MEDIOCREMOVIE.CLUB
  • Reviews
  • Side Pieces
  • Shane of Thrones
  • Podcast
  • About
  • Archives
  • Game of Thrones Fantasy

Rosemary's Baby

10/20/2015

8 Comments

 

A-
3.50

A young couple move into an apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences.

Directed by Roman Polanski
​

Starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon

  • Polanski's direction is both precise when it needs to be, and chaotic when called for - Lane
  • I always wanted to know what was going to happen next and what each character was up to - Bryan
  • I think the final scene blows it - Jon
Picture
Here are a few important dates in the history of women:
 
1960: The FDA approves the first oral contraception for sale in the US.
 
1963: The Equal Pay Act was signed into law by President Kennedy.
 
1965: The Supreme Court strikes down laws in Connecticut that restrict access to birth control for married couples.

1966: The National Organization for Women is formed.
 
1968: The first feature length major studio film of a woman's struggle to continue her difficult pregnancy is brought to theaters all over the nation - twist: her struggle is heightened because the baby is Satan. That's a tough choice.
 
What a decade for women!
 
While “Rosemary’s Baby” is a film firmly established in the annals of the horror genre, it is as much a film about women, couples, children, and culture as anything else. You can tell a lot about the prevailing fears of a nation by the kinds of scary movies it watches, and “Rosemary’s Baby,” followed by films like “The Exorcist,” “The Omen,” all the way to “Friday the 13th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street,” show that during the second half of the twentieth century America was really terrified of their children. And not without cause. Kids did some weird things in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s and '80's. Like sex and drugs and feminism. In horror films of the late ‘70’s and ‘80’s, the parents often abandoned their kids to summer camps (“Friday the 13th”) or for nights out on the town (“Halloween”), but in “Rosemary’s Baby,” like “Psycho” before it, the fear is still firmly centered on the family unit and the support structures (or lack of) surrounding it.
 
As the film opens we find Rosemary and Guy renting an apartment they can barely afford in an old, scary looking building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan (The Dakota building, which is where John Lennon lived and was murdered). They are clearly on the fast track in New York society and all Guy needs are a few breaks in the theater world for them to be on their way. They have the normal anxieties of young married people. Is now the right time to start a family? Will we make it in our careers? Can we balance the demands of family and making a living?
 
Enter the kindly, odd elderly couple next door – the Castavets – who befriend the young couple and seek to help them, though their motivations might be suspect. At this point, we could be watching a comedy, but we get the sense of something wrong. The Castavets’ ward, Terry, commits suicide; also there are just odd things about them – a lack of pictures on the wall; strange stories; weird music through the shared wall; a fondness for herbs; the taste of their chocolate mousse.
 
It’s pretty early in the film when we, the audience, get a glimpse of who these people might really be: friends of the dark lord himself. However, the genius of the film is in the fact that we don’t really know. Up until the very end, we are left to guess as to whether we are watching the psychological breakdown of an overstressed woman suffering through a difficult pregnancy, or whether this is truly some demonic cult that has managed to abduct this young woman's womb. The film wonderfully plays with the notion that the giving and taking of life can be both wonderful and terrifying. It can break a person down. Child bearing can break a relationship down. Reality gets stretched; boundaries get crossed. And we see what men for generations have felt deep down: pregnant women are scary!
 
We may be a little too far removed from the cultural milieu to fully get the film’s commentary, humor, and pathos, though most of it still plays well almost 50 years later, probably because so many of the themes are timeless. The film mocks society people; it flirts with the fears of secularism and institutional decline (side note: the God is Dead movement, which is mentioned a few times in the film and made famous by the Time magazine cover that Rosemary finds at Dr. Sapirstein’s office, held it’s theological home base for quite a few years at Blair and Shane’s esteemed alma mater, Emory University, much to the chagrin of the Methodists who funded it); and in the end, Guy admits it's all about the Faustian bargain that humanity has always pondered: “would I give up my soul to the devil if I could be rich, famous, and powerful?” Don’t lie; you’ve thought about it.
 
A few other side notes: Mia Farrow is great; Polanski’s directing is both precise when it needs to be, and chaotic when called for. Ruth Gordon’s performance of Minnie Castavet seemed over the top at first, but halfway through I realized it hit the mark it needed to hit – for introverts and young married couples, having to spend an evening at a dinner party with those people would seem almost as terrifying as birthing Satan.
 
It’s not bump in the night horror, but it’s not supposed to be, and a lot of genre films stand on this one’s shoulders.
 
Grade: A

Initial Review by Lane
8 Comments
Admin
10/20/2015 09:08:21 pm

Reserved for replies to initial review.

Reply
Bryan
10/20/2015 09:09:30 pm

No resummary here, just adjectives.

Interesting, inquisitive, intense, weird, and awesome.

I always wanted to know what was going to happen next and what each character was up to. This was a great show. A-

Reply
Cooker
10/21/2015 10:48:38 am

When a “classic” horror/psychological movie starts with creepy music, you know it’s going to be special. Adding the “La la la las” was just icing on the cake. Roman Polanski’s directed Rosemary’s Baby was indeed something special and well-reviewed in the initial post. A young couple eager to start a family and get their lives rolling move into a creepy old apartment, have creepy neighbors, a girl jumps out of a seventh floor window and kills herself near the beginning. Good stuff.

The film itself keeps you interested. Is she slowly growing paranoid and crazy, or is the apartment building really inhabited by devil worshipping nutbars. My biggest issue with this debate is the character of Guy, the husband. Did he sell his soul to an evil cult to boost his career for his family’s sake? It appears so. His character changes so much from the first sequences that I didn’t have to debate between wife going crazy or evil Satanic cult. Everything was about him, he got angered toward his wife easily for stupid things, he was always leaving the apartment and rarely spending time with his wife who was in a lot of pain from the pregnancy, and I’m sorry but when a young couple decides to have children I don’t think the husband is going to screw his wife while she’s passed out in order to conceive. He didn’t do a good job hiding the fact that he knew what was going on from the audience, at least for me. And that crazy chocolate mousse-inspired boat dream sequence. I’m glad I wasn’t on drugs while watching or I would’ve tripped major balls.

The mysteries of the “is it or isn’t it a kooky cult” were played nicely. The cupboard blocking the closet in the apartment, the pictures in the old couple’s place, uncovering the anagram with Scrabble tiles, chanting heard from behind the walls, the bizarre happenings to other people involved somehow with the couple. It really made you wonder what the big secret was that everyone knew based on how strange they acted.

So the wife, played wonderfully by Mia Farrow in her first leading role, gets suspicious of everything and everyone—the herbal drinks, the doctor that tells her she’s fine, etc. etc., and she starts studying up on witchcraft. If I had been her, I would’ve gone back to her original doctor sooner. Red flag number one. She gives birth, is told that the baby had died, and later hears a child crying through the walls. She uncovers the secret passage in the previously blocked closet, approaches the crib and… Yep, evil Satan-worshipping cult. Here’s your demon baby. And I really wanted to see that demon baby. I know for effect you don’t have to show everything, but I really wanted to see that demon baby. And what was with the token Asian guy taking all the pictures? The ending just didn’t quite work for me. It felt off.

The only other negative I had on Rosemary’s Baby was that I felt it was a little lengthy for the genre. Some of the scenes dragged and stalled the story. Overall though, I can see why it’s listed as a “classic.” The positives outweigh the negatives. Giving this one a B+

Reply
Bryan
10/21/2015 11:45:03 am

"And that crazy chocolate mousse-inspired boat dream sequence. I’m glad I wasn’t on drugs while watching or I would’ve tripped major balls." Nailed it. That scene really set things up for the crazy vs paranoid debate.

Reply
Jon
10/23/2015 03:52:11 am

We've already talked about Woody Allen with Annie Hall, and now we get to talk about Roman Polanski, a second controversial director. Rosemary's Baby is an especially weird movie for him, a rapist who made a movie about a rape victim (though this movie pre-dates the crime by a lot of years). That hangs over the movie. I don't really think that an artist has to be an unimpeachable saint to appreciate his/her work, but their public actions inform how their work is perceived. I generally like the handful of his movies that I've seen, while also finding him to be a despicable coward. Rosemary's Baby complicates my feelings towards him even more, as there's a bright feminist thread woven into the film. It's yet another example of holding two sharply dissonant opinions in your head at the same time. Polanski can empathically document what it's like to be a woman that is condescended to and patronized at every turn, and he can also commit a great crime against a teenage girl.

Jumping straight to the end, I think the final scene blows it. Cook called it out as cartoonish and it is very much that. It's also unnecessary and takes a lot of the power out of the movie. I really think the better movie is one where a cult of witches maybe impregnated Rosemary, or maybe she was subconsciously waking up to how oppressed she was by everyone around her and that dissonance resulted in erratic behavior. As is, there is no mystery to this film. The villains explain themselves two minutes before the end credits. If the magical aspects were toned down slightly, there would be an argument to be made that everything was a combination of coincidence and overly-nosy neighbors, thus resulting in a better and more ambiguous film.

The plain motives are all the more frustrating by what is great in Rosemary's Baby. The trapping of Rosemary in her life made the biggest impression. Everyone wants to have control over her. Everything surrounding Dr. Sapirstein is loathsome. That depiction of a time of paternalistic medicine in which a doctor would tell a patient to not talk to anyone or read any books feels real and accurate, Satan baby notwithstanding. Rosemary's husband Guy falls into the category of Biggest Scumbag Ever. Forget the one-sided Indecent Proposal. The casual confession that he had sex with her while she slept, lie though it is, is utterly despicable. Even her friend and advocate Hutch talks about her while she's standing right next to him. Mia Farrow plays her as a smart woman acting like a bubble-headed waif, a person completely limited by the time she's living in and conforming to it to her detriment. Polanski comes from Holocaust victims, and I think a part of Rosemary's Baby is getting at the feeling of what it's like to be powerless. If that's the case, he completes his mission with flying colors.

The writing around this period of burgeoning feminism is my favorite part, but the direction around creating a claustrophobic, voyeuristic atmosphere is close behind. Polanski fills Rosemary's Baby with details that add an air of suspicion. Immediately into the film, the elevator man is holding a look a little too long, while in the hallway, a handyman is drilling a peephole. Other instances like the chanting and the locket, while obvious, lose nothing in the creep department. Polanski uses the absence of things just as effectively. Mr. Castavet and Guy smoking in the room while Rosemary and Mrs. Castavet wash dishes is perfectly framed, with the men's smoke drifting past the entry way, suggesting ill intent. We often talk about long shots and their ability to generate tension, and there's an excellent one here with Rosemary in the phone booth. Not only is Farrow crushing it with the very natural fake-talking on the phone, but the trench-coated man that sidles up to the phone booth is a fantastic choice. No music sting, no crowding the frame, just a guy that might be either a nobody or an acolyte of Satan.

Rosemary's Baby is justly acclaimed as a classic of the Golden Age of Cinema. I can plainly see its greatness, from the layered and perceptive writing to the superlative directing (must praise out the late and perfect shot of the knife steadying the bassinet). The ending, however, is beneath the movie that has come before. It's like Polanski handed the keys over to a schlocky horror director for the final scenes. For a movie that has been showing and not telling, it blows the last hurdle and collapses to the track, finishing out of the medals. I talked myself up in my review, but this is a B for me, a classic case of the conflict between the movie that is, and the movie that I want.

Reply
Sean
10/25/2015 07:59:58 pm

This movie was good enough that Mindy stayed up until 1 watching. It was super weird and quite different than the horror movies of today and falls more into psychological thriller for me. Mia Farrow is the best looking 11 year old boy ever, it's no wonder a pair of child rapists were so drawn to her.
Agree that ambiguity would've been better- the Hail Satan party was over the top. The demon baby would've looked terrible in 1966. Maybe if it gets a decent remake we could have the demon toddler done by Andy Serkin in motion capture.
A-

Reply
Bryan
10/25/2015 08:17:05 pm

Welcome back.

NBC did a remake. http://www.nbc.com/rosemarys-baby

Reply
Drew
11/1/2015 07:16:42 pm

That's one of the better reviews this turn. Well done, Lane.

This was about a woman's right to choose as Twilight was about the right to life. There was spiritual rape under the mask of marital rape and perpetual lying throughout. I can understand why aborting the pregnancy never happened but it was baffling it never crossed her mind. Perhaps it there was a generational effect.

This was no doubt a classic and it showed. Great acting all around but like Sean stated, the cult scene was over the top.

Grade: B+

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Authors

    JUST SOME IDIOTS GIVING SURPRISINGLY AVERAGE MOVIE REVIEWS.

    Categories

    All
    2017 Catch Up Trio
    80s
    Action
    Adventure
    AI Trio
    Author - Blair
    Author - Bobby
    Author - Bryan
    Author - Chris
    Author - Cook
    Author - Drew
    Author - Joe
    Author - Jon
    Author - JR
    Author - Lane
    Author - Phil
    Author - Pierce
    Author - Sean
    Author - Shane
    Author - Tom
    Best Of 2016
    Best Of 2017
    Best Of 2018
    Best Of 2019
    Best Of 2020
    Best Of 2021
    Best Of 2022
    Comedy
    Culture Clash Trio
    Denzel Trio
    Documentary
    Drama
    Foreign
    Historical
    Horror
    Internet Docs Trio
    Mediocrities
    Movie Trios
    Musical
    Podcast
    Romance
    Round 3.1
    Round 3.2
    Round 3.3
    Round 4.1
    Round 4.2
    Round 4.3
    Sci Fi
    Season 10
    Season 2
    Season 3
    Season 4
    Season 5
    Season 6
    Season 7
    Season 8
    Season 9
    Shorts
    Sports
    Thriller
    Western
    Women In Men's Worlds

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

    Click to set custom HTML