Review: Rosemary’s Baby

“We’re your friends, Rosemary. There’s nothing to be scared about.”

What’s it all about? Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and her husband (John Cassavetes) have moved into a new apartment, and their new neighbours have a peculiar interest in their unborn child.

[Note: This is my submission article for the A-Z Blogathon which is hosted by the spectacular Caitlin of 1,416 and Counting. Do yourself a favour and hop over to her blog. You can thank me later.]

I’ve had a couple of pretty awful weeks lately. Scratch that — I meant months. And to top it all off, the Final Girl Project was hacked into, so, I’m not surprised that there hasn’t been any new posts in almost two weeks. Unfortunately, all of this had to happen in the middle of my Hot Docs coverage. Oh well. I fixed everything as well as I could, and it’s time for some new updates.

But first — some more bad news. If you’re in Toronto and hang out at The Bloor Cinema at all, you should know that the tickets went up to seven dollars. I know that doesn’t sound all that much, but it’s actually a forty percent jump in prices. I went to The Bloor a couple nights ago to see “Rosemary’s Baby” and I was a little peeved. I guess they’re expecting a drop in patronage after The Underground opens (tomorrow!) and they need to make up for that money somehow.

Walking into the theatre, I was expecting a pretty horrific psychological drama/thriller. I even got one of my friends to come with me for support. Sadly – I didn’t really need to. The film was more funny than anything, and the only time I covered my eyes was when Rosemary had her blood taken. (That needle was a lot bigger than in needed to be.) But I did wince every time I saw Rosemary’s pallid form midway through the film. All I could picture during those moments was Christian Bale in “The Machinist”. I wanted to feed her a hamburger and throw away the “medicines” that she was taking from her neighbours. Actually, immediately after the film I bought a burger. I’m not too sure what that says about me.

I think my favourite part of the film is its focus on palette. “Rosemary’s Baby” is filled with soft yellows and blues in its domestic scenes and darker, more earthy tones everywhere else. This more than anything shows the contrast between the character of Rosemary and the corrupt, sinister world surrounding her. I was somewhat disappointed, however, that this surrounding world wasn’t as menacing as I hoped. The antagonists in the film were to be laughed at most of the time — often they went as far as campy. I was expecting to be scared out of my mind. Loads of people are terrified of this movie, however, so, my less-than-enthusiastic reaction to “Rosemary’s Baby” can be chalked up to personal taste.

Notes: Directed by Roman Polanski; Produced by William Castle; Written by Ira Levin, Roman Polanski; Starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy; Music by Krzysztof Komeda; Cinematography by William A. Fraker; Editing by Sam O’Steen, Bob Wyman.