Between the Pages

This adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel seems to have attracted some negative reviews, but I liked it.  This may be in part due to the fact that I haven’t read said novel (horror is not really my genre), and neither have I seen the acclaimed 1968 film adaptation, starring Mia Farrow (because, well…horror is not really my genre).  I only watched this latest adaptation – released as a two-part mini-series (four parts in the UK) because it starred Jason Isaacs, who I always find to be a very talented and versatile actor, but I enjoyed the production on its own merits too.

Briefly, the story – which apparently does have some differences to both the novel and the 1968 film – revolves around a young woman named Rosemary Woodhouse (Zoe Saldana), who moves to Paris with her husband Guy (Patrick J. Adams), after suffering a devastating miscarriage.  They become friends with a wealthy and influential couple named Roman and Margaux Castavet (Jason Isaacs and Carole Bouquet respectively), and suddenly their lives seem to take an upward turn.  However, when Rosemary falls pregnant again, matters take a sinister turn…

I thought the cast were all very good, although the stand-outs were definitely Jason Isaacs and Carole Bouquet, who both had just the right mixture of charisma and menace.  Zoe Saldana was great as Rosemary (and looked incredibly beautiful), and Patrick J. Adams did a fine job as Guy.  I also particularly enjoyed Olivier Rabourdin as the Police Commissioner, who Rosemary enlists for help.  Christina Cole was good (as ever) as Rosemary’s friend Julie, although she did not have as much to work with as some of the other characters.

Paris was the perfect setting for this mini-series (although I understand that the neither the novel nor the 1968 film were set there).  The dark atmospheric filming made it both creepy and beautiful, and on a personal  level, I am very fond of Paris and always enjoy looking at it and seeing it in films or television shows.

Having read other reviews, it seems that this series was better received by people who are not familiar with the book or earlier film, so if you haven’t read/seen these, I would definitely recommend that you give this production a go.  The only thing that let it down slightly for me was that a few plot points in the last hour felt a bit rushed, but overall I liked this a lot.

Year of release: 2014

Director: Agnieszka Holland

Producers: Zoe Saldana, Mariel Saldana, Cisely Saldana, Andrew Balek, Robert Bernacchi, Joshua D. Maurer, Stephane Sperry, David A. Stern, Alixandre Witlin, James Wong, Tom Patricia

Writers: Ira Levin (novel), Scott Abbott, James Wong

Main cast: Zoe Saldana, Patrick J. Adams, Jason Isaacs, Carole Bouquet, Christina Cole, Olivier Rabourdin