The Handmaid's Tale

"A haunting tale of sexuality in a country gone wrong."

1990 1h 48m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 299

DramaScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In a dystopian, polluted right-wing religious tyranny, a young woman is put in sexual slavery on account of her now rare fertility.

“A haunting tale of sexuality in a country gone wrong.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Natasha Richardson
Kate
Faye Dunaway
Serena Joy
Aidan Quinn
Nick
Elizabeth McGovern
Moira
Victoria Tennant
Aunt Lydia
Robert Duvall
Commander
Blanche Baker
Ofglen
Traci Lind
Ofwarren / Janine

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Writers: Harold Pinter
Languages: English, German, Spanish
Countries: Germany, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 38% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, German, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Volker Schlöndorff, shot by Igor Luther. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor David Ray shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Natasha Richardson and Faye Dunaway and Aidan Quinn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Volker Schlöndorff directs. Igor Luther behind the camera. Ryuichi Sakamoto scores. David Ray cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Germany, United States of America. Dialogue in English, German, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 38% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
236 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, German, Spanish.
4International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.
5Directed by Volker Schlöndorff, shot by Igor Luther. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor David Ray shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Natasha Richardson and Faye Dunaway and Aidan Quinn carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "A haunting tale of sexuality in a country gone wrong.".
10IMDB entry: tt0099731 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 18 themes, including "rebellion", "future", "canada", "rape".

The technical file

Cinematography: Igor Luther
Original score: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Editing: David Ray
Production design: Thomas A. Walsh
Costume design: Colleen Atwood
Stunt coordinator: Steve Kelso
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $13,000,000
Box office: $4,960,385
Return: 38% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Handmaid's Tale (1990)

Also by

Volker Schlöndorff

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Community reviews

What people are saying

GenerationofSwine2023-01-12
★ 10/10
Now look at this, someone made the Handmaid's Tale into something watchable. You know what the difference between this and the series is? I'll give you a hint it's two things... do you have it yet? Time and story. The TV show has FAR too many episodes, and each is far too long to tell a compelling story. The 1990 HBO version is only about 100 minutes. It's not dragged out to the point where it is filled to overflowing with, well, with filler. It delivers a clean and concise story that didn't spare a cut. And because of that it works. But.... it also has Faye Dunaway, and it has Natasha Richardson, and it has Robert Duvall, and it has Aidan Quinn... and those are all people that everyone would be honored to cast, and they were certainly people that anyone would be thrilled to cast back in 1990. So, what you have is a clean script that is void of unnecessary filler (and in the case of the TV series, free of painfully long unnecessary filler) and that script is acted out by some of the best people in the industry. You can't ask for more.
CinemaSerf2024-06-08
★ 6/10
Yikes, but there must have been some volume of hairspray used in this production that makes the "Stepford Wives" look like an ordinary family street. The women are divided into two groups in this futurist version of the USA. The blue are the privileged and wealthy, the red are the surrogates in a society that cannot now readily breed. A few lucky men are the commanders, lording over everyone and having their own fun trying to conceive children much as roosters fertilise hens. "Kate" (Natasha Richardson) is one such red dress. She is to be indoctrinated into the mansion run by "Serena Joy" (Faye Dunaway) so she can service the sexual needs of the boss (Robert Duvall). Now they only have a certain amount of tries at the conception lark, and if they don't come up with the goods then they go back to an homeless oblivion. She isn't getting pregnant but nobody dares to ask if it's the "Commander" who is firing blanks so she befriends him, tries to earn his trust whilst all along making plans with his driver "Nick" (Aidan Quinn) to get the hell out of the place. She might just be in luck as there is an increasing unrest amongst society at large with this hierarchical and zealous societal structure that sees the wealth - money, food and children, in the hands of very, very few. It's starts off quite intriguingly but pretty quickly runs out of steam with some really stilted performances and dialogue - despite having Margaret Atwood and Harold Pinter as the wordsmiths. Dunaway doesn't really appear enough to make much difference and by half way through I thought that it might have worked better on stage - though whether I'd have bothered to leave the bar after the interval is a good question. It's all adequate enough, just nothing special.