ROSEMARY'S BABY, 1968
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ROSEMARY'S BABY, 1968Movie Review
Directed by Roman Polanski
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
Review by Hugo Barbosa
OSCAR WINNER - Best Actress in a Supporting Role Ruth Gordon
Just after Polanski did The Fearless Vampire Killers (AKA Dance of the Vampires), he was offered this script. Producer William Castle (famous in his own right), had just acquired the rights to the novel by Ira Levin, since he wanted to direct the film offered the project to producer Robert Evans (who is now a former Worlwide Head of Production for Paramount Pictures), who immediately liked the idea - he had found a brute diamond, but didn’t wanted Mr. Castle directing. Evans had seen Cul de Sac and had growing interest in Roman Polanski’s work, but he was busy preparing a skiing project, so he called him in. Polanski himself says (inside the retrospective to the film that is featured on the DVD) he was attracted by Bob Evans with a proposal for a ski picture that ended up being this psychological thriller classic. Mr. Evans has said about the film “its all in the way he (Roman) shot it, it works on every level and scares the hell out of you”; that’s no mistake, this film truly makes your skin crawl.
Truth is that this film is one of the most delicate psychological thrillers ever made, by the time Roman directed it, he had already developed his “distinctive mark”: a powerful narrative based on the subjectivity of the stories he tells, he manages to drive us straight into the mind and life of his characters. This exercise he already practiced in detail when he shot Repulsion, starred by legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve, and perfected it in this specific flick.
Delicately enough, Roman crafted a very good screenplay based on the best selling novel, he crafted it with one thing clearly in mind: maintaining the tension until the very last moment, he succeeded.
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REVIEW:
From the very first shots, as the credits appear, we fly over the rooftops of New York City through various takes, we end up flying over the Bramford Building, the music by composer Krystof Komeda plays as it sets the tone for the piece and it feels like an eerie and grim fairy tale. We are then presented a couple of newly weds, played by Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes (yes, the same one who also directed films – good ones, by the way); Rosemary is a delicate young wife of Guy Woodhouse is an actor who is seeking a growth in his career. The story itself, as it unfolds, appears to be a classic Doris Day film; it had the melodramatic thing up to the top, and that was the magic that made the film work so well for we are never to expect what is to come. There is a weird contrast between the music and the corny typography used in the credits, same contrast that will be held almost during the entire film. So, this young couple comes to rent an apartment, looking forward to all sorts of things, even having a baby.
The couple soon moves in and in a romantic evening they make love.
As days pass, Rosemary meets a woman who resembles a known actress, her name is Therese; as they meet the woman shows a lucky charm, lady tells it was a gift from the Castevets, an old couple who live in the building too.
Later as Rosemary and Guy are lying in bed, they can hear some strange noises coming from behind the wall, it appears to be a mass.
That afternoon, as the couple returns home, they notice there has been an accident, the lady Rosemary just met apparently committed suicide. As the policemen try to gather facts, Minnie and Roman - the Castevets- come by to discover the news. The lady is shocked but her husband says he really expected something like that to happen, the girl was a manic depressive and had suicidal tendencies. As the interrogation continues, Rosemary and Guy briefly meet the Castevets.
Next scene, we find that Rosemary is having trouble to get to sleep, the sound coming through the walls doesn’t leave her be.Some days after, the Castevets lady comes to visit, she invites the Woodhouse’s to supper. Later as Guy comes in from a failed casting session, Rosemary tells him about the Castevets invitation.
Thus, they make friends with the old couple. Roman Castevet seems to like Guy, they spend a lot of time chatting. When they come back, Guy tells about Roman, he is looking forward to hearing more about him. Rosemary comments about the fact that she noticed that the Castevets pulled down all of their pictures (from the walls), she found it weird.
Some time later, the Castevets lady comes by with a friend, Rosemary is a bit uncomfortable, she is going through her period. The lady gives a present to Rosemary, it turns out to be the charm possessed earlier by Theresa, she says it has something called “tannis root” inside, and comments it is for good luck. Despite the smell, Rosemary wears it just to please.Afterwards, Rosemary puts the charm inside a box, as she does so, the phone rings, Guy apparently got a new part because of an accident suffered by an actor, thus leaving a vacancy. Guy accepts but he is moved by how he got the part and decides to go for a walk.
Things unfold, Guy decides it is time to have a baby. He prepares a wonderful night in the company of Rosemary with the intention of making love to her and creating a baby. But as they are having dinner, the Castevets lady comes down to bring some dessert. Rosemary doesn’t really like something about the taste, she comments on it but she is pushed by Guy to keep on eating it. As Rosemary cleans up, she starts feeling dizzy, Guy says it was the booze and takes her to bed.
Polanski dives us in Rosemary’s dreams, as Guy loosens her clothes up to make her comfortable, she merges into a strange nightmare in which she leaves behind her friend Hutch. Then the true horror begins as we dwell deep inside the nightmare, Rosemary walks into a bedroom and is then visited by many persons, she is apparently the center of a dark rite; circled by naked attendants, she sees Guy telling the Castavet lady that Rosemary is apparently awake. She tells him to ignore that and keep on singing. They seem to be performing a black mass, in which the devil rapes Rosemary.
Hutch comes to visit and is told about the pregnancy, he laughs about it because he finds Rosemary to be getting thinner instead of growing a belly. As they talk, Roman comes by and meets Hutch. She tells Hutch about the herbal beverage that Minnie gives to her, she mentions that it contains tannis root; she shows him the charm to let him see the tannis herb. Roman leaves and Rosemary tells Hutch she noticed that Roman has pierced ears. Hutch says he also has piercing eyes. She tells him about the eeriness inside the helpfulness of the old couple, just as Guy comes in from work. Hutch decides to leave and as he does so, he finds out that he lost a glove.
As Rosemary’s illness continues developing, Hutch calls to say hello and tells her to meet, but the meeting doesn’t come true as Hutch is taken ill without reasons, days later, he dies and as Rosemary attends to the funeral, she is given a book by a lady who also tells her something that Hutch said in his deathbed.
The book is about witchcraft History, Rosemary finds out that Hutch underlined some things such as the truth about tannis root (which is a fungus called Devil’s pepper) and the story on Adrian Marcato; as she reads on, she recalls what the lady told her about the book: “the name is an anagram”. Curious, Rosemary grabs a scribble and starts playing with the letters, she discovers that playing with a name found in the book, the letters spell the name of Mr. Castevet, thus making her believe that Roman is a descendant to Adrian Marcato, she even spots him in one of the book’s photos. She talks about it with Guy, but instead of sharing her point of view, he tells her to stop reading the book.
And then, here is when we find ourselves deep into the unfolding plot, we have been thrown to the bottom of everything and are trying to make our way back up; we have all we need to understand what’s happening but it is still sitting in the back of our heads. Roman has built his way carefully and has us right where he wants us to be, craving for the films resolution. There has always been something odd with this story and we are untying the knots just as Rosemary starts doing it, and this is when the story really starts giving itself away.
I must say that this is one of the films I have enjoyed the most in my life, so instead of just giving away the spoilers, I am going to keep from doing this and invite you to discover the truth behind this films plot. If you haven’t seen it already, you are to experience one of the best psychological thrillers ever made in film, it is so delicately crafted that it is still a highly “enjoyable” piece of celluloid (if one can say such thing about this kind of story).
What follows is a crescendo of situations in which we are to question Rosemary’s sanity just before we are shown how scary cinema can get without gore and without violence. If you are looking for the usual gory horror flick, you might be disappointed; but, if you enjoy films at various levels, this might be one hell of a movie to spend your time with, not to mention that it helped rendering Polanski’s reputation.In the next scenes, we are to follow Rosemary’s quest for a way out of her delicate pregnancy without losing her mind nor her child.
Twists, turns and unexpected treacheries in one of the most horrifying finales to come at the movies, you are surely going to be holding on to your seats.
