The Lowdown: A young couple, hoping to make a family, move into a new apartment with some strange tenants. When they finally do get pregnant, under possibly dubious circumstances, the young mother, Rosemary, starts to become suspicious of not only her neighbors but the entire world around her.
The Breakdown: Rosemary’s Baby is an exercise in subtlety. When I was younger, I couldn’t stand the flick, mainly because of how sparse it felt. After all, this film is primarily a social drama with gothic overtones. Luckily the film has gotten better as I’ve gotten older and I’m happy to report that Rosemary’s Baby is one of the pinnacles of horror films. Polanski’s style is all slow burn, almost painfully slow. He takes his time keeping you invested in Rosemary, played by Mia Farrow, and her plight. All of the tension resides solely in the actors’ performances, creating a disturbing claustrophobia, not only for Rosemary but also for the viewer. Anyone who has every lived in a building with other people, whether it be an apartment or with roommates, can understand how invasive and awkward that situation can sometimes be. Polanski does an exceptional job walking a tightrope between showing the tenants as overly protective and/or clingy stalkers. It creates distrust and confusion in the viewer, making the horror that much more real when it finally rears its’ head.
The realism and drab cinematography really does wonders in making the audience constantly question Rosemary’s state of mind. While she slowly comes to think her baby may be in some sort of unforeseen danger, the monotony and normal-ness of the film suggest nothing out of the ordinary. It makes the emotional punch of the final moments in the film that much more disturbing. Despite the drastic steps Rosemary took to try and prevent the inevitable from happening, she was goaded along the entire way, possibly birthing the spawn of Satan himself. It is the extreme dishonesty and lack of trust where you can find the heart of the films’ poignancy. There’s nothing that would destroy a persons’ confidence than lying to them. It’s an emotionally devastating thing you can do to some people, and it certainly informs the finale of this film completely.
The Comedown: Rosemary’s Baby is a slow, almost impossibly slow burn. However, patience can be brilliantly awarded for anyone trying to find something meatier than the standard horror fare. Playing upon ideas of lost innocence, the damage of mistrust and, ultimately, the power of persuasion, Rosemary’s Baby is a powerful, emotional and disturbing commentary on relationships with people from different walks of life. When Halloween rolls around, I can’t think of a better film to watch to celebrate the season. After all, for its’ normalcy, it’s a movie about a woman who births the spawn of Satan…fucking metal.