Fuji reviews Rosemary's Baby

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Fuji Vice

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Rosemary’s Baby



Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into an apartment in a building with a bad reputation. They discover that their neighbours are a very friendly elderly couple named Roman and Minnie Castevet, and Guy begins to spend a lot of time with them. Strange things start to happen: a woman Rosemary meets in the laundry dies a mysterious death, Rosemary has strange dreams and hears strange noises and Guy becomes remote and distant. Then Rosemary falls pregnant and begins to suspect that her neighbours have special plans for her child.



Rosemary’s Baby, released in 1968, is not a horror film in the traditional sense. There are no jump scares, no gory deaths and no loud music can be heard. There are no stupid yet likeable teens being led to the slaughter, no monster hiding in the closet or any vampires or werewolves. What lies within however, are tension and suspense that will cut you like a knife and an atmosphere full of anxiety and terror. In many ways, Rosemary’s Baby can be considered the first true modern horror film, one that would draw horror out of seemingly real life; bringing the feelings of dread and fear to the viewer in a way that slashers and classic monsters never could. Without it, I feel films like The Exorcist or The Omen would never have been made, such is the power of the first and perhaps best of them all. Director Roman Polanski, a stellar cast and a fantastic script combine to create a rare film that could be considered "great" on its own merits and not just a "great horror film." Slowly paced, revealing itself piece by piece until a thrilling (and chilling) finale, Rosemary’s Baby is not what you’re expecting; it’s a whole lot more.



"For the first time, a haunted apartment block."

Written and directed by Roman Polanski and based on the novel by Ira Levin, this was the talented filmmaker’s first movie to be made in Hollywood. He may have been young but he had already cut his teeth in the film world overseas, releasing great pictures like Knife in the Water, Repulsion and The Fearless Vampire Killers. Clearly a man ahead of his time, Polanski may be persona non grata in Hollywood these days, but his genius and talent cannot be denied. His adaptation of Levin's novel is literary and perfectly captures the vulnerability of the main character, Rosemary, and the quiet yet obvious intensity of the people and events around her. Polanski also cultivates a palpable sense of dread throughout the film, as one just knows something doesn't "feel" right but can't quite put their finger on exactly what it may be. With nary a shocking moment to be had, the film instead builds and builds intensity, from innocent beginnings until a conclusion that will leave you unsettled for weeks. The fact that the film begins so innocuously is perhaps its greatest strength, as it provides the audience with a false sense of security before piling on the tension like a ton of bricks.



"Wait until you smell its diapers."

The characters are well drawn, expertly performed, and many of them become far creepier in the end because of how normal they were in the beginning. Mia Farrow, cast in the lead as Rosemary, was not Polanski's first choice, but she certainly seems the best in retrospect. Her fragile looks and very realistic vulnerability help to sell her role, since you can really buy into her being manipulated by basically everyone around her. Some of those people, director John Cassavetes as her husband as well as Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer as her neigbours and Ralph Bellamy as her doctor, are simply incredible. Gordon deservedly won a Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as a busybody herbalist who goes down in film history as one of the most evil characters of all time once she does the heel turn. A man like Bellamy, so well-known as a kindly character, is also perfectly cast, as it's impossible not to trust the man even though you know his intentions are evil. However, when it’s all said and done, you always come back to Mia Farrow and the final scene. Does Rosemary finally begin to care for the child out of madness or maternal instinct? We’re never quite sure, and Farrow’s not telling or selling it in her face during the scene. Such is the intensity brought forth by both the performance and the film, and again, it will stick with you for some time after viewing it.



"Now that's what I call a waterbed."

The main reason that Rosemary's Baby works so amazingly well is that it all seems so perfectly normal. In fact, outside of a bizarre dream sequence in the first two acts, you'd think you were sitting down and watching a typical late 60's drama about a young couple trying to make it in the big city. However, there's a lot of subtle references early on that things aren't quite as they seem, for example Rosemary's husband telling the real estate agent he's a doctor when in reality he's an actor who plays a doctor on television. This idea of individuals playing roles is brought full circle by the end, where we discover the basically everyone in the film, including Rosemary herself, have been doing the same thing. By the end of the film, betrayal, conspiracy and a natural maternal fear for both herself and her child drive things to their gut-wrenching conclusion and while I won't share any more details I will say that it should have you on the edge of your seat. I've seen Rosemary's Baby several times in my life, yet each viewing yields the same feeling of utter helplessness and dread that I felt the first time I saw it. Truly a film that was ahead of its time, Rosemary's Baby is an all-time classic, required viewing for the horror aficionado and, above all else, something that truly delivers. 9/10.



"Coming up tomorrow....a review two years in the Mikking."