I want to be free, not brave
- The Handmaid’s Tale, based on the author’s novel Margaret Atwood, puts us in a dystopian future. A kind of fundamentalist dictatorship has been established and young women have been forced to live as friends to “give” children to their master. Following the death of the President of the United States and most of the Congressmen, a theocratic regime has been established, a political system in which political and religious leaders agree and where religion has a decisive influence on government policy.
From there, the United States will be recognised as the “Gilead Republic”. Most modern values have disappeared in this new society. Due to a severe fertility problem that has spread in Gilead, women will be relegated to the background, will become empty objects and only their ovaries will be considered useful.
The protagonist of this dark and hard story who drinks live from such extraordinary stories as Black Mirror and especially as Children of men is June, an excellent actress Elissabet Moss, who I hope will be present in all the nominations of the year. Before this Puritan uprising he worked in an editorial and in the initial phase of the dictatorship he lost his whole family. He lives in the memories of his previous life, although he knows that the possibility of finding his family again is very scarce. But it's the only support that holds June, the designated Offred. That and, from time to time, the courage that tries to get out of its interior – although it is the motto “I want to be free, not courageous” – that is stuck in the brain of all the women of the series, who live trapped under the whims of their “elders” in the revolting mob of a miserable and hard life.
Despite his astonishing argument, this is not the strongest aspect of the series: The "how" is even harder
Even if it sounds like a lie, this surprising argument is not the strongest – at least not the only – side of this series, as it is even harder to tell “how”. It's technically excellent, almost perfect, I would say. The organization and structure of the plans is made with total consistency. You can find large compositions, loaded with symbolism and hidden meaning, that seem to be made by a painter, like the one transmitting the rays of the sun, that continually penetrate through the windows.
Furthermore, what is demonstrated from the outset is the very precise millimetric control of the rhythm. Through beautifully interspersed flashbacks, it shows what the world of June was like before. Through the voice-over of the protagonist and violent, sentiment-filled images, the spectator stands still. As a counterpoint, thanks to a very effective selection and assembly of songs, it manages to transmit in a spectacular manner the contrast between the present and the past. With the sum of all these elements, The Handmaid’s Tale brings us up in each section in a kind of sense of the Russian mountains. And as if that were not enough, we also have to add a wonderful script written with mastery. Of those, you can't find free yarns.
You know, if this year you are looking for a new series, this could be the best choice – and also the hardest one, be it! Besides, you have no excuses, you can see the ten chapters in Euskal Herria through HBO.
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Gertatuko zitzaizuen: leku guztietan sekulakoa balitz bezala iragarri duten pelikula edo telesaila ikusi ondoren, frustrazio pixka batekin, “ez zen hainbesterako” esaten bukatu duzue. Eta azkenaldian inoiz baino gehiagotan gertatzen zaizue. Lasai, ez zaudete seko... [+]
