Rosemary's Baby

Guy Woodhouse (John Cassavetes) and his wife Rosemary (Mia Farrow) move into a new apartment in New York's Bramford building. They are happily married and decide to try for a child. However the pregnant Rosemary becomes deeply suspicious of her next-door neighbours the Castevets, and of her husband. Has he struck a deal with them involving some kind of devil worship? Is she carrying the son of Satan?

Polanski has made a faithful adaptation of the novel by Ira Levin, succesfully converting the literature into acute imagery. The narrative is observed from Rosemary's point of view; the audience shares her arduous pregnancy and her fear, and also has to assess whether she is mentally ill or perfectly sane; whether her imaginings are true or those of a hysterical woman anxious for the safety of her unborn baby.

Polanski supplements the audience's indecision by distorting the realistic with camera angles and focus so that the fantastic has the texture of undeniable reality. The film has very strong colours and textures with some neat visual metaphors: a favourite is the streaks of rain on the window as a metaphor for Rosemary's "burning wires of pain".

There are also some clever ironies, particularly in the casting, such as John Cassavetes, an actor known for appearing as though he weren't acting, playing a character who is an actor.

Rosemary's Baby contains some harrowing moments (the betrayal by Dr Hill being the finest of them) which add up to a whole that is more than just a sophisticated horror film.

Review by Stephen Cox
Taken from EUFS Programme 1995-96