Film: Rosemary's Baby

Director: Roman Polanski
Genre: Horror
Source: USA (1968)
Rating: R
Location/Format: Netflix Streaming
Grade: A-

As an adult I've come to a late enjoyment of horror films. Not the gore-fests popular among the kid's today (man, I sound old)--I have little interest in seeing Hostel or any of the countless Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes that seem to come out year after year--but I have come to appreciate the suspense, the dark, the exploration of what evil is and how we react to it. In this regard, Rosemary's Baby may be one of the best horror films I've seen in a long time. Side note: I love coming to these older gems a little later and finding a film that really stands up well even 45 years later. 

It's the slow burn of the film, and the blurred lines between reality and fantasy, waking and dream, sanity and insanity, that makes the film work. Mia Farrow is fragile and sympathetic as Rosemary, the wife of a struggling actor named Guy and the new occupant of a building with a history of murder and mayhem. Rosemary has semi-dreams, semi-memories of strange happenings going on around her, and as the film progresses, she struggles to figure out whether she is simply delusional--perhaps dealing with some sort of pre-partum paranoia--or whether she is caught in something much larger than she understands. Polanski creates these dream sequences with a masterful touch, as settings, characters, and Rosemary's mindset all seem to bend and twist in ways recognizable from our own dreams. They are haunting and effective, and they set a tone that carries through the rest of the film. The movie is not "scary" in the sense used today, where blood runs down walls and killers jump out of darkened doorways, but it creates a psychological atmosphere that becomes increasingly disturbing as it goes on. And if the final scene is a little bit comical (perhaps it's supposed to be) the final shots still managed to be effectively demented. It left me smiling, not struggling to sleep, but it still raised some interesting questions about trust, greed, and agency in an individual's life.

Looking at the film today, I can't help but wonder about the sexual politics of the era that may be part of the film's social commentary. Most chillingly, of course, is Guy's casual assertion that when Rosemary passed out he went ahead and slept with her anyway because he didn't want to miss the chance to conceive. Whether or not Guy is lying is a question from early on, but the casualness with which he suggests his actions (something that today would be termed as rape) were acceptable--and the depressingly meek protest Rosemary mounts in return--invite us to question the ways women are seen, used, and see themselves as objects in a world that seems to have little use for their own desires and feelings. Rosemary's increasing need to be heard takes up much of the film, and Polanski seems to suggest that ultimately no one is interested in listening. That assertion is just as frightening as anything else in the film, particularly at an era when women's rights were just beginning to be a political issue. I can even see examining this film in the context of the abortion debate, since Rosemary's control of her own body seems to be at the heart of the story. (Interestingly, Mia Farrow was served divorce papers during this film from her then-husband Frank Sinatra, who didn't want her to work anymore once they got married. Again, that question of female ownership of her own life raises its head.) If the film were remade today, I wonder how such issues would be reshaped and revised to fit modern sensibilities. Ostensibly we live in a more equal society, and yet the idea of women as objects of pleasure for others can still be found everywhere, from television to the internet and beyond. I think there could be some really interesting ways to make Rosemary just as relevant today, even if her reaction to her predicament would (one hopes) have to change. 

Is the movie dated? Sure. But I found myself not really caring. I was drawn in to the story, and the desperation that Farrow manages to exude so well, that a few hokey moments or silly twists really didn't care. I think it's a movie that stands up.

Alternate Film Title: "The Original 'Creepy Apartment Complex' Story Is Still One of the Best"