Product: Rosemary's Baby (El Bebe de Rosemary) [ NON-USA FORMAT, NTSC, Reg.4 Import - Latin America ] (1968)
Rating: 5.0
The Art Of Haunting Cinema
Roman Polanski's 1968 "Rosemary's Baby" was his first American film debut. He had already directed a film based on another book by Ira Levin that starred French actress Catherine Deneuve. Ira Levin's novel was a best selling work of horror in the late sixties. The film, for the most part, is true to the book and it's very likely fans of Ira Levin's novel were satisfied with the film adaptation. Roman Polanski, Polish-born, was the right director for the film. His life story is tinged with loss and sorrow that could easily translate into cinema with biting cynicism and horror. A young Mia Farrow who might have been appearing in her film debut, plays the title heroine Rosemary Woodhouse and John Cassavetes plays her husband Guy Woodhouse. On DVD, this film, which may appear dated and even old fashioned to many modern horror fans, appears appropriately chilling and eerie, especially for its use of subtlety which is lost in the wake of today's horror. The musical score is jazz-like but dramatic and scary. The New York City atmosphere, the 60's milieu and the credible and convincing performances by all the actors makes this novel extremely haunting and intense, even if there is no blood or gore. The real meat of this film is that the horror is invisible, it's simply there, acting as normally as the normal-behaving people. The most profound fears of human imagination, the Devil, is a danger and horror not outside but inside- as close to home as possible- inside Rosemary's womb. The ending seems to be also the climax. Rosemary finally realizes that the baby she gave birth to is the son of Satan, the Anti-Christ and though she is horrified, her mother's love and the experience of having carried him through pregnancy, in short, her maternal instincts, is to care for the child after all. She rocks the black cradle over which an upside crucifix hangs and decides to "mother" the monster.Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse move into an old apartment complex in New York City (the location was shot in the same area where John Lennon was shot and killed. The owners of the apartment are an elderly couple who give off eccentric vibes. A young woman who was living in the apartment commits suicide by throwing herself out the window (she had been the first woman the Satanic couple wanted to give birth to the Devi's baby). The old apartment has been the sight of many frightening going-ons, including murders and satanic rituals. The old couple decide they want Rosemary to have the Devil's child. They make a deal with Guy, who aspires to be a famous and wealthy actor. Guy will have his fame and fortune but in return his wife Rosemary must have the Devil's child. After being drugged by a dessert, Rosemary falls into a comma-like sleep in which she dreams she is on a boat with leisurely passangers, including John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, the Presidential couple. With her being numb, she is unaware that the evil couple have conjured up Satan to impregnate her. Later, when she is pregnant, she is given strange concoctions to make sure the baby will be born healthily and she is taken to a doctor who also happens to be in on the cult. Rosemary is pale and anorexic-looking and realizes something is wrong.The pregnancy is the slow build up to the dark finale. Rosemary has not quite grasped the true situation. Also, through the dialogue and the behavior of the people around her, the film seems to want to trick you into thinking that Rosemary is merely hysterical and imagining things as a result of a complicated pregnancy. But we know well that she is not. Finally, she does become aware that the neighboors are witches and devil worshippers and that she and her baby are in danger, thanks mostly in part by a book and anagram puzzle that a friend provided after his death. Although she tries to escape, she is trapped in the apartment and gives birth to the baby with the assistance of the witches. She is frightened in the finale to realize that she has indeed delivered the Anti-Christ into the world.For Roman Polanski, this 1968 film proved to be ironically true. About a year later, his wife Sharon Tate was brutally killed. Sharon Tate was pregnant with Polanki's baby at the time. The Marilyn Manson cult seem to parallel the coven in the movie. Roman Polanski's parents had also died in Nazi concentration camps. This film seemed suited for him to direct because of it's dark message- that evil is triumphant and that God is dead, the very essence of fear. It is a film that tame as it is, can really scare you and get under you're skin. This haunting film inspired other cinematic horror legends which would become famous in the next decade of the 70's- The Exorcist and the Omen Series. The film won best screenplay adaptation from a novel and Ruth Gordon as Best Supporting Actress.