Film study: The Handmaid's tale.

Introduction

The Handmaid’s tale was a novel by the incredible author Margret Attwood, first published in 1985. The novel is about a dystopian future where a party of religious fanatics take over the country of The United States of America; following the rapid decline in fertility. The new country is named ‘ the republic of Gilead’. The fertility crisis was thought of as ‘punishment from God’ and all the blame was placed on women. Millions of women are captured and are forced to become involuntary surrogates to wealthy and powerful families. The horrible events in this novel and show are all based on some historical event, making Atwood’s novel a criticism on the past as well as a warning to the future.

Attwood’s novel was converted into a show, directed by Kari Skogland. The show brilliantly depicts the events of the novel, using clever camera work, sound effects, scripts and of course, exceptional acting, all making it an amazing show.

Ofred’s room: mid shot


This distorted mid shot symbolises a Handmaid's place in this new world. Ofred, the Handmaid, is shown sitting in a window sill, the light distorting her and making her less human looking. It seems that all she has become is her body. This makes us feel less connected, she is less relatable, right up until her monologue. This was done to dehumanize the Handmaids, just like how they are treated (nothing but an empty minded child bearer).

The monologue of this scene helps introduce us to the protagonist (june/ofred) and the world she has been placed in. Her body is no longer her own, her words are no longer her own, yet her thoughts are. “Chair, table, a window with white curtains, and the glass is shatterproof. But its not running away they are afraid of, a Handmaid wouldn’t get far. It’s those other escapes, the ones you can open in yourself given a cutting edge, or a twisted sheet and a chandelier. I try not to think about those escapes” tells us she is trapped, like the only way out is suicide. ‘They’ are the ones with power, the commanders and their wives. This monologue ( particularly a ‘twisted sheet and a chandelier’)also forshadows the fact the Handmaid who lived in that house before Ofred commited suicide.

“My name is Ofred, I had another name, but it is forbidden now, so many things are forbidden now” tells us that the new world has taken everything from the Handmaid’s, including their identity.

Both the distortion and the monologue paint the picture of the world Ofred is now living in.




The capture scene: Pov shot and sound effects


This point of view shot helps build the terror of ‘The Handmaid’s tale’. This shot is a part of the scene where june is captured and shows the men chasing her from June’s perspective. At the time of this shot, June is hiding with her daughter, hannah. The point of view shot coupled with the sinister, high pitched music makes us feel anxious and on edge about what’s going to happen next. The purpose of this shot was so we can relate with june and her terror, making us emotionally invested in her future. This can be Juxtaposed with a similar shot from the 2001 movie “The Lord of the rings: the Fellowship of the rings” by Peter Jackson, where Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin are hiding from the Nazgûl. Both shots show the danger above, while the characters are hiding below.





Conversation with Serena: extreme close up and distortion


This Extreme close up shot symbolises how Ofred and the other Handmaids are treated. In this shot, the wings of the cap cover up a large portion of the camera, leaving less room for the Handmaids (in this case, Ofred). This is symbolic of how they are put down, and hid from others. This lets us infer that the Handmaids are hidden and dehumanized, treated as less than others and therefore deserving less of the screen. The shot is also extremely close to Ofred’s face, making us feel claustrophobic, like we are trapped in this small frame with her. Between the blocked screen and the extreme close shot, we can understand not only how the Handmaids are oppressed, but how Ofred must hide her emotions, her only freedom is her thoughts. The purpose of this was to show the split between her outer appearance (obedient, meek) and her inner self (passionate and extremely angry).



Wide shot + distortion:

This wide shot also subtly shows us how the Handmaids are treated through the composition of the shot. The Handmaids are in the lower left corner, making us think they are being pushed out of the shot, not important enough to take up more of the screen. This shows the attitude other groups have about the Handmaids, they are not respected enough to have a say in anything. They are treated as incompetent dolls who anyone else can control. The director did this to visually represent how the Handmaids are treated in the plot. This can be juxtaposed with this extreme close up shot, where the Handmaid is also dehumanized through the use of lighting and shadows. Yet, we still definitely know the Handmaids are human from the honest monologue and dialogue, particularly from Ofred.

Close ups +monologue:


Ofred’s monologue helps us to understand the emotions of these oppressed people, and how they are still normal, despite having to control their actions and words. “We do everything in twos, its supposed to be for our protection, for companionship. Can’t be, that’s bullshit. The truth is we are watching each other. She’s my spy, and I’m her’s.”
This monologue tells us about the distrust between these Handmaids, but also foreshadows that this might change. A later scene with Ofred (the protagonist) and Ofglen (Ofred’s shopping partner) explains how there distrust was unnecessary, and that it was on both parties. “They do that really well, make us distrust each other” is a statement by Ofglen (Real name Emily) about how the system makes everyone distrust everyone else, forcing them to comply because they can’t tell who they can trust. The line that sums this attitude comes from Ofred in the final minutes of the first episode “Someone is watching, someone is always watching. Everything must stay the same, look the same. I intend to keep it that way. I intend to survive, for her [Hannah, Ofred /June’s daughter]. Her name is Hannah, my husband was Luke. My Name is June”

Close up shot+ Monologue:


Ofred’s monologue in the close up shot and this calm facial expressions  brilliantly illustrate how a Handmaid’s only freedom is her thoughts. Ofred’s facial expressions (or lack there of) show us that she must paint on a false image to protect herself. This is an incredible use of extreme close up shots and subtle acting (on Elizabeth Moss’s part). This was done by the director and cinematographer to show the subtle anger on Ofred's (Elizabeth Moss’s) face. Pair with Ofred’s monologue “ I don’t need oranges, I need to scream, I need to grad the nearest machine gun” which directly tells us she is angry and distressed, unlike her outer expressions. This shot can be juxtaposed with the entirety of Janines character, who say exactly what she is thinking, getting her severely punished multiple times. Perhaps Janines character serves as a warning to the other Handmaids.


The salvaging scene:

Birds eye view shot:



This close up shot in ‘the salvaging’ scene shows the anger in Ofred’s face, while keeping the camera flare for surrealism. The flare makes us feel like the events of this scene are not real, like it’s a horrible nightmare. The close up shot means we can see Ofred’s facial expressions, making this scene more personal. The director used these techniques to show the emotions of the protagonist and the surrealism and nightmare of the scene as a whole. Coinciding with the birds eye view shots, this scene is chaotic and gritty. This can be juxtaposed with another close up shot (shown prior) from the Handmaid’s tale, where the image is distorted to dehumanize the Handmaids, rather than the entire scene.


Sound effects:
This scene’s sound effects help us understand the emotions and fear of ‘The salvaging’. Near the beginning of the scene, slow, dramatic drums are used to create fear and anxiety. This was done to create suspense and draw in our attention, getting us hooked into the events of the scene. Later, the drums stop, being replaced with eery, high pitched music and over exaggerated sounds of the Handmaids beating a man to death. This was done to stimulate emotion from the audience, first anxiety because of the dramatic drum music, then discomfort because of the amplified sounds of a brutal execution. This, coinciding with the variety of shots in the film creates a violent, chaotic atmosphere. This can be juxtaposed with other scenes, where non diegetic sounds are barely present, using sounds from within a scene to fully emerse us within the story.






conclusion:

‘The handmaid’s tale’ is a masterpiece, combining clever camera shots, sound effects and diegetic sound, all used together to portray an incredible narrative. Kari Skogland did an excellent job translating Atwood’s novel to the screen, using many different film techniques to hook us in. These techniques, along with the exciting plot create an award winning show which captures the audience.