Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby is one of the best horror novels I have read.  The reason is because, though the whole plot seems simple, there are many layers to the story.  It goes beyond a woman who finds herself as a target of a nefarious conspiracy to actually explore the way that women were regarded at treated at the time the novel was written.  It also explores how a maternal instinct can overcome an initial reluctance when it comes to rearing a child.  In the end it leaves open the question about whether it is nurture, rather than nature, that may determine how a child will turn out. 

This was Roman Polanski's first time adapting someone else's work, as prior to this he had largely written scripts from original ideas as well as directing.  Unlike most directors, Polanski pretty much kept everything he could from the novel, even though he was eventually forced to cut it down to a regular theatrical length movie.  The best thing about this is that Levin's underlying themes remain intact, especially in the way that Mia Farrow brings Rosemary Woodhouse to life.  The one detriment, of course, is that books and movies work differently.  Much of the tension that builds in Rosemary's Baby is not from visual horror or anything that requires special effects, but by the mounting realization that everyone around her, including her husband, is not what they seem. 

Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse (John Cassevetes) move into a new apartment building in Manhattan called the Bramford.  It seems it has a history of macabre happenings, and was once the residence of a spiritualist named Adrian Marcato who was attacked and killed there by a mob in the 19th century.  Soon after moving in the young couple is befriended by their neighbors, Roman (Sidney Blackmer) and Minnie Castavet (Ruth Gordon), who seem eccentric but nice.  While Rosemary doesn't exactly take to them or the other people in the Bramford, her husband becomes friends with Roman.

Soon after befriending the couple Guy's acting career begins to take off and he suggests they finally try to have a baby.  The night they are supposed to try Rosemary passes out and has a nightmare, waking the next morning to Guy saying that he had his way with her while she was asleep.  As the baby grows she is encouraged to leave her own doctor for a famous obstetrician named Abe Sapirstein (Ralph Bellamy), who encourages some alternate ways of getting through the pregnancy.  Though in great pain, Rosemary sticks with it, although she begins to realize that the Castavets' interest in her and her baby may have a more sinister purpose - one that her husband may be in on.  

One of the wise decisions Polanski made, even though it looks like they utilized some pretty good makeup effects, was to neither show full on what happens the night of her baby's conception nor what the baby itself looks like.  There are suggestions and snippets that seem to be like a dream, but much is left to the imagination.  That said, for a movie made in 1968, it is rather open about talking about pregnancy and women's cycles and a number of other things that it seemed society pretended didn't exist.  Also, like in the book, most of the uncomfortable elements do not come from the ending twist, but from the way Rosemary is denied making decisions regarding her own pregnancy and how Guy does his best to isolate her from friends her own age and other women that might give advice counter to what is being provided by Sapirstein.  It builds to such a level that, by the time she has the courage to reach out, her story seems so wild that the person she tells acts not out of malice, but out of a feeling of doing the right and professional thing in the situation. 

Most of Levin's novels have to do with outrageous conspiracies coming true, but in truth the conspiracy focused on throughout this movie is much more mundane than what is revealed at the end.  Mia Farrow has said she regrets playing the part of Rosemary as the character was a victim, but that is largely the point.  Rosemary doesn't realize she is a victim until it is too late to do anything about it or convince others to help her.  The wider message is that it is not just her, but it is all women that are treated like that.  It has always surprised me that Levin came up with two of the most feminist novels, Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives, and managed to make the point better than many of the preachy novels that would typically be on a women's studies reading list. 

While Polanski did write the adaptation, it is such a direct interpretation of the book that the story is still mainly Levin.  The directing, though, is pure Polanski, using camera angles in disorient the viewer or to make them curious about what may be occurring.  He has always been more subtle than other directors, with deliberate pacing and framing, which makes the segments that are more dream-oriented that much more jarring as it is outside the normal look of the film.  Despite the type of person he is Polanski is a brilliant director; it's just going to be a lot easier to separate the man from his art once the man is out of the picture.  

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Time: 137 minutes

Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Ralph Bellamy

Director: Roman Polanski