Powerful in Its Portrayal of Powerlessness
A haunting depiction of a woman powerless against her tormentors.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968) is an iconic, influential, and unnerving horror film brilliantly directed by infamous child rapist Roman Polanski. Rosemary’s Baby takes you on a psychological Satanic journey into a dark drama about the fear of motherhood like no other. I can only compare it to films Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby has profoundly influenced such as The Omen, Suspiria, The Shining, Sophie’s Choice, The Babadook, The Witch, or Hereditary. Polanski ensures you are lulled into his horror story with dreamy direction and alluring 1960’s mod fashion. From the hypnotizing opening theme with Mia Farrow humming the melody to the numerous dream sequences, Rosemary’s Baby forces you to witness a woman’s agony with no agency of her own.
Mia Farrow’s lead actress performance as Rosemary Woodhouse is a powerful display of fear, suspicion, curiosity, eagerness, innocence, devastation, dread, anxiety, disappointment, desperation, compassion, and paranoia. Farrow captures all these emotional states with ease in a natural performance that is deeply empathetic, sympathetic, and endearing. She’s so lovely and sweet that her innocent naive personality make for a more poignant victim. She soft voice, pale skin, short blonde hair, tiny figure, and gentle nature elevate Farrow’s dramatic performance into the stuff of legends. She delivers an absolute frightened in Rosemary’s Baby.
John Cassavetes is tremendously entertaining as Guy Woodhouse. His charming, loving husband persona falls away into an overbearing, controlling, and gaslighting spouse into something much darker. His subtle acting starts out so warm and likable into a fearsome antagonist. Ruth Gordon’s nosey neighbor Minnie Castevet is so infuriatingly stubborn, disquietingly intrusive, yet hilariously abrasive that you cannot help but be impressed by Gordon’s acting. Sidney Blackmer is all charm and understatement with his threats as Roman Castevet. Ralph Bellamy is insistent and provocative as Dr. Sapirstein.
I liked Maurice Evans as the helpful and kindly Hutch. Charles Grodin is deceptively nurturing as the important Dr. Hill. It’s neat seeing Grodin in a serious horror film as I normally associate him with comedies. They both play their supporting characters with a serious attitude that accents the foreboding nature of Rosemary’s Baby. Polanski’s script constantly gifts you with ominous signs and foreboding setups that deliver clever payoffs by the end. His astute writing is elevated by several outstanding acting performances from his talented cast.
I should mention that Rosemary’s Baby features some of the most engaging, intriguing, and inventive editing ever. Sam O’Steen and Bob Wyman’s editing choices are fascinating. The clever jump cuts as characters just start to interact with objects make for striking transitions between scenes. Meanwhile, their smooth and seamless montages for Rosemary’s dream sequences are the most frightening scenes in Rosemary’s Baby. They take at least 5 scenes and perfectly splice them together to convey Rosemary’s past and present in a haze of salient images. Once you figure out what these dream sequences mean, you realize what geniuses O’Steen, Wyman, and Polanski are for such careful filmmaking.
Overall, Rosemary’s Baby will pound you with a sense of dread and helplessness as you are chilled by a haunting horror tale. The Satanic rituals and infant finale are the stuff of nightmares. Rosemary’s Baby is genuinely scary, so be forewarned.Read full review
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