Rosemary's Baby

 “He has his father’s eyes.”

Let’s get this out of the way here at the top. This is a well-written and well-directed film, there’s no getting around that, but that’s the last I’ll be saying about the writer or director. He won’t even be getting a mention in the production history part of this review. The reason why should be pretty obvious, but if you aren’t aware the information can easily be found.

Rosemary’s Baby is based on a novel by the same name by Ira Levin (The Stepford Wives) and was released on June 12, 1968. Rosemary’s Baby was made on a budget of roughly $3.2 million and went on to make $33.4 million at the Box Office (as always, some of these older films are a little more difficult to get exact numbers and breakdowns for). It received positive reviews upon release and is today considered a classic of the genre. The film won Ruth Gordon (Harold and Maude) an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Rosemary’s Baby follows Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow, The Great Gatsby) and her husband Guy (John Cassavetes, The Dirty Dozen) after they move into a new apartment and befriend their older neighbors Minnie (Gordon) and Roman (Sidney Blackmer, The High and the Mighty) Castevet. Rosemary soon becomes pregnant, but her pregnancy is difficult and she begins to suspect that her husband and neighbors have sinister intentions for her baby.

Rosemary’s Baby is really good. Sometimes it can be difficult to separate art from the artist and I think as consumers of media we have a responsibility to be conscientious about when that can be done and when it can’t. In this case, I don’t have a lot of trouble making that separation as I purchased my DVD copy used when I was in high school, long before I knew who made the film and what his crimes were. So with that, I feel pretty comfortable saying that this film is really good.

Farrow is really the glue that holds this movie together. She provides Rosemary with enough vulnerability and strength that it’s easy to fear for her in her plight, and to root for her when she attempts to fight for herself. This isn’t a film that needs blood or jump scares (though I’m not opposed to either) to generate its horror, that comes from the desperation and hopelessness of Rosemary’s situation. Despite all of the precautions she takes, everyone is working against her and there’s nothing she can do to get ahead. Even those who seem sympathetic to her plight are either killed or betray her trust. Rosemary is completely and utterly alone.

The supporting cast is great, particularly Gordon who gets to camp it up like nobody’s business. All of them play their characters with a warmth toward Rosemary that seems just a little too forced and disingenuous. The film smartly plays on the uncanniness of these interactions. That leads right up into the final moments of the film when after Rosemary gives birth when she still receives the condescending compassion that comes from being the mother of Satan’s son.

In my very first review of The Hills Have Eyes (2006) I mentioned that I really don’t like depictions of sexual assault in film. While there’s no way around it in this particular narrative, I think the film handles the subject as well as it possibly can. Rosemary’s dream of the assault is visually striking, though could probably be toned down a bit without losing any of the power. 

Rosemary’s Baby is an incredible film. Separating the art from the artist can be hard, but it’s important that no film (or television show, Broadway musical, etc.) are made by one person alone. It takes a team of hundreds of people to pull this together. When someone toxic (or worse) is at the head of that production we can’t ignore the harm they’ve caused, but we also shouldn’t let them take away from the hard work the others have put in. It’s a tough line to walk.

Rating: 4 inverted crosses out of 5

Other Observations:

• Does the Dog Die? No animal deaths! 

• Harrison’s Favorite Scare: As I mentioned, this movie relies more on dread and Rosemary’s inability to find anyone to stand by her rather than traditional scares; but Rosemary tense telephone call in the booth with strangers who may or may not be part of the cult waiting for her to leave is very frightening.

• Levin wrote a sequel to the novel called Son of Rosemary released in 1997, and a television film sequel called Look What’s Happened to Rosemary’s Baby was released in 1976. I have no desire to visit either.

• As good as Farrow is, her delivery of “this is no dream, this is really happening” doesn’t quite land. On the other hand, that may be more of a script issue than an acting issue. Not sure that there are many actors who could make that line work.

• Seriously, Ruth Gordon is a fucking treasure. 

Next Week: We’re coming up on 4/26 so that means we’re covering one of my favorite films ever made: Alien! (To clarify, LV-426 is the planet that the Nostromo discovered the derelict on in the first film, and is the main setting of Aliens)