Forgotten Flix: The Handmaid's Tale (1990)

At last, I finally get this monkey off of my back.  I put off Reviewing this one until the time was right.  Well, today feels right.  Today's Film is The Handmaid's Tale, the 1990 Film Adaptation to be exact.  Having reviewed every Episode of the Show, it only seemed right to do this.  I'd do the Book too- which I do own-, but I'm already like 15 Books behind as it is!  Of note, the Film was Directed by an acclaimed German Director who's name I won't annoy Auto-Correct with and Adapted to the Screen by Harold Pinter!  He apparently somewhat-disowned the Script, since so many changes were done.  If you somehow don't know, the basic Story is this- a dystopian America with birth rates dropping is usurped by some crazy Cultists.  They make it 'in the image of the Bible' by way of forcing women into servitude and killing those that they don't like.  Since both the Show and Film are based on the same Book, this may be redundant to some.  To make up for that, let me do some fun side-by-side comparisons as I lay out the commonalities and the differences.  Gird your loins and read on...

It still begins with June trying to escape to Canada, but being caught.

The change: there's no way that the Husband is showing up later!  Also he's not Black in this one.

 ****

She becomes Offred as the Gilead control the United States.  It's not great.

The change: the lack of a veil makes it easier for the Actress.  Sorry, Natasha (R.I.P.).  In addition, there's almost no Voice Over (thanks, Pinter) to tell June's story here.

 ****

She's still 'blessed' by 'the ceremony' with the Commander and his wife.

The change: it is Robert Duvall and Faye Dunaway!  She came back for The Bye-Bye Man, but not a Show like Hulu's?  Alright...

 ****

June is still punished, but her misdeed is changed notably- no SPOILERS- and she is sent away.

The change: she apparently escapes, although without her Child.  The Show is starting Season 2, so, yeah, she's not leaving any time soon.

The End.

 ****

A dark, but still solid tale.  I was a bit brief here, but, as I said, I spent like 2 months reviewing the Show.  There's not much that's too different here to note.  What is obviously different is the amount of time given to the material.  The Show is (so far) made up of 10 Episodes that run about forty-minutes each.  The Film is just over two hours long.  As such, some things are obviously expanded upon notably and more stuff is dealt with.  You definitely related more to Elisabeth Moss' June here, since you hear her thoughts, see flashbacks and spend more time with her.  That's no insult to Richardson, as she does a good job here with what she has.  There's no weak link here, as Duvall and Dunaway are naturally good too.  There's definitely more nuance to the Characters on TV, which is, again, due to the expanded runtime.  You get enough to understand them, but stuff like the flashbacks to the Commander's Wife and her decline in status are sorely-missing.  Visually, the Film also looks great- even if I had to live with MGM's damn watermark throughout!  It's still good, but I prefer the more-detailed version.  You may disagree.  If nothing else, it has more neon...

Next time, I get back on track with some '70s Trash.  I want them to be good, but...they probably won't be.  Stay tuned...