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The Handmaid's Tale
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The Handmaid's Tale (1990) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
5.8/10   2,662 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 28% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Writers (WGA):
Margaret Atwood (novel)
Harold Pinter (screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Handmaid's Tale on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
9 March 1990 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Sci-Fi more
Tagline:
A haunting tale of sexuality in a country gone wrong. more
Plot:
In a dystopicly polluted rightwing religious tyranny, a young woman is put in sexual slavery on account of her now rare fertility. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
2 wins & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(5 articles)
Very sad news as Natasha Richardson passes away.
 (From Movie Jungle. 19 March 2009)

Natasha Richardson Dies Aged 45
 (From EmpireOnline. 19 March 2009, 1:01 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
Must See for Those Who Still Care About Women's Rights more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Natasha Richardson ... Kate / Offred

Faye Dunaway ... Serena Joy

Aidan Quinn ... Nick

Elizabeth McGovern ... Moira

Victoria Tennant ... Aunt Lydia

Robert Duvall ... Commander

Blanche Baker ... Ofglen
Traci Lind ... Janine / Ofwarren
Zoey Wilson ... Aunt Helena
Kathryn Doby ... Aunt Elizabeth
Reiner Schöne ... Luke (as Rainer Schoene)
Lucia Hartpeng ... Cora
Karma Ibsen Riley ... Aunt Sara
Lucile McIntyre ... Rita

Gary Bullock ... Officer on Bus
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Additional Details

Runtime:
109 min | USA:108 min
Country:
USA | Germany
Language:
English | German
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby
Certification:
Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 | UK:15 (new rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (bw)
Company:
Bioskop Film more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In the original source novel, the main character is known only by her patronymic, "Offred" (or "of Fred," since she "belongs" to a Commander named Fred); her real name is never revealed, though many readers believe it may be June, based on various subtle hints in the text. However, the filmmakers chose Kate as her pre-Gileadean name, and choose to state it clearly. more
Goofs:
Continuity: The amount of yarn held by Offred for Major's wife. more
Quotes:
Luke: I'll distract them. Run! more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Zomergasten: (#7.4)" (1994) more
Soundtrack:
Little Girl Blue more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
35 out of 57 people found the following comment useful:-
Must See for Those Who Still Care About Women's Rights, 26 February 2006
8/10
Author: Max A. Lebow from United States

Margaret Atwood, a Canadian novelist (and poet) wrote the dark fantasy novel on which this film is based. It is set in The Republic of Gilead, formerly the United States, or at least the parts of it that are not radioactive. The radioactive parts are called the colonies, where bad girls are sent to die of radiation poisoning. The time is the near future, after the inevitable nuclear war, and the breakdown of government as we know it.

The society depicted in The Handmaid's Tale is a nightmare: everyone is watched by the Eyes, unknowable, unseen government spies. Women are forbidden to have jobs. They are irrevocably assigned to classes. At the top are the chaste, but morally superior, Wives, almost all of whom have been rendered infertile by the inevitable unclear war. At the bottom are the housekeepers, or Marthas, who are non-entities. In the middle are the Handmaids of the title, who are fertile, but tightly controlled. The term Handmaid is a Biblical term that is used in the Old Testament stories of Abraham, Sarah, Jacob and Rachel. In the Bible, the wives gave their handmaids to their husbands in order to produce heirs.

Handmaids, in the film and the book, are forced to have sex with the Commanders, the husbands of the Wives. During this sex, the Wives are intimately present to take in any "love" their Commanders have to give.

The Handmaids are trained to remain unattached to the Commanders. They are prohibited from using makeup or doing anything to make themselves attractive. Handmaids are forced to turn their offspring over to the morally "fit" Wives.

Robert Duvall, a Commander in whose home Offred is placed, gives a family Bible reading performance that will curdle the blood of true people of faith. It is a breathtaking, heart-stopping performance.

The government is totalitarian and monotheistic. The one god is very strict, and has His Eyes everywhere.

Offred, who was once known as Kate, is a Handmaid who, despite her training (read brainwashing), recalls her past, her loving husband, and her adored daughter. She tells with sparkling, and terrifying clarity, how the society came to be the way it is.

This governmental aspect of the story is instructive, however, they are almost totally absent in the film.

Offred's/Kate's personal story is heartrending. It reminds one of the miseries of, say, the women of Darfur. When the government breaks down, she and her husband and daughter attempt to flee to Canada. Unfortunately, they are caught. Her daughter is "confiscated." Her husband is taken away. She never sees her husband again.

Offred's training is not as extensively portrayed in the film as it is in the book, but her feeling of terror and helplessness are palpable, in an exquisite performance by Natasha Richardson. Warning, blood is shown.

As we ride down the slippery slope toward the overturning of Roe v. Wade, this film is a must see for those who still care about women's rights.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
This movie was disgusting!!!! hannahp1
marxism or feminism xneko_miyu
Please don't be angry.... tree342000
The book- something I don't understand laurasalterego
Card game? AuroraGoryAlice
One of the best things about this movie... red_willow
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