The Handmaid’s Tale ** (1990, Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn) – Classic Movie Review 9352

Director Volker Schlöndorff’s 1990 The Handmaid’s Tale stars Natasha Richardson as Kate, who, in a decaying future America, is trained as a handmaiden to bear children for upper-class women rendered infertile by pollution.

Scriptwriter Harold Pinter turns novelist Margaret Atwood’s futuristic political allegory about an ugly autocracy where women struggle against infertility into a decent and well-meaning, but often hard-going and unconvincing thriller.

Still there is persuasive acting from the distinguished cast and director Schlöndroff knows how to make it look impressive, with the help of Igor Luther’s cinematography.

Also in the cast are Robert Duvall, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth McGovern, Victoria Tennant, Blanche Baker, Traci Lind, David Dukes, Reiner Schöne, Lucia Hartpeng, and Lucile McIntyre.

Schlöndorff took over as director from Karel Reisz.

Natasha Richardson died on 18 March 2009, age 45, after falling and receiving a head injury while skiing in Mont Tremblant, Quebec.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9352

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