, knowing the career you've had, it's, it almost, it gives you chills.
07:01I am the greatest, greatest star.
07:14It's Fanny Brice's story, but it easily feels like it could have been your story.
07:17Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:17Because you were so unconventional, so it came out of nowhere and skyrocketed.
07:21Squirrels.
07:23I'm crazy.
07:24Was that kind of like a master class in filmmaking when you made that with William Wynne?
07:27Were you already thinking about directing?
07:29I knew the piece so well.
07:31Because I had played the part on stage literally a thousand times between London and New York.
07:38You know, and I would, I would love to try different things.
07:42First day of shooting, we're in a train station.
07:44I'm arriving in Baltimore as a star.
07:47I said, Willie, I have an idea.
07:49What if we did a take off on, I think it was Ninotchka.
07:53Mm-hmm.
07:54So, she's at the top of the stairs, the smoke is in the way.
07:58And the smoke clears and there's this gorgeous Greta Garbo.
08:03Right, right.
08:04And I thought, wouldn't it be funny if there's smoke, and then just through the smoke, you
08:08go, you see and hear me go, and that's how I would make my entrance there.
08:16He didn't let me do it.
08:17Enter the star.
08:19Miss Price, hold it.
08:21But he allowed me to do it at the bottom of the stairs when I'm taking a picture and
08:26smoke is coming from the wheels and I did some funny stuff there.
08:31I was like that the first day of shooting in my first film.
08:34Is it true that William Wyler gave you an engraved megaphone that said, congratulations
08:39on directing your first picture?
08:41Yeah.
08:41Is that story true?
08:42I mean, I hope it is.
08:44Willie, at the end of shooting, did give me a director's megaphone.
08:47Well, that wasn't on the megaphone, but he did say that.
08:50Yes.
08:51No, wait, let's go back a little.
08:53When I came in to audition for I Can Get If You're Wholesale, a secretary and I came
08:59to sing this song that they gave me to sing.
09:02Oh, why is it always Miss Marmelstein?
09:06I asked for a chair.
09:08Now, why did I ask for a chair?
09:10You know, I'm saying, in my mind, I thought it would be funny to stage the song in a secretarial
09:17chair with wheels on it so that I could push myself around the stage with this chair.
09:27And I get the job, right?
09:30I get the job.
09:32And then the director and the choreographer proceed to stage it another way.
09:38Right.
09:39And I couldn't understand it.
09:40It's like, oh, I thought you liked the chair.
09:45No, no, that was great for the audition.
09:49But now, you know, we want you to walk across the stage and you'll see different people and
09:54they'll talk to you.
09:55And I said, the thing is, I go by instinct.
09:59And so I started to do it, but it felt so awkward and so unnatural and so strange to me.
10:07Right.
10:07And it never worked until right before we went to our first out of town tryout.
10:15I said, can I, you know, just please, just let me try the chair.
10:21And what happened was the number stopped the show.
10:24Wow.
10:25And my picture in the chair went out the next day in front of the theater.
10:30Of course, they didn't like me for that, but it was the truth of that piece to me.
10:35Right.
10:36So that's functioning like a director.
10:38Totally.
10:38In a sense.
10:39You brought a lot of drama to your, like the ending, powerful ending in Funny Girl,
10:45where you're singing My Man and it's such an incredible, how did that get shot?
10:49What happened there was interesting because it, this is how wonderful Willie, he allowed
10:54me to watch dailies.
10:56So I filmed the song, you know, I did that the way they did all the old musicals.
11:02You prerecord the soundtrack.
11:05Seen to play back.
11:05Months before.
11:07And I come on stage.
11:08Now I finally played the scene in the dressing room with Nicky coming back, you know?
11:14And now I go out and I have to do a lip sync, which I'm terrible at because I believe
11:20you
11:21have, you know, that's why my performances are different each time, slightly different
11:26anyway.
11:27I can't, I'm very bad at that.
11:30Remembering how you played it that one time, yeah.
11:32So they played it in dailies the next day and everybody was applauding and, oh, fantastic.
11:39And Willie turned to me and he said, Barbara, what do you think?
11:44And I said, Willie, it could be much better because we have to shoot it live.
11:51I have to be in the moment.
11:54Wow.
11:54So the next day we shot it, the whole first part, that close up, live.
12:01Wow, yeah.
12:02What's the difference if I say?
12:04I had just a piano off stage.
12:06I'll go away.
12:08Camera was close.
12:12When I know I'll come back.
12:14I want to cry.
12:16On my knees someday.
12:18I don't know where I'm going to cry.
12:20For whatever my man is.
12:22It hit me.
12:23I am his forever more.
12:29And then I had to get control of myself.
12:32Oh, my man, I'd love him so.
12:37He'll never know.
12:39Who knows?
12:40You know, that may have been the reason I got an Academy Award.
12:44Hello, gorgeous.
12:48You know when Jamie Foxx said something funny?
12:50Jamie Foxx you worked with on your record.
12:52Yeah.
12:52I was working with a director friend of mine.
12:54My director friend told me this because he heard I was going to come talk to you.
12:56He said, I was talking to Jamie and they were talking about an album that he did with you.
13:00And Jamie Foxx said, have you met Barbara?
13:03And my director friend said, no, I haven't.
13:05And Jamie said, she gangsta.
13:08Which is like the most badass.
13:10Street cred, cool.
13:12I thought that was just, and it's true.
13:14You inspire so many people who are on the outside looking in who can't feel like they get in by
13:19showing action.
13:21Starting with Funny Girl in 1968, you starred in 12 movies in 12 years.
13:27And by the end of that 12 years, you'd already made 20.
13:30No.
13:31Some odd albums.
13:32Oh, 20 albums.
13:34Albums.
13:35Because, you know.
13:35While doing the movies.
13:36It's just extraordinary.
13:38And this is just a 12 year period.
13:40Over 20.
13:41Out of, I don't even know how many.
13:42I was very fruitful.
13:44Fruitful.
13:45And then you turned your eyes towards directing.
13:50Woo!
13:52Gotta be in shape for this.
13:54I called up my agent.
13:56And I said, I just found my next picture.
13:59And it's called Yentl the Yeshiva Boy.
14:04Here we go.
14:05For sec.
14:15Here we go.
14:16For sec.
14:17And action.
14:19So, Yentl.
14:21There are certain things that once you have no man can take away.
14:26No wave can wash away.
14:29No wind can blow away.
14:32And now they're about to be mine.
14:37First movie ever where a female wrote, directed, produce, and starred in a major motion picture.
14:45How long did it take to get made?
14:47Yeah.
14:47Fourteen years.
14:48I was just determined.
14:49And I thought, I've got to get this movie made if it's the last thing I do.
14:54So you put all your attention towards that.
14:56Yeah.
14:57And finally it got made.
14:59When did you first get the idea for it?
15:01I got the property in 1968.
15:04Can you imagine?
15:05The producer at the time, Valentine Sherry, his name was, sent it to me and I called up my agent.
15:12And I said, I just found my next picture.
15:15And it's called Yentl the yeshiva boy.
15:19And he said, are you kidding me?
15:22I was touched by the first four words of the story.
15:25Maybe we come back later.
15:27Which were, after her father's death.
15:31My father had died when I was a baby.
15:34For me, it was a chance to have a father.
15:38Yeah.
15:39And it's a really touching, beautiful relationship that you have with him.
15:42Yeah, and he was wonderful.
15:44I envy them.
15:45The booksellers?
15:46No, not the booksellers, the students.
15:48Talking about life, the mysteries of the universe.
15:50And I'm learning how to tell a herring from a carp.
15:52Yentl for the thousandth time, men and women.
15:55Have different obligations, I know, but how?
15:57And don't ask why.
16:02Go on, get the books.
16:05And I saw it as a modern film.
16:09I mean, we have the same problem today.
16:12How many cultures won't allow women to still study?
16:15I mean, the scene where you're trying to find a book to read that's not allowed for women
16:18very much mirrors you trying to get into the movie industry.
16:21You're in the wrong place, miss.
16:23What?
16:24Books for women are over here.
16:26Here.
16:28Buy a nice picture book.
16:29Girls like picture books.
16:31What if I told you it's for my father?
16:33Why didn't you say?
16:35How do you get distance when you're on a production that you're also directing and starring?
16:40Are there people that you trust? Is it all just instinct? Do you show it to people?
16:44I think I do a lot of work beforehand.
16:46I did a little eight-minute film before we shot.
16:50I put on a costume.
16:51The Bergmans played the tailors so I could figure out, okay, it starts on the shoes,
16:55camera moves up, and okay, I can move these people around like dolls, you know?
16:58So you shot this as sort of like pre-visualization.
17:01So you would shoot it ahead of time, cut it?
17:03Oh, yeah.
17:03Work it out.
17:04Work it out.
17:04When I came on the set to do certain things, there it was, you know, badly.
17:09I mean, the streaks in the film because of the light.
17:13But it doesn't matter, you get to see it, right?
17:14Oh, yeah.
17:15Because you saw it already that you could have stuff worked out.
17:17Yeah, I couldn't figure out anything better.
17:18I mean, my first instincts at home in L.A. were really how I saw it.
17:25It's all wrong.
17:26What do you think, Sally?
17:27Well, I think...
17:27I never had such a hard time fitting anybody.
17:29Your shoulders are on my shoulders.
17:31Look how tight it is around the chair.
17:32It fits, it fits.
17:32Another thing that was beautiful to me was the Rembrandt paintings.
17:37A lot of his paintings didn't have the source of the light.
17:41You only saw the glow on the faces.
17:44And I was thinking, yeah, that is such a key.
17:47Because in Yentl, I wanted the light on the faces to have that glow because it was enlightenment.
17:55It was the light of learning.
17:58And it has an inner glow to it.
18:00There was a purity and an innocence in people striving for knowledge.
18:05Imagine so much music experience.
18:08Did you find directing is very similar to how you direct your music when you're doing it at record and
18:13directing musicians?
18:15Did that help you to have a musical sensibility to get rhythm and pacing right on the set?
18:20It is true.
18:21I mean, even sequences, right, you want them staccato and fast.
18:25And then the next scene, you know, you better change the tempo.
18:29Right.
18:30You know, maybe this one is very quiet and the camera far away from things.
18:35I don't know.
18:36I think so much is instinctive.
18:39Yeah.
18:39I'm not intellectual about things.
18:42Yeah.
18:42There's a scene where she's chasing her through different buildings while they're having a conversation.
18:46That's right.
18:46It's so visceral.
18:47You're talking like a madman.
18:49But someone may take her away from me.
18:50I'll never see her again.
18:51Wait.
18:52Think of you then.
18:52I am, I am.
18:53She'll take care of you.
18:54I could hear the sound of it.
18:56Meaning, da-da-da-da-da-da, cut.
18:58Da-da-da-da-da-da, door slam.
19:00Da-da-da-da-da, cut.
19:01You have a great eye for finding how to tell a story.
19:04Not just with a script, but with the music.
19:06With the lighting, like you're saying now, the lighting is telling the story.
19:10It was such a, it was a, um, such a learning experience.
19:14I remember the end scene when he finds out that I'm a, a woman.
19:19Um, we had two cameras and we also used the Steadicam.
19:22It really helped to tell the story.
19:25Please, just let me explain.
19:26Don't tell me about you.
19:28Don't be afraid of me.
19:29I'm not going to hurt you.
19:31Everything is tense.
19:32That wonderful kind of tension.
19:34The tension of where everybody's on their toes.
19:37Because if you mess up, you've got to start from the beginning.
19:42Drunk!
19:42Please!
19:43I'm broken every second, every day, every night.
19:46Stay away from me!
19:48Please!
19:49It's like live theater.
19:50Yeah.
19:51It was, it was like a dance, you know, for me.
19:54And music helps.
19:56Yeah.
19:56The timing and the cuts.
19:58Tomorrow night, tomorrow night, tomorrow night is now tonight!
20:10I mean, it was a landmark film for you.
20:12It was a triumph, five Academy Award nominations.
20:17No nomination for director though.
20:20Directed itself somehow.
20:21How did that feel at the time?
20:23Because it was such an achievement for you and for anyone in film.
20:28I think I, now I can feel more bad about it than I did then.
20:34Because then I thought, that's such a, a spotlight on the problem with women.
20:41Mm-hmm.
20:42As a matter of fact, there were only 11 women directors in the director's guild.
20:46Wow.
20:48That's amazing.
20:49And I thought, there's no way they're gonna vote for me.
20:52I was so fortunate to work in England as a director for the first time.
20:59Here we go.
21:00For sec.
21:10Here we go.
21:11For sec.
21:12Here we go.
21:13Action.
21:14Yentl.
21:15You told me that when I asked you before about that you shot it in England.
21:19I thought that was very interesting because it's something I'm always thinking about.
21:23You know, diversity in film, it's a hot topic now.
21:26It wasn't so hot 25 years ago when I was talking about it.
21:28Really?
21:29That really showed something when you said that.
21:31It shows that there's a cultural difference here.
21:33Whew.
21:33A cultural need for more women in film, more, more diversity in film, whether it's minorities
21:39or people whose just voice isn't being heard.
21:41And that shows how the only way you change the culture is by changing the message and who's
21:46saying the message.
21:47Working in England was amazing.
21:49Excuse us, boys.
21:51I was so fortunate to work in England as a director for the first time.
21:56The shoot was so smooth and they were so supportive because they had no misogynistic feelings.
22:04They had a queen.
22:05Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at the time.
22:07Margaret Thatcher was the prime minister at the time.
22:10And anything I wanted to do, you know, can we put a camera?
22:14I want to see when I sing at the foot of the boat at the end.
22:17Is it possible to get a camera in front of me?
22:21The camera coming overhead and then coming down.
22:23Just a piece of sky.
22:27Well, the luma crane had never been used on a boat before.
22:32Wow.
22:32And I would say, you know, I'll change it if that's too difficult or whatever.
22:38And they would say, especially Peter McDonald, the camera operator, he would say, no, no.
22:44If that's your vision, if that's what you see, we will give that to you.
22:47Wow, that's great.
22:48And when we did Prince of Tides, on that movie it was very interesting because the AD was kind of
22:54a chauvinist.
22:56The cameraman and his crew were not helpful.
23:00The first shot that I shot, I remember, okay, it starts on a plate.
23:05And I want him to push the plate and the camera goes up to the mother across the way, something
23:11like that.
23:11And he says, we can't do that.
23:14It's elegant food, Henry.
23:16I remember doing a scene with Nick.
23:19And he's looking forward.
23:21And I'm looking at him.
23:22And he has to do a long speech.
23:25So we filmed him first from the front on the profile.
23:29Now it's my turn to do my side.
23:32And he's saying all different words.
23:35And I said, Nick, you have to say the same words because we could see your mouth.
23:40Moving, yeah.
23:40Move here, right.
23:42Across the trail.
23:42Yeah.
23:43And he said, no, it doesn't matter.
23:45And first of all, you don't see my mouth, right?
23:48The guy says, no, you don't see your mouth.
23:51And I go, by this time, I never took the time to go over to the...
23:55It's going, look at you.
23:55I was wondering, how do you see?
23:56I didn't do that.
23:56I had the video right there under my feet because I didn't want to take the time.
24:01Yeah.
24:01So I'm going, of course you see the mouth.
24:03But I played it back.
24:05You see the mouth.
24:06I go over to him and say, why did you...
24:09I just looked at the video.
24:11You lied to him.
24:12You told him you didn't see the mouth.
24:13We see the mouth.
24:14And you know what he said?
24:16He went like this.
24:18The boys club.
24:19Whoa.
24:20Oh, my God.
24:23I couldn't believe it.
24:25Why didn't you fire him?
24:28Did you know that anyone you put in there...
24:30Because I always get blamed for things that aren't my fault, you know?
24:33Again, we're doing a scene in my office.
24:35We're sitting opposite each other, like me and Nick, right?
24:39And we shoot.
24:41I want to do him first.
24:42I never wanted to appear self-serving.
24:45I would always try to film the other actor before myself.
24:50And then the next day I'll do me, let's say, in the morning, right?
24:55So they could turn around the set, give me an extra 15 minutes
24:59to have to do my hair and stuff.
25:02And I say, okay, now I want to come into the close-up of him
25:06because he's very tired.
25:10And he has to be tired.
25:11He just came from the south.
25:12He has a headache.
25:14It's the perfect time.
25:15I need to stay over.
25:17Literally, I can get this in 10 minutes
25:19because he is in that state.
25:22He doesn't have to act anything.
25:23Right.
25:25And they said, no, we can't go over.
25:28Oh, no.
25:29Oh, my God.
25:30It was 7 o'clock and we can't go over, okay?
25:34I said, please.
25:35It was like, you know...
25:36And then the cameraman said, no, I don't want to stay longer.
25:40And then, what about you, Nick?
25:42And he said, yeah, I don't want to stay over.
25:46And I thought, I would like to have fired them all.
25:49Yeah.
25:50Right.
25:51But why didn't you?
25:52I couldn't because I didn't want to be not liked.
25:53You thought you would get blamed the drama and all that, yeah.
25:55It would be all kinds of...
25:56It would be like I fired 30 people.
25:58Yeah, because...
25:58I had read a story.
25:59I think it was Mike Nichols.
26:00Because he came and he changed his whole crew.
26:0230 of his people.
26:03No, you would.
26:04If you found somebody like that, you would have to replace them.
26:07There's something wrong.
26:08The point is, Nick was gentlemanly enough and he felt bad.
26:12He called me at 10 o'clock.
26:14And he said, I'm so sorry.
26:16Because the guys did it.
26:18It was like, I agreed.
26:19But I said, you understand it's about your performance.
26:22That's all I'm interested in.
26:24Yeah.
26:25Your performance.
26:26And you were there.
26:27It would have taken minutes.
26:29That's so frustrating.
26:30It's another way that as a woman, you can't even fire a bad crew that a man would have fired
26:35long ago.
26:35Yeah, I should have.
26:36Because you would get...
26:37They would spin some story that you're just a maniac.
26:40So what happened?
26:41The next morning, now we still have to do him and now we're going to waste all this time
26:46coming around on me.
26:48Right.
26:48And it took literally 17 takes.
26:53He was so awake.
26:56He was so sorry that I couldn't get the performance.
26:59She's an excellent director.
27:01Having been an actress, she knows the problems of the actor.
27:04She's very strongly visual.
27:06She also thinks in rhythms musically because of music.
27:10So she's very tuned to sound and that translates into scenes of how they rhythmically should play.
27:17I had a dear friend on set.
27:21He was the prop man, Tommy.
27:23And he came over to me later and he said, you know, they're over there talking that you did that
27:29on purpose.
27:30You took 17 takes because you were so angry about them leaving last night.
27:35I said, what?
27:36You think I want to waste 17 takes?
27:38I got to get his performance right.
27:41You know what I'm saying?
27:41Yeah.
27:42He knew.
27:42But that's what I was up against directing that movie and it was really hard.
27:50Seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, but not for Best Director, again, that's a snub.
28:01Here we go.
28:01For sec.
28:11Here we go.
28:12For sec.
28:14And.
28:15Action.
28:16What the hell is going on here?
28:18Why is she strapped down like that?
28:19They saved your sister's life.
28:21Well, I don't like to see her strapped down.
28:22What you like.
28:23She's still a threat to herself.
28:25And there's no point to any of this unless we can keep Savannah alive.
28:28And I don't care if it takes drugs or voodoo or reading the goddamn tarot cards.
28:32I want her alive.
28:33Do you understand me?
28:35So well cast, so well performed.
28:37We've brought on Prince of Tides.
28:41What do you want from me?
28:42Information.
28:43I need you to be her memory, in a sense, and fill in the missing details.
28:49I've spent my life trying to forget those missing details.
28:51You've met somebody in New York, haven't you?
28:55I wake up in the morning and I spend my whole day thinking, isn't it nice just to feel good?
29:03I can't stop smiling.
29:06It was a very unusual film for you to make.
29:09It was so powerful, so strong, and so different.
29:12587 pages, too.
29:13I adored Pat Conroy, who wrote the book.
29:16God, he was fabulous.
29:17And when he started to write, he tried to do a screenplay, and it was just too beautifully written.
29:25In other words, you can't speak in poetry.
29:28Right.
29:29And he completely understood, you know?
29:31So I said, I want to spend two weeks with you, but not about the script.
29:35I want to know you.
29:36I want to know who I'm telling the story about, because it's you and your family.
29:44Yay!
29:45Happy birthday to you!
29:48Happy birthday to you!
29:48And that gave me, you know, a lot of the film, in a sense.
29:52Happy birthday, dear Chandler!
29:54It was so different from anything you'd even been in as an actress.
29:58What spoke to you about it to say, that's my next picture?
30:01It was about divulging secrets.
30:04What are you all hiding?
30:05I don't answer any more questions till you answer mine.
30:09It was about transformation.
30:11I have something to tell you.
30:13I know.
30:14And the power of therapy.
30:17Okay.
30:19Yeah.
30:20In other words, how the truth, truth can set you free.
30:25And I was in therapy for years that time.
30:29Doing research.
30:30No.
30:31Actually.
30:32Right.
30:33And I thought, what, what?
30:34What is this?
30:35It's not helping.
30:36You know, analysis.
30:37I thought, is the guy asleep?
30:39He doesn't talk.
30:39Oh, did you find that the case?
30:40Because as I watched the movie, I would think, now, I would go to therapy if that was my therapist.
30:45She seems like she's getting stuff done here.
30:47That's right.
30:47I actually found a woman therapist.
30:52And it's very funny because one day, we were talking about unconditional love.
30:59And I said, yeah, I was disappointed because this friend of mine didn't seem to have that
31:06for me.
31:07And we've been friends a long, long time.
31:09And she said, your voice, you know, you sound disconnected between the voice and your head.
31:15Like, I don't hear that in your voice.
31:17Well, I don't know what you're talking about.
31:19You know, I was quite defensive.
31:21And she put her hand on mine.
31:25And that physical touch was so powerful.
31:30And I can't tell you why I just broke down and sobbed.
31:34Wow.
31:35I'm trying to remember now.
31:35So when he sits down next to you, do you put your hand on him?
31:39I can feel your pain, Tom.
31:43I feel it.
31:46Let yourself feel it.
31:49It takes courage to feel the pain, Tom.
31:52You can do it.
31:53You can handle it.
31:54I said, I feel your pain because that's what the therapist said to me.
31:58So I wrote that scene into the movie.
32:01It's not in the book, but it's so interesting.
32:04It's one of the greatest scenes.
32:05Isn't that funny?
32:06It's so funny.
32:07That's how it happens.
32:08It's funny because when I spoke to President Clinton at one time when I met him, I said,
32:13you stole my line.
32:15Because remember, he was the I feel your pain president.
32:18Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
32:19Of course.
32:19I feel your pain.
32:22I said, what?
32:23Hey, that's from, I wrote that line.
32:26Well, she said it and I used it.
32:27Five remarkably gifted men were nominated as actors in a leading role.
32:32All of the nominees for best.
32:34Nick Nolte in the Prince of Tides.
32:36The nominees in the category of actors in a supporting role.
32:37Here are the nominees for the best.
32:39For art direction.
32:40The nominees for cinematography.
32:41For original score.
32:42The Prince of Tides.
32:43The Prince of Tides.
32:44They were really paying attention at that time.
32:46Seven Academy Award nominations, including best picture, but not for best director.
32:51Again, that's a snub.
32:54It's definitely a snub.
32:56It was so sweet, though.
32:57I was there.
32:58I took my son.
33:00And other actors said things about it.
33:03So, Liza, why don't you and I and some other real life human beings next year get together
33:08and make a musical of our own?
33:10All right.
33:11Yes.
33:11You know, we should get that other buddy of ours.
33:13I mean, you know, the singer, the actress, that girl over there, the funny girl.
33:17The director.
33:18Right.
33:19The director that we would most like to work with.
33:25I thought, what more can I ask for?
33:28What can you ask for?
33:28It's just an award.
33:29Don't you think again?
33:30It put a spotlight on the problem.
33:32It does, but still.
33:33And the fear of women.
33:34It's, it's, um, I think it's important and it's easy to say, well, it's just an award.
33:38Who cares?
33:39Most of the time you can say that.
33:40But when it's a woman or a minority or someone who, who it sheds, when it puts a light on
33:45something, especially when they're robbed.
33:47And I'm not saying just give them an award, but if they're robbed of an award, they need
33:51those notices to get their next job.
33:53Are you temperamental?
33:54Are you difficult?
33:55Uh, I would say no.
33:57Is Barbara the creative tyrant she's been cast as?
34:00Or is she a perfectionist, reasonably refusing to take shortcuts?
34:04Why didn't Richard like it?
34:05I love it.
34:05Let's just do one more.
34:06You didn't love it if you didn't say something.
34:08You would love to control this piece.
34:10Absolutely.
34:11You are very much a perfectionist.
34:14It's a plus.
34:15It's always a plus when it's a man, if you notice.
34:18When it's a woman, it's like she's a pain in the ass.
34:22People would say, how could you be a director and act in it?
34:25To me, it was easier.
34:27I have two less people to argue with.
34:32Here we go.
34:33Per se.
34:43Here we go.
34:44Per se.
34:46And action.
34:48You seemed forward-thinking from a very early age.
34:51I mean, you created your own production company early on.
34:53Did you always have your eye on always owning your own product at some point,
34:57or making your own movies and producing?
34:59I wanted to, like we had a television company, Barwood Films, with Cis Gorman.
35:04Mm-hmm.
35:05And made movies.
35:06And I was just always interested in politics.
35:08So the first film for my own company was Up the Sandbox, which was about the blossoming women's movement and
35:16abortion, actually.
35:17It was a total flop, but I really loved it.
35:22Yeah.
35:22I loved making those television movies because one was when I read a newspaper article about Margaret Kammermeyer.
35:29She wanted to retire with a general stars.
35:33And when she told the truth that she was gay, she was let go.
35:39And it was so heartbreaking and so unfair that I made a television film about her.
35:51Glenn Close played her and I was very proud of that.
35:54Wow.
35:55So it's a way to do things like that.
35:57Yeah.
35:57But I mean, I didn't direct those.
35:58Yeah.
35:59I produced them.
35:59Produced them.
36:00Yeah.
36:00It was a chance to try out different ways of making stories.
36:03And so when you're acting in a movie, is the director always working or do you let yourself just act
36:09and then you go back and watch or wait till dailies?
36:11Are you constantly directing even while you're acting?
36:13No, I would be a much better actress if I could only be an actress.
36:20Do you see what I mean?
36:20So you're still directing in there?
36:21I'm always directing.
36:23Well, that's good.
36:24You're taking advantage of being right there and getting the reactions you need.
36:27That's what I found.
36:28Like people would say, how could you be a director and act in it?
36:32To me, it was easier.
36:34Really?
36:34Why is that?
36:35Well, for two reasons.
36:36One, I have two less people to argue with.
36:40Right?
36:41And I was going to tell you, it really helped being in the scene.
36:46Sometimes, because with my father, Nehemiah Persoff, who was so wonderful.
36:50I was trying to get a certain reaction that I couldn't get from him.
36:55He's saying something like, what's to become of you, Yentl?
36:58You know too much, but not enough.
37:02And it's my fault.
37:04Papa, please don't say that.
37:06Learning is my whole life.
37:07Please don't be sorry.
37:09I'm not.
37:10The point is, I couldn't get it.
37:12And when I was in the scene with him, it was over my shoulder onto him, I started to improvise
37:21with him.
37:22Right?
37:23The reaction.
37:24And I said, I'm your daughter.
37:26It's not in the script, and it's not in the movie.
37:28Right.
37:28I'm your daughter.
37:29I'm going to be fine.
37:30And that's when he went, ooh.
37:32I love you, Papa.
37:35And I got it.
37:36You see what I mean?
37:37And then it made me so happy.
37:40And, you know, when I was directing The Prince of Tides, and Nick Nolte at first was eyeing me with
37:46suspicion, I think, you know?
37:47Hmm.
37:49And I had to engage their trust.
37:54Right.
37:54There were actually parallel stories in both films.
37:58In Yentl, I was a female director in a man's world, as well as Yentl was a female in a
38:07man's world of education, of studying.
38:10Mm-hmm.
38:11In Prince of Tides, I had to try to get the trust of the character Nick played, and I also
38:19had to get Nick's trust for me as a director.
38:23You don't like psychiatrists much, do you?
38:26Why should I?
38:26What good do you people do?
38:27You ask a lot of questions, and I'm sick of this whole damn routine.
38:31He was my, he wasn't my patient.
38:33He was my patient's brother.
38:36But I had to get him to trust me as a doctor.
38:40You know, I come in here and I tell you everything.
38:42You withhold a part piece of information from me.
38:44Maybe it's you who's withholding.
38:45This is not about me!
38:47Then why are you so upset?
38:48Those are very real emotions that I could tap into, do you know what I mean?
38:52Tom, stop acting like a petulant child.
38:55What was it like working with someone like Lauren Bacall?
38:58Well, that's what I'm going to tell you.
39:02Here we go.
39:03For a sec.
39:13Here we go.
39:14For a sec.
39:15Here we go.
39:16Action.
39:18Mirror has two faces.
39:21Let's face it, we all want to fall in love.
39:24Why?
39:25Because that experience makes us feel completely alive.
39:29Romance is a myth, a manipulation.
39:32Can't believe you've been dating for three months and you haven't even kissed.
39:35How do you say hello?
39:38I think we should get married.
39:39I'm sure you'll both be very, uh, fascinating to watch.
39:43Mirror has two faces.
39:44Got you back to comedy, which is one of my favorite things that you do.
39:47I had one customer come in looking for a makeover.
39:49She was shocked when she found out how old I was.
39:52Oh?
39:52How old were you?
39:54What was it like working with someone like Lauren Bacall?
39:57Well, that's what I'm going to tell you.
40:00See, I loved Betty, but since she hadn't been in a film in a while, she was a bit insecure
40:06and tended to overdo things.
40:08All right, let's get ready for rehearsal, please.
40:11First of all, I would tell them never to cut the camera.
40:14I'll tell you to cut, but don't cut.
40:16Right.
40:17So here we have a scene where she's supposed to be up all night and she's telling me about
40:25herself and what aging means and so forth.
40:29It's an awful thing to do to a woman my age.
40:32Leave her alone with her thoughts.
40:34So we rehearsed it a little bit.
40:37She had a toothpick in her mouth.
40:38She didn't know the lines.
40:40And I said, this is it.
40:42This is it.
40:43I want the toothpick in your mouth.
40:45Guys, we have to stay.
40:46This crew stayed.
40:48I wouldn't have let them go home.
40:49She doesn't know the lines and that's what I want.
40:52Right.
40:53I said, Betty, you know, if it's so bad, you can look at the lines.
40:57But you're talking to me about what it was like being young.
41:03The problem was that I always felt I had more time.
41:07I was, I mean, now I, inside I feel young, like a kid, that it's just a beginning.
41:18I have everything ahead of me, but I don't.
41:23She says, I still feel like a kid.
41:26That wasn't in the script.
41:27That was, that was real.
41:28And yet, um, I'm not.
41:31I mean, it was.
41:33Action.
41:39Well?
41:42Well, nothing, Mom.
41:43Okay, we move to second position.
41:45It's not the act of just staring into the camera and doing a monologue.
41:50Mom?
41:51What?
41:52How did it feel?
41:54How did what feel?
41:55Being beautiful.
41:57I said, what was it like being beautiful?
42:00And her first reaction was, wonderful, wonderful.
42:04And then I say, cut, you know, and then, oh, well, they have to reset the, the camera there.
42:09Um, God, I mean, you know, Betty, it's like, when you did those movies with Humphrey Bogart and all that,
42:17what was, what was that like?
42:18I mean, to go back, I mean, to go back that far, you know, and she went, she thought.
42:23Wow.
42:24That's what I wanted to see.
42:25I really think.
42:31And she said, it was wonderful.
42:35That's what's in the film.
42:37Yeah.
42:37Got it.
42:38You see what I mean?
42:40Your direction got her an Oscar nomination for that film.
42:44I was very proud of her.
42:45It's so much fun to play with actors.
42:48Jeff Bridges was wonderful to work with.
42:50And I was so proud of Nick and all the awards he got and the nominations.
42:56Every actor's different, by the way.
42:58I hope you all mind my asking.
43:01I'd like to know what your intentions are.
43:02You have to be very aware and be kind of a psychiatrist.
43:05You know, who are you talking to?
43:07What's going to crush them?
43:08And how to, you know, bring out the best in them.
43:12And, and it's, that's what I love.
43:13I mean, it's all about the truth to me.
43:18I never went to film school or anything.
43:20So I say, you got to have real moments.
43:27See them.
43:29Hear them.
43:30In real life, we, we don't hear music when we kiss.
43:35A kiss is still a kiss.
43:39Must you stand quite so close?
43:42I'm very nearsighted.
43:44Comedy is funny when it's truthful.
43:47I'm a baker on a plate full of onion rolls.
43:50And when you tell the truth,
43:53funny is serious.
43:55I just believe in telling the truth.
43:58Nothing's impossible.
44:01Nothing.
44:03And you're there seeking the truth.
44:05Yeah.
44:09This is Barbara Streisand, an icon, a legend,
44:12one of the most prolific and talented people we have in the entertainment industry.
44:16Bonafide star, terrific storyteller, recording artist and director.
44:21We're privileged to have her here with us on the director's chair.
44:25Thank you, Barbara.
44:28She gangster.
44:31She gangster.
44:32She gangster.
44:33And now it does not leave her.
44:54There just is the�