Handmaids Tale

[mattc]

[the recent TV series based on Margaret Atwood's book]

Intrested to hear other views on this.


I thought some of it was superbly executed, and Elizabeth Moss turned in a brilliant performance. (Her mistress was pretty good too, if a more 1D character]. But it was soooooo slow. We ended up skipping Eps 7-8ish.


Genuinely chilling in places, but nowhere near as good as it could have been.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I loved it. Elizabeth Moss was great in The West Wing, Mad Men and Top of the Lake, and she was superb in this. I liked it enough to think I'll watch the next series too, which obviously isn't based on the book.

[mattc]

Ep1 of the new Top of the Lake was a bit bonkers, but intriguing!

(It was a bit hard to watch straight after seeing Moss in Handmaids Tale, but I think I'll manage ok from now )

[Ruthie]

I adored the Handmaid's Tale.  Elisabeth Moss was just brilliant.  I felt a bit cheated at the end - I wanted the end of the book,  instead now there's another series I have to wait a year for.  Eventually they'll all overlap so I've always got something to watch.

[mattc]

Watched
Margaret Atwood: You Have Been Warned!
last night. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b093tw95

Really enjoyed. As well as making me want to read more, Atwood came across as a lot more likeable than many political-ish writers. And a jolly interesting/funny person

After the frustration of the Handmaids TV series, I now plan to increase my Atwood palmares (which now stands at a massive ... one book    )


Meanwhile, Top of The Lake has been fantastic. It was such an odd mix of styles and themes, I'm not really sure what to comment on ... but it were great!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Haven't seen the TV series but definitely recommend her books. Wouldn't say she's really that political.

[Legs]

Fwiw, it's just reappeared on All4, having been unavailable since its initial broadcast.  Unfortunately my internet connection is shit at the best of times so I have buffering issues whenever I've tried watching.

[Woofage]

Saw the first ep on C4 catchup and Mrs W demanded we watch the rest so got it on an Amazon Prime free trial. Thoroughly recommended and, as mentioned above, quite chilling. One of Miss W's friends is studying the book for A level so it was interesting to know, apart from the overall story, how completely different the TV series is from the book. Not that that matters, we thought is was excellent in its own right.

[mattc]

They're being repeated on "More4" (which is on Freeview).

[Jakob]

Just started this (well, 4 episodes in) and I think it's very good (and a bit scary!!)

[Jakob]

Finished this last night. It flattened out a bit and I think filling in the other characters backstory (especially the commander and the driver) was unnecessary. It's her story and should be told from her POV. (Mostly).
 I also think they've painted themselves into a corner now, as they can only really repeat her story in whatever place she ends up..or turn it straight into a rebellion story.
 Still very good. Really enjoyed it.

[Kim]

I made a bad decision and I'm now about halfway through...

I can't remember the last time a TV series actually made me want to throw up, though I'd also just read about Intel Management Engine, which given the context really didn't help.   

The story's ostensibly timeless, but they've put a decent 21st century perspective on it.  It's hard work, but very good television.

Top Tip:  Probably not one to watch if you've been contemplating where you see yourself in ten years time recently.