Product: Rosemary's Baby (El Bebe de Rosemary) [ NON-USA FORMAT, NTSC, Reg.4 Import - Latin America ] (1968)
Rating: 5.0
Dark, modern, and inventive.
Rosemary's Baby is a story of Evil in a secular world. The characters in the film are vulnerable precisely because they are losing their grip on faith in God. At moments, Polanski is a bit ham-handed about this, allowing the camera to linger on Time's famous "god is dead" cover as the film reaches its climax. Other times, he is effectively subtle, with snippets of very "modern" conversations about the humor in organized religion and Catholicism in particular. We'd have even less of a chance today against Polanski's forces of Evil ... the only concern the characters would likely have is whether a Spawn of Satan would have an advantage in getting into an Ivy League college.Getting back to the film, Rosemary's Baby has inventive story line and unexpectedly dark ending after nicely paced twists and turns. Apart from Mia Farrow and her old friend Hutch, the main characters that populate the film represent a palate of narcissism, arrogance, egotism, and vanity. Occasionally, and very effectively, well-meaning, ordinary, and "decent people" show their faces, but are powerless to interfere in a conspiracy of the rich and powerful (and highly intelligent). Of course, we know the secret of their success.Mia Farrow's character is genuine, but at times maddening in her inability to sort through what's happening to her and to stand up to her vain and domineering husband. She is a woman floating between modern assertiveness and traditional fealty to her man. Yet, she manages to pull this off and, by the time she gets wise, the race is on.