Product: Rosemary's Baby (El Bebe de Rosemary) [ NON-USA FORMAT, NTSC, Reg.4 Import - Latin America ] (1968)
Rating: 3.0
Look what's happened to Rosemary's Baby-- they've remastered it!
Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)I read a review of this recently that called Mia Farrow's hairstyle in the second half of the film "iconic". Lord help us all. However, I rush to add that Farrow's horrendous hair is about the only negative I can attach to this flick; Roman Polanski was at the height of his powers here, as were a number of folks in front of the camera, and the combination came up with an effective, if somewhat slow, thriller that still works after forty years.Rosemary (Farrow) and Guy (John Cassavettes) Woodhouse move into an apartment building after the death of their new apartment's previous tenant. They are immediately befriended by the Castavets, Roman (Sidney Blackmer) and his obnoxious wife Minnie (Ruth Gordon, who pulled down a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance here). Not long afterwards, things start going right for the couple-- Guy lands a big acting job he's been lusting after, Rosemary gets pregnant, etc. But there's a dark lining to this silver cloud; it seems that every time something good happens for them, misfortune strikes someone else (e.g., Guy gets the part because the actor who was originally selected for it suddenly goes blind). Rosemary begins to suspect, based on a nightmare she had, that perhaps their good fortune is being guided by an outside force, and that the Castavets are somehow involved. The more she finds, however, the more she realizes that she doesn't want to know-- and the contradiction begins to drive her insane.Polanski's script, adapted from Ira Levin's novel, practically glistens with cool. He pulled off a great one here, and turned a mediocre novel into a stunning film, lean, hungry, and pulsing with malice. Equally responsible for the excellence on the screen are the actors. Farrow and Gordon have gotten kudos from here to Greenpoint, so I won't belabor what everyone else has already said; what I find somewhat odd is that everyone overlooks John Cassavettes' performance in this flick. Given how inconsistent Cassavettes is in front of the camera, I do find that surprising; it's difficult for me to believe this is the same guy from, say, The Incubus. He plays his role to the hilt (though to really get into the meat of this, I'd have to start spouting spoilers; just in case two or three of you have yet to see the film, I'll pass). It might be heresy to say I think he's even stronger here than Sidney Blackmer is, but I do. There's a subtlety to Cassavettes' performance that I've never seen from him before or since. Great stuff.As I write this, there's a remake in the works (Hollywood strikes again!). Directed, no less, by Michael Bay. I shudder to think (and I am tasteless enough that I love the awful sequel, Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby!, with all my fluffy little heart). Do yourself a favor-- forget Michael Bay exists (would that we all could) and go see the original again. And again. And again. ****