Roman Polanski's 1968 original is my all-time favorite horror movie; to surpass this director is an impossible task;but ,curiosity,I can't help it.
Agniezka Holland is Pole ,like her prestigious colleague and she's made interesting works; she can't begin to touch his genius ,but,against all odds ,her miniseries is not as bad as I expected .
Perhaps Holland had in mind a diptych, for the credits claim :based on Ira Levin's novelS "Rosemary's baby " and "son of Rosemary"; it's a blessing she did not carry on with the second book ,for it was as mediocre as the first one was absorbing .
Polanski was faithful to the story but he transcended it with his peerless directing ; Holland's screenplay has undergone lot of changes :first the action takes place in Paris ,where the non-French can visit the Sorbonne and the Catacombes -you can visit this gruesome place, but the guide won't tell you the
far-fetched explanations one hears in the movie.
Exit Hutch (replaced by a friend Julie ,and a priest who briefly appears ),Dr Shand , Laura -Louise McBurney ; Terry (replaced by a pregnant woman who jumps out of her window and whose husband reappears later); the Castevet are younger :Roman is a handsome man in his fifties and his wife is no longer old mischievous Minnie (it was probably impossible to match oscar-winning Ruth Gordon) ,but an attractive chic Margaux ; Dr Hill is replaced by Dr Bernard , who has at his disposal a much more modern technology than his American colleague, but in the end ,plays the same role as in the novel. Shady Dr Sapirstein is one of the rare characters whose part is the same as in Ira Levin's book .And ,yes ,Guy is not the actor chasing after any sort of work :he's a professor longing to become a successful writer.
The miniseries is inevitably too long and sometimes drags on ; the new technology (Dr Bernard)could have opened up new horizons for the screenplay ,but it is not fully exploited ; Zoe Saldana is an OK Rosemary but her husband 's playing leaves a lot to be desired : Patrick J.Adams is bland , harmless and not efficient at all : nothing of the great John Cassavetes 'ambiguity .Both Jason Isaacs and French Carole Bouquet are convincing ;the latter is perhaps the best of the lot ,exuding a scent of a poisoned flower .
When Holland tries to imitate her predecessor (the nightmare, the final scene) it's stating the obvious to write she does not rise to the occasion ; adding gore , horrible scenes and a colossal mistake in the final scenes do not help .
The 1968 movie was a masterpiece ;the miniseries is just OK, watchable if you are curious.
