An under-taste of terror is deadlier than an overdose of thrills

Rating: 9/10 (24 April 2012)

The chalky under-taste in Rosemary's soufflé is the best way to describe the fear in Rosemary's Baby. In the 130 minute run-length, Roman Polanski sketches a story that could have been said in ninety minutes or even less. We know what will happen in the end way before Rosemary's confrontation itself, but we still follow Rosemary's abject situation intently because we have become attached to her and pitied by her condition. The most terrifying elements in the film do not call for creaking doors or vanishing figures, but use the most unpleasantly calm manner for inducing terror. The first haunting lullaby, with the piano keys connotes the mood of the film, and we know that this Doris Day movie-like sequence that follows will not remain this placid.
Rosemary, a bonny housewife and her husband Guy, a struggling actor move to a Gothic-inspired apartment in New York after marriage. The couple redecorates the place to suit their lifestyle since the house was previously occupied by an old lady who had died under mysterious circumstances. Soon, Rosemary befriends another lady in the laundry who lives with the Castevets, Rosemary's neighbors. But the girl is found one day lying on the pavement outside the building, she had apparently jumped to her death. This is when Rosemary and her husband get acquainted with the Castevets, who seem like a typical old couple, kind and helpful. Guy and Rosemary are invited to dinner where Guy has a private conversation with Roman Castevet until the ladies enter. Rosemary maintains her distance from the couple, especially the prying Minnie Castevet, who begins asking the price of her furniture; Guy however keeps visiting them often and seems quite preoccupied with 'work'. Rosemary, feeling alone and aloof, bites her tongue, fidgets, and then visits her doctor to share her woes with him. But the couple make up when Guy announces that they should have a baby, but maybe because of the half-eaten 'chocolate mousse with a chocolate under-taste', Rosemary feels enervated and faints. This is when her visions become all the be more surreal and puzzling, as Rosemary is not able to decipher whether it is a dream or it is really happening. Rosemary gets pregnant and informs this to Guy, who seems to be more relieved than excited and quickly, informs the Castevets. Rosemary, under the oldsters' suggestion or rather insistence, seeks help of a renowned doctor, Abraham Sapirstein, who in turn tells Rosemary to stop seeking advice from others, discontinue reading pregnancy books, and take a health drink prepared by Minnie, which is supposedly more effective than any goddamn pills. Rosemary undergoes a drastic weight-loss where she begins looking 'chalky' and her young friends begin worrying about her health. Apart from this, people begin dying or getting blinded or paralyzed under mysterious circumstances and Guy suddenly begins getting offers. Rosemary starts suspecting everyone around her and this leads to an unforgettable climax that you may have known beforehand but never expected to be like this.
Rosemary's Baby succeeds not just because of the fear that keeps looming at a distance, ready to strike us anytime, but also because of the ensemble's near brilliant effort at capturing the spook of homely horror- I don't know how else to describe it. The horror that is so close to home that Rosemary can see it coming but cannot help herself at getting away from it requires total unpretentiousness from the character's that establish this horror. This nosy hag Minnie and her striking husband Roman seem so unlikely to do any harm that when the truth is revealed, it brings double the chills than it would have with a long-haired, crazy looking couple with gaunt eyes and shaggy looks. Ruth Gordon is a gem, portraying her Minnie with tempered eccentricity while Sidney Blackmer is the perfect choice for Roman. John Cassavetes does his job well but could have explored his character more in terms of the guilt that Guy would have felt at committing the actions. The supporting cast is equally strong in keeping the movie alive but it is Mia Farrow, the disarmingly attractive model-actress who gives one of my favorite performances and probably one of the best of 1968. Her acting is not perfect, and neither does she pretend it is, but she is able to submit herself to her director and perform with instinct and understanding. Take the scene where she obtains the book on witches from Hutch and begins working on an anagram; you can see the excitement, tension and apprehension on her face – she wants Hutch to be wrong and the book being a hoax, but in the back of her mind, she knows that there is some connection between the book and her current situation. Mia does this and the rest of her scenes wonderfully; it's a shame the Oscars did not nominate her.
The DVD has bonus material, one that has the director, writer and producer of the film talking about their idea formation and decisions regarding the cast. There is not much information regarding technique as much of the runtime focuses on Mia and Roman (Polanski's) magical rapport. But we do see some behind the scenes footage, and we realize how flexible Roman is as a director. A random thought: It's funny whenever I think of the name Roman, I hear Nicki Minaj's 'Roman Holiday' in my head; Roman Zolanski had his exorcism on the Grammy's recently while Roman Castevets brought the devil's son Adrian to the world in 1966 Year 1. Roman Polanski on the other hand is battling some very serious allegations in USA.
Discard The Woman in Black, throw away Paranormal Activity 2, and ditch Grudge; Rosemary's Baby is watch you should be watching.
My Rating: 8.5 out of 10