The Handmaid's Tale

Synopsis: Set in a Fascistic future America, The Handmaid's Tale tells the story of Kate, a handmaid. In this America, the religious right has taken over and gone hog-wild. Kate is a criminal, guilty of the crime of trying to escape from the US, and is sentenced to become a Handmaid. The job of a Handmaid is to bear the children of the man to whom she is assigned. After ruthless group training by Aunt Lydia in the proper way to behave, Kate is assigned as Handmaid to the Commander. Kate is attracted to Nick, the Commander's chauffeur. At the same time, a resistance movement begins to challenge the regime.

Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

Director(s): Volker Schlöndorff

Actors: Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth McGovern

Production: HBO Video

2 wins & 1 nomination.


IMDB:: 6.0
Rotten Tomatoes:: 31%

Collection Edit Watch PDF Buy

: R
Year:: 1990
: 108 min
: 534 Views

[ Engine rumbling ]
[ Doors closing ]
[ Engine revving ]
I'm tired, Mommy.
OK, OK, sweetie.
- We're all tired, honey.
- OK.
Here we go.
Hold tight.
- Come on, sit.
Now hold on tight.
- Like that.
[ OVER P.A.]
This is Border Patrol.
This is Border Patrol.
You are approaching the border
of the Republic of Gilead.
You're not allowed any closer.
Turn back.
This is Border Patrol.
This is Border Patrol.
You are approaching the border
of the Republic of Gilead.
You are not allowed any closer.
Turn back.
This is Border Patrol.
This is Border Patrol.
You are approaching
the border of the Republic...
I'll keep them busy.
[ Screaming ]
No! No!
[ Gunfire ]
[ Crying ]
[ Gunshot ]
Mommy!
Jill! Get down!
[ Shouting ]
Jill! No!
My baby!
Jill!
[ Screaming ]
- Let's go.
- [ Shouting ]
Come on.
[ Horn honking ]
[ Horn honking ]
[ Indistinct conversations ]
Results for
following numbers...
3964, positive.
4281, positive.
6836, positive.
2184, negative.
- 958...
- Don't push me!
...98, positive.
6131, negative.
7631, positive.
5128, negative.
2147, negative.
9282, negative.
No, you've made a mistake.
You've made a mistake, I...
I know! Please!
Let me go!
[ Shouting ]
All right. Let's go.
[ Shouting continues ]
Mommy.
Mommy.
Mommy?
[ Shouting ]
Thanks.
[ Match striking ]
Hello, girls. Relax.
Relax. I'm Aunt Lydia.
Are you all well?
Come on, I want you to say,
"We're very well, Aunt Lydia."
So, are you well?
Very well, Aunt Lydia.
That's great,
because you are well.
You're healthy,
you're free from infections...
and you're the only ones
whose tests are positive.
You're the lucky ones.
We're the lucky ones.
Amen.
You're going to be Handmaids.
You're going to serve God
and your country.
All right, girls.
Into the bus. Let's go.
[ Engine starts ]
How long were you in?
I'm not sure.
What'd you do,
and how'd they get you?
We tried to cross the border.
What about you?
Gender treachery.
I like girls.
Christ, they could have sent you
to the colonies.
They don't send you
to the colonies...
if your ovaries
are still jumping.
WOMAN:
All right, sisters.
GUARD:
Move it.
WOMAN:
Move it!
Get on that bus. Move it!
Go on, sisters.
You can't make me
break my vows!
Get on that bus. Quiet.
Don't, please!
# Oh, God from whom
all blessings flow #
# Hear us, your daughters
here below #
# They house the vessels
of the seed #
# Of those who come
to us in need #
# Remove our anger,
cleanse our will #
# And leave us empty
to refill #
Let us pray.
Oh, God, make us fruitful.
ALL:
Oh, God, make us fruitful.
Stop it! Why do you think
God made you a woman?
[ Whistle blowing ]
You can't...
Mortify my flesh
that I may be multiplied.
ALL:
Mortify my flesh
that I may be multiplied.
- Amen.
- My God!
ALL:
Amen.
[ Shouting ]
AUNT LYDIA:
Good night, girls.
[ Light clicks off ]
What's your name?
Kate. What's yours?
Moira.
I am Joanna.
- I'm Alice.
- I'm Stephanie.
I'm Susan.
My name is Kathleen.
I'm Cara.
I am Julie.
GIRL:
Mommy.
Mommy?
Mommy!
Eat it, and you'll like it.
That's enough!
You're getting the best.
There's a war on, you know.
The air got too full once
of chemicals and radiation.
Next.
AUNT LYDIA:
The rain water
swarmed with toxic molecules.
Sit.
These poisons flowed into the rivers,
crept into people.
Place your right arm
in the sleeve.
AUNT LYDIA:
The result, sterility.
Remove your arm.
Today, only one out of
a hundred women...
can still bear children,
and some women stopped.
Believing there would be
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Harold Pinter

Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a Nobel Prize-winning British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964), and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1971), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial (1993), and Sleuth (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television, and film productions of his own and others' works. Pinter was born and raised in Hackney, east London, and educated at Hackney Downs School. He was a sprinter and a keen cricket player, acting in school plays and writing poetry. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art but did not complete the course. He was fined for refusing National service as a conscientious objector. Subsequently, he continued training at the Central School of Speech and Drama and worked in repertory theatre in Ireland and England. In 1956 he married actress Vivien Merchant and had a son, Daniel, born in 1958. He left Merchant in 1975 and married author Lady Antonia Fraser in 1980. Pinter's career as a playwright began with a production of The Room in 1957. His second play, The Birthday Party, closed after eight performances, but was enthusiastically reviewed by critic Harold Hobson. His early works were described by critics as "comedy of menace". Later plays such as No Man's Land (1975) and Betrayal (1978) became known as "memory plays". He appeared as an actor in productions of his own work on radio and film. He also undertook a number of roles in works by other writers. He directed nearly 50 productions for stage, theatre and screen. Pinter received over 50 awards, prizes, and other honours, including the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2005 and the French Légion d'honneur in 2007. Despite frail health after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in December 2001, Pinter continued to act on stage and screen, last performing the title role of Samuel Beckett's one-act monologue Krapp's Last Tape, for the 50th anniversary season of the Royal Court Theatre, in October 2006. He died from liver cancer on 24 December 2008. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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The Handmaid's Tale

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