"The Handmaid’s Tale" by Bruce Miller - review

In an anti-utopian present, fewer women manage to conceive. On the territory of the United States, the tyrannical state of Gilead arises, in which women who can become pregnant are turned into "servants" of elected representatives of the ruling elite. Their main task is to participate in the "ceremony" - a perverse ritual in which their master tries to fertilize them in the presence of his wife. The grim story of the conflict between obedience and independence was created in 1985 by Canadian writer Madagate Atwood. Excellent before 30 years with "Arthur Clark" - one of the most prestigious science fiction awards, the novel sounds astonishingly up-to-date against the background of today's crisis of values ​​and a series of "democratic" misunderstandings that question the common sense of the majority. While the 1990s screening is limited to the feminist messages of the novel and fails to overcome Hollywood clichés, Hulu's current series boldly builds a metaphor of modern society that frightens with its realism. Although unintentionally, the series produced a wave of comparisons with the management of the new American president, who in his life hardly used a more innocuous definition of a doll woman.

Crisis of values, moral fall, return to traditions, resisting temptations. Nothing new under the sun, but the manipulation with all these elements is capable of creating a terrible totalitarian system that degrades the individual into a normal biological unit. History does not know a case in which crimes have been committed in the name of higher purposes. In "The Handmaid’s Tale" the complex manipulative mechanism is revealed through the eyes of the main heroine, June Osborne. Her are the words that synthesize the idea of ​​the plot: "Nothing happens suddenly. In a slow-warming bath you can bust to death without feeling." As always, the fear is the basis of obedience. Without being an action or a horror movie, the show is extremely accurate to recreate the chilling atmosphere of impasse and a sense of doom. The everyday life of the maids is reduced to simple, but strictly controlled actions, and every step aside leads to severe punishment. The scale of the drama contributes to the skillfully used counterpoint to Osborne's memories of free life, which will eventually prove to be the main catalyst for a change in her behavior. The gradual and irreversible realization of the absurd situation begins with small but surer steps to it comes to the logical conclusion that nothing is more valuable than freedom and in the name of it is worth making the greatest sacrifices. The basis for the success of the series is the highly acclaimed cast, led by Elizabeth Moss in the role of Osborne. Precisely, intelligently and fascinatingly, it builds the image of an ordinary man, set in unusual circumstances. Those who know the actress only from The Madison Avenue Boys will be surprised to see her in a highly dramatic role requiring a wide range of actors. Like the unprecedented little masterpiece of "Top Of The Lake," two years ago, Moss impresses with the amazing range of emotions she manages to conceal under the seemingly silent mask of reconciliation. Certainly one of the most memorable performances I have seen lately.

Joseph Fiennes is Osborne's difficult master-soldier. At first look, his apparent character is gradually filled with nuances that make us expect the character's development. Yvonne Strahovski, which we lacked after Dexter, is the perfect wife of the master, who by the clever disguise of his frustration reaches a very obvious demonstration of character. Max Mingela adds the overall picture of the team of conspirators with an accurately measured emotionality. Among the supporting actors we have to mention Alexis Bledel, whose participation in the next season will be significantly expanded and the distinctive feature of An Daoud, which emerges as the new anti-erosion on the TV screen. The series is beautifully shot in the fuzzy gray scale, with the red spots on the maids' cloaks and the large white hats, whose sole purpose is to limit vision. Overall, scenography and costumes are at a level that is rarely seen on the small screen. Vision is crucial to creating an atmosphere that creates the impression that things are much more complicated than they appear at first glance. "The Handmaid’s Tale" is yet another proof that the place of quality cinema is no longer in the mass-market, where we rarely look at stories with clear messages and full-featured characters. The main dignity of the series is that it explicitly states its position in defending the freedom of the individual person and the power of the human spirit in the struggle for its assertion. Supposedly or not, it is always good to know that even the smallest spark can scatter the darkest night.

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