Hollywood was not always a place where artists could fully realize their visions. After the release of several risque films and the emergence of various Hollywood scandals in the 1920s, the studios enlisted Will H. Hayes to rehabilitate Hollywood’s image. Thus, the Hayes code was born and would reign over Hollywood for almost 40 years, enforcing its strict guidelines on every major studio picture that sought a theatrical release. Studios were pressured to not make movies that, among other things, contained profanity, licentious or suggestive nudity, or ridiculed clergy. For decades, artists such as Alfred Hitchcock and Otto Preminger, just to name a few, were attempting to push back against the Hayes Code, which resulted in its minimum enforcement and eventual termination in 1968. From then on, artists were able to spread their creative wings.
I felt it necessary to give a brief background on the Hayes code and its impact on Hollywood because it’s important to understand the context in which this film was released. For the longest time I was under the impression that the film industry wasn’t really able to push its content boundaries until the 70’s. Movies like A Clockwork Orange and The Exorcist seemed like the first of their kind when it came to pushing boundaries based on their violent, unsettling, and sacrilegious content. But little did I know that the boundaries had already been infringed upon by one Roman Polanski. The same year the Hayes Code came to an end, Polanski took advantage and tested the waters in a now unrestrained (or very less restrained) film industry. Rosemary’s Baby busted open a door for what filmmakers were able to show in their studio movies. It set the precedent for what would soon follow and become known as the one of the richest decades in American cinema.
Rosemary’s Baby stars Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes as Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse, a young couple who, despite being told of its unsavory past, move into an apartment building in New York City to plant their roots. Guy struggles to find work as an actor while Rosemary tries to fill her role as the loving housewife. She expresses a desire of having a baby, but Guy is reluctant. Before long their neighbors befriend them by having them over for dinner, quickly taking an interest in their lives. After a strange night at dinner with the neighbors, Guy has a sudden change of heart and wants to try for a baby. Rosemary passes out that night from not feeling well after dinner and has a nightmarish and unsettling hallucination that involves her character getting taken advantage of.
A few weeks later she discovers that she is pregnant. As her pregnancy progresses, Guy’s career takes off and the neighbors become increasingly interested in making sure the pregnancy goes smoothly: making sure she sees the right doctor and keeping contact with her family and friends at a minimum. Rosemary also begins to lose color in her complexion and becomes gaunt, despite being well into her pregnancy. An appetite for raw meat also develops within her. What ensues are strange people and events surrounding Rosemary as she slowly descends into a state of madness, questioning the very nature of her pregnancy. Is she going mad? Or was her hallucination real?
This movie was much more of a claustrophobic horror experience than I expected. A majority of the film takes place inside Rosemary’s apartment, spending much of its time observing the effects of her unusual pregnancy. Polanski does an excellent job throughout the movie in giving us subtle hints and limited exposition as to what exactly is going on with Rosemary. It’s just enough for us to infer some of the events that have likely taken place between Guy and the neighbors, who act increasingly strange after Rosemary discovers that she is pregnant. It gets to the point where everyone is suspect and you never truly know who is being genuine and who is acting with ulterior motives. Polanski manages to put you in Rosemary’s shoes and make you feel just as paranoid as she does throughout its run time.
While I love the film, I do have to point out the only real flaw I found: the fact that the subtlety slowly begins to fade towards the end, making the last twenty minutes or so loaded with unnecessary exposition. It explained things that we were already able to infer from prior events and comes off as feeling a bit redundant. It’s almost like Polanski was unsure of whether or not the subtlety and lack of exposition would leave the audience at a loss, when in reality he should have trusted his audience a little more to connect the dots. But this is a small issue that in no way diminishes the film and the impact it has.
Despite this minor flaw in the storytelling, Polanski still gives us an effective, intimate horror film that stands the test of time. For a movie containing some of the most upsetting scenes and imagery that I’ve ever seen, it really is hard to believe it came out when it did. The hallucination sequence in particular is one that I will not soon forget. The film certainly inspired horror movies for the next 40 years, showing directors that they don’t need to rely on jump scares and use upsetting content merely for shock value in order to create an effective horror experience. Polanski makes it clear that he values the horror experience and understands that it is more compelling to leave his audience feeling uneasy during and even long after the movie ends, rather than to merely cause them to jump in their seat a few times, only to walk away completely unaffected.
In addition to its ominous content, Mia Farrow had the most to carry in this movie, figuratively and literally, and she nails it. She perfectly encapsulates the descent from a happy-go-lucky housewife to a deranged state of paranoia. It’s obvious that she went through some physical transformations during production that really help sell us on her performance. The ending is not wrapped nicely in a bow. Polanski makes a bold choice by taking the “less is more” route and chooses to leave some loose ends untied. He doesn’t give us all of the answers, but gives us enough to ask all of the right questions. It left me wanting more and I couldn’t help but care about where the story was going even after the credits were rolling.
Polanski showcased his abilities on how to write and direct horror, as well as how to engage and manipulate his audience. It is no surprise that Polanski would continue to make excellent movies of various genres, improving upon his shortcomings from his first critical success. Rosemary’s Baby is a great early example of what horror movies are truly capable of and how they can leave you feeling. If you need a nice intro into some classic horror and want to feel cursed after your viewing experience, look no further.
