Genre:
Horror
Directed
by: Roman Polanski
Starring:
Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
Running
time: 136 minutes
Rosemary Woodward and her husband Guy, an
aspiring actor, move into a new apartment in this older building in New York City,
hoping to start a family. The couple is quickly befriended by two older
neighbors, the Castavets, who will quickly take an ever-growing place in their
daily life. When Rosemary becomes pregnant, after a very unclear conception
that happened during a night when she was passed out, her paranoia increases as
she starts suspecting their older friends of being Satanists trying to take
control over her and baby.
This 1968 film, adapted from Ira Levin’s
bestselling novel of the same name, has become a true classic of the
psychological horror genre. Polanski wrote the screenplay and directed the
movie, and he did commendable work of it. As they say about Polanski in some
circles: Good movie director, bad date. In Rosemary’s Baby, Polanski weaves a
tale where the mood is set and then the action takes us slowly and surely to a
strong climax.
Mia Farrow offers a solid performance as
Rosemary, a young naïve wife whose paranoia increases slowly, and with good
reason. Some would even say she should have caught on quicker, but, movies
being what they are, good things take time to develop. Ruth Gordon is also very
good as Minnie Castavets, an overbearing old lady who hides such darkness under
these layers of niceness.
If you have yet to see Rosemary’s Baby and
you like a good horror film, give it a chance; it is a movie that will keep you
on the edge of your seat. I must admit I cringed a bit at the end, with the
cliché of the Asian guy in a group of Satanists taking pictures, but it was an
acceptable thing to convey back in the 60’s I guess. Beyond that, this Polanski
classic still deserves to hold a very respectable rank on any cinephile’s list
of best movies.
Rating:
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