Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1968: Ruth Gordon in Rosemary's Baby

Ruth Gordon received her second acting Oscar nomination (fifth in general) for her performance as Minnie Castevet in Rosemary's Baby.

Rosemary's Baby is a masterpiece about a pregnant woman who, after moving with her husband in an apartment with a history of gruesome events, becomes increasingly paranoid about her child's safety. It's a movie I had already liked the first time, but it absolutely floored me on a rewatch: it's a brilliantly made horror and Roman Polanski was absurdly snubbed of a Best Director nomination for his spectacular work here. The story is absolutey compelling from start to finish and Polanski does a great job at building the tension up to that amazing ending that stands as one of the most horrifying and haunting I've ever seen. The rape/dream sequence is also masterfully done in terms of direction, cinematography and score. Mia Farrow delivers a fantastic performance in the leading role - I could see why someone would not be crazy about some of her acting choices especially in the last act of the movie but personally I thought she was superb and she carried the movie flawlessly. 

Ruth Gordon's performance as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's nosy neighbour, is nowadays extremely iconic and probably one of the most popular winners in this category. On one hand, I love the fact that Ruth Gordon has an Oscar (she was awfully snubbed three years later for her performance in Harold and Maude) and I actually like the fact that the Academy chose to reward a role like this in a movie like Rosemary's Baby, which is certainly not an Oscar-friendly movie; on the other hand, though, I never really found myself loving this performance the way most people do and I think the part is actually very limited: Minnie Castevet, as a character, does not have a huge amount of screen-time and almost all of her scenes are actually pretty brief, but even past that I think it'is entirely lacking in developement and depth and the nature of the role forces Gordon's performance to be a little one-note. Sidney Blackmer, as Minnie's husband Roman, gets a much more rewarding role as gets much more screen-time and dialogue and he gets more chances to reveal his character's hidden nature, while Gordon rarely gets the chance to do it outwardly. Does this mean Gordon's performance is bad, nothing special or anyway unworthy of its Oscar? Definitely not. 

The character of Minnie is a rather unique one writing wise, so with such an interesting role it would have been hard for Gordon not to be noticed, but still it's her merit if she stands out so much right from the beginning. Gordon is extremely amusing and scene-stealing in her early moments as she simply portrays Minnie as an eccentric, elderly leading - she makes the most out of every single line of her character and there isn't a single moment that feels wasted: she clearly sinks her teeth into the role and her efforts pay off as she certainly becomes a highly entertaining and memorably larger-than-life presence (the costumes of her character were also instrumental in achieving that sort of peculiar style that characterizes her first few scenes). In her following scenes throughout the movie, Ruth Gordon keeps being a consistently enjoyable presence as she does such a great job at portraying her character's too talkative, intrusive nature with a natural, colorful sense of humor but as the movie goes on Gordon starts to make Minnie a much more twisted and ambigous presence turning her into one of the movie's most mysterious character. As I mentioned there is not a real developement in her performance nor there is a particularly important scene in which her character is explained more deeply, but Gordon certainly creates a certain progression in her performance - there is a rather awkward, slightly disturbing feeling in some of her early moments and she only amplifies this sensation in her scenes in which her character tries to interfere with Rosemary's pregnancy, becoming more and more off-putting, I particularly love the few moments in which the pure evilness of her character truly comes out and she briefly drops her façade, such as when she talks about Rosemary's pregnancy over the phone to the doctor, or even more the scene in which Rosemary refuses to get Minnie's (supposedly beneficial) drink in the air: the disappointment is strikingly visible in her eyes but she's even more effective at portraying Minnie as a woman who is consistently planning her next move, which makes her a particularly captivating character to watch.  

*Spoilers* My favorite scene of her performance though is the finale sequence that is both terrifying and mesmerizing: Gordon is phenomenal in this scene as she finally unleashes her character's more evil, ruthless intentions and she's downright chilling as Minnie does not even have to keep up a warm façade at the outside anymore. Gordon is absolutely terrifying in the moment in which she tells Rosemary she should be pleased of having been chosen by Satan but her silent reactions are what are most impressive: everything in that scene happens behind her inquisitory, sinister stare and she's a big part of what makes this sequence so unforgettably harrowing. *Spoilers Off*

Ultimately, I've seen the movie twice and I still haven't quite gotten the fuss about her performance: it's a little bit too one-note throughout its brief screen-time and I think part of why Gordon's performance is so acclaimed is the unique, terrific nature of the character. Nonetheless, there is no denying that this is an extremely good performance from an immensely talented actress who makes Minnie Castevet a truly disturbing and haunting character that certainly adds a sense of both dread and twisted humor to the whole movie. It's a truly remarkable performance, although not quite a performance I love. 

4/5