SusannahRosemary's Baby
June 3rd 2007 04:21
ROSEMARY’S BABY
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer.
From the novel by Ira Levin.
Adapted for the screen by Roman Polanski.
Directed by Roman Polanski.
This is a classic horror film that can almost be seen as a prequel to the events of another classic horror, The Omen, as it deals with a woman who suspects she may be carrying the child of Satan.
Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes play a young couple, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, who move into a new apartment, recently vacated because the previous tenant, an old woman, lapsed into a coma, and later died. Not an auspicious beginning by any means. Soon they meet their elderly neighbours, Minnie and Roman Castevet (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer), who at first are very charming and helpful, but as Rosemary learns more about the history of the building and its links to witchcraft, she begins to suspect that her pregnancy is the centre of some demonic plot by the old couple, and possibly, her husband.
Like his earlier film, Repulsion, the genius of Polanski lies in his ability to turn a character study into an incredibly sinister and increasingly paranoid cinematic experience. As Rosemary advances further into her pregnancy, she is increasingly isolated from her friends, and anyone who attempts to help her is either done away with, or led to believe that she is mad. One could even argue that her own husband is the real villain of the picture, as his ambition as an actor, as it is implied, essentially leads him to trade his wife to the witches’ coven in exchange for fame and wealth. He undermines her confidence and negates all her doubts and anxieties regarding the normalcy of her pregnancy in order to satisfy the wishes of the Castevets, who want nothing to interfere with little Satan’s arrival.
Like Ira Levin’s other famous novel The Stepford Wives, which was a commentary on the backlash against feminism in the guise of a thriller, Rosemary’s Baby is also a social commentary, in the guise of a horror novel, on the abortion debate and how women had their power and right to decide what happens to their bodies during pregnancy taken away. Hence, Rosemary cannot even see the doctor with whom she feels most comfortable, and by the end of the film is under house arrest, for having tried to escape those she believes want to harm her baby.
The events of the film are seen entirely through Rosemary’s eyes and Mia Farrow does a fantastic job of portraying a sweet young woman who just wants to be a good wife and mother, but who is gradually overcome by paranoia and anxiety. Her thin, vulnerable, appearance is only exacerbated later on when she gets her hair cut at the beginning of her pregnancy into her trademark closely cropped short hair, which emphasises her fragility, and fracturing state of mind. The ending, where she enters the party holding the knife and sees the black bassinette is one of the most chilling in cinema, and all without even showing the baby onscreen. “Its eyes. What have you done to its eyes?” is a classic line from cinema as well. Well worth watching.
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer.
From the novel by Ira Levin.
Adapted for the screen by Roman Polanski.
Directed by Roman Polanski.
This is a classic horror film that can almost be seen as a prequel to the events of another classic horror, The Omen, as it deals with a woman who suspects she may be carrying the child of Satan.
Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes play a young couple, Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, who move into a new apartment, recently vacated because the previous tenant, an old woman, lapsed into a coma, and later died. Not an auspicious beginning by any means. Soon they meet their elderly neighbours, Minnie and Roman Castevet (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer), who at first are very charming and helpful, but as Rosemary learns more about the history of the building and its links to witchcraft, she begins to suspect that her pregnancy is the centre of some demonic plot by the old couple, and possibly, her husband.
Like his earlier film, Repulsion, the genius of Polanski lies in his ability to turn a character study into an incredibly sinister and increasingly paranoid cinematic experience. As Rosemary advances further into her pregnancy, she is increasingly isolated from her friends, and anyone who attempts to help her is either done away with, or led to believe that she is mad. One could even argue that her own husband is the real villain of the picture, as his ambition as an actor, as it is implied, essentially leads him to trade his wife to the witches’ coven in exchange for fame and wealth. He undermines her confidence and negates all her doubts and anxieties regarding the normalcy of her pregnancy in order to satisfy the wishes of the Castevets, who want nothing to interfere with little Satan’s arrival.
Like Ira Levin’s other famous novel The Stepford Wives, which was a commentary on the backlash against feminism in the guise of a thriller, Rosemary’s Baby is also a social commentary, in the guise of a horror novel, on the abortion debate and how women had their power and right to decide what happens to their bodies during pregnancy taken away. Hence, Rosemary cannot even see the doctor with whom she feels most comfortable, and by the end of the film is under house arrest, for having tried to escape those she believes want to harm her baby.
The events of the film are seen entirely through Rosemary’s eyes and Mia Farrow does a fantastic job of portraying a sweet young woman who just wants to be a good wife and mother, but who is gradually overcome by paranoia and anxiety. Her thin, vulnerable, appearance is only exacerbated later on when she gets her hair cut at the beginning of her pregnancy into her trademark closely cropped short hair, which emphasises her fragility, and fracturing state of mind. The ending, where she enters the party holding the knife and sees the black bassinette is one of the most chilling in cinema, and all without even showing the baby onscreen. “Its eyes. What have you done to its eyes?” is a classic line from cinema as well. Well worth watching.
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