Product: Rosemary's Baby (El Bebe de Rosemary) [ NON-USA FORMAT, NTSC, Reg.4 Import - Latin America ] (1968)
Rating: 5.0
Polanski's Ability to Create Real and Palpable Tension is never better than in ROSEMARY'S BABY!
I am amazed that I have just watched ROSEMARY'S BABY for the first time.When this film came out when I was in 7th grade I remember that it carried the ominous rating 'M'(Mature), which in those days was verboten for anyone under 21.I remember hearing all of the scandalous talk about it;Satanism,anti-Christianity,nudity,talk of marijuana etc.That was groundbreaking stuff in those days!What though may seem "quaint" to some still carries with it a powerful punch for those who see this film through the eyes of the time in which it was made.This film threatened the very "sacred cows" of American Traditional values. As seen in the film, TIME MAGAZINE did print a front page edition entitled "IS GOD DEAD?" That alone was considered blasphemous.Viewing the movie through THAT lens will make it all the more interesting!Well, now in 2007 I have seen it, and it is so easy to see WHY this film was so shocking.It still shocked me;not so much for the content as much as for the brilliant direction of Roman Polanski who knows how to create real and palpable tension.You jump when he says jump.You feel the foreboding and the secrecy.You feel the terror.He moves the camera down spooky corridors. The music is appropriately creepy and adds to the further mix of desperation and high strung feeling.This is what makes this movie a classic! Polanski (CHINATOWN,THE PIANIST,OLIVER TWIST) knows how much fishing line to let out, hook you, and then reel you slowly in,only to let you think you are going to be released,quickly then snatching you up unexpectedly!Polanski follows in the steps of others great suspense directors, but seldom has anyone achieved such height and depth of terror that is done so craftily and subtly.The film may seem dated, but when looked at as a period piece ROSEMARY'S BABY becomes all the more fascinating;dial up phones,answering services,black elevator operators,earth- tone furniture,Vidal Sassoon haircuts,smoking and drinking in front of pregnant women,and parts of New York City that no longer exist.The film is a veritable chronicle of 1960's life! Put a first class screenplay with excellent direction and it is easy to see how subsequent directors tried to make films of this genre, but fell short (not all, but many!).Mia Farrow was fresh from her debut triumph as Allison Mackenzie in the the scandalous evening T.V. Soap, PEYTON PLACE!She was the "IT" girl of the moment. John Cassavetes went on to be a great and famous director. Ruth Gordon, who won the Oscar for her portrayal as Minnie was still wowing them into the late 1980's.This film featured all of the "now" actors.ROSEMARY'S BABY is a nail-biter! Yes, the "spawn of Satan" flicks continue to be made, but ROSEMARY'S BABY set the whole hellish ball into high spinning motion.THE EXORCIST,THE OMEN all followed in subsequent years.TOP 5 HORROR FILMS OF ALL TIME IN MY BOOK!I now know why people considered this film so overwhelming for it's time.It still has staying power that are hallmarks of great films!