Product: Rosemary's Baby (El Bebe de Rosemary) [ NON-USA FORMAT, NTSC, Reg.4 Import - Latin America ] (1968)
Rating: 5.0
One of Polanski's Best
This is one of my favorite movies that I never tire of watching. Mia Farrow's performance is her best by far. She is totally natural and believable. Sidney Blackmer gives an amazing performance as Roman Castevet, the leader of the cult. Ruth Gordon is superb as his wife. John Cassavetes plays Guy Woodhouse, Rosemary's husband who arranges for the unwitting Rosemary to bear a child for the cult in exchange for the cult's help in advancing his acting career. All the other performances are first rate -Maurice Evans as Hutch, Ralph Bellamy as the obstetrician, Elisha Cook as the eccentric and somewhat creepy superintendent who shows them the apartment, D'Urville Martin as Diego, the elevator operator, Angela Dorian as the young woman who was rescued off the streets by the Castavets and who later commits suicide. Each character stands out and fits perfectly into the fabric of the story.I would not classify this movie as a horror film despite its subject matter involving a satanic cult. There is just something mesmerizing about it. It begins with a long panning shot of the Manhattan skyline that continues into an aerial shot of the gothic apartment building where the story transpires and then one can see an aerial shot of Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse walking into the entrance of the building and then it seamlessly switches to the ground camera following them into the courtyard of the building where they meet the deliciously creepy superintendant showing them the apartment. The apartment building (called the Bramford in the movie) is actually the Dakota, where John Lennon later lived and was killed in front of. This entire initial scene is very evocative to anyone who experienced Manhattan during the sixties. You just feel like you are there. The music at the beginning also pulls you in which is Mia Farrow singing a childish but somewhat eerie tune (no words, just "la, la, la") that just sets the mood perfectly.The movie is brilliantly done with perfect pacing and building of suspense, all seen from Rosemary's point of view and growing alarm until the shocking truth is finally revealed to her. But the movie isn't really about the horror or a shock ending. It seems psychologically real and seamless.