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A Double Feature

The Handmaid's Tale (1990) and Moana

By Rachel LeschPublished 7 years ago 3 min read
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Part of my preparation for Jasmine’s visit was picking out movies for us to watch while she was down here. The three I chose were the 1990 film adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale, since we both watched the recent Hulu series, and Moana, which we saw together in theaters on my last birthday.

I learned that there was also a film adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale when I was researching the Hulu series. It follows pretty much the same story line, except it begins with the heroine’s backstory, which is told through flashbacks in the Hulu series. A young woman named Kate (Natasha Richardson) is captured trying to flee the repressive Republic of Gilead with her family and is forced to become a handmaid and bear a child for the Commander (Robert Duvall) and his wife Serena Joy (Faye Dunaway). She is stripped of her bodily autonomy and given the name Offred. After falling in love with the Commander’s chauffeur, Nick (Aidan Quinn), Kate, now Offred, tries to find away to escape.

The first difference of note between the Hulu series is that the heroine’s name is Kate, whereas in the series, she is called June. There is also an implication that Kate’s husband died while they were trying to flee from Gilead, while in the series, he is shown to have escaped. Much is cut out of the source material to give the film an under two hour runtime which you could fit into a two season series with ten episodes a season. The second season has not aired yet on Hulu, so I got a taste of what is to come later on. The Commander and Serena Joy are shown to be older in the 1990 version than they are in 2017 version, as I have heard they are in the source material. Faye Dunaway is an inspired to choice to play Serena Joy.

If you enjoyed the Hulu series and or the original novel by Margaret Atwell, I would recommend checking this movie out.

Moana was a film that I was excited to see, mostly because the music was written by Lin Manuel Miranda, the creator and star of Hamilton. I decided to see it on my birthday, which usually is soon after Thanksgiving, Moana’s release date, at Salem Cinema with Jasmine.

Moana of Motunui (Auli’i Cravalho), a young Polynesian islander, is destined to succeed her father as Motunui’s chief but finds herself drawn to the outside ocean surrounding her tiny, isolated island. When famine strikes Motunui, Moana discovers the missing heart of the goddess Te Fiti, the cause of the famine, and sets out to return it, teaming up with the demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) to save her island.

The first thing that struck me about this movie is that the animation is drop dead gorgeous, especially on the ocean, which is an anthropomorphized character in itself. The music is also brilliant; Lin Manuel Miranda definitely brings his A-game. Christopher Jackson, who originated the role of George Washington in Hamilton, is the singing voice of Moana’s father, Chief Tui. I thought that Phillipa Soo, who was the original Eliza, was the voice of Moana’s mother, but it turned out to be Nicole Scherzinger, former front woman of the Pussycat Dolls. Dwayne Johnson brings all of his charm and charisma to the role of Maui and works well with Auli’i Cravalho, a newcomer who I hope to see more of.

The was a bit of an uproar on the internet when the song City of Stars from the film La La Land beat Moana’s How Far I’ll Go for best song at the 2017 Oscars. I saw La La Land and enjoyed it but thought it was somewhat overrated and perhaps did not deserve to sweep the Oscars the way it did. Its music was good but nothing phenomenal. In my opinion, Moana, and its soundtrack by Lin Manuel Miranda was among the best of 2016.

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About the Creator

Rachel Lesch

New England Native; lover of traveling, history, fashion, and culture. Student at Salem State University and an aspiring historical fiction writer.

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