MovieChat Forums > Rosemary's Baby (1968) Discussion > I just watched it for the first time ...

I just watched it for the first time ...

posted 2 years ago by Cherubino1 (101)
20 replies | jump to latest

Now I finally watched this movie for the first time. I like the look of the movie, the mood, the atmosphere, the music (I have already ordered the soundtrack), and I also find the plot basically suspenseful.

I say “basically” because there is one thing I find very annoying: you are left in the dark as to whether what Rosemary is experiencing is real or just a delusion. Shortly after I saw the movie, I looked at reviews and videos about it, and found a video where Polanski himself says that his intention was to keep the viewer in the dark about this.

Personally, I like psychological horror films that don’t rely on cheap jumpscares, etc., and where the horror is more subtle. I liked that in this movie as well.
Still, I would have found it more interesting if the horror itself had been real; I find it more suspenseful to see how a character reacts to unnatural but real situations and how they deal with them.

The “is what the character is experiencing real or imagined?” narrative method reminds me a bit of the “It was all a dream!” resolutions so often seen in otherwise suspenseful stories.
Do you think what Rosemary is experiencing is real?

[–] Drooch (5333) a year ago

It’s definitely real.

The film makes you suspect she’s just paranoid, especially toward the end when it turns out Dr Hill thinks she’s a raving lunatic, but the ending makes it conclusive - she is literally surrounded by all those people yelling ‘Hail Satan!’, Guy reveals his complicity, and she rocks her baby.

The ending is horrifying because she finally succumbs to her maternal instincts, as Castevet knew she would, and goes on to raise the antichrist.

[–] Cherubino1 (101) a year ago

I don’t know if it’s really that simple, because on the one hand, the scene you mention could just be Rosemary’s imagination, and on the other hand, Polanski still says that he’s leaving it unclear whether it’s imagination or not. Why would he give such a simple and clear explanation at the end of his movie and then say that he wants to leave the audience in the dark?

[–] Drooch (5333) a year ago

the scene you mention could also be just Rosemary’s imagination

No it couldn’t. The story is not about a woman who goes mad for no reason, it’s about a diabolical conspiracy. The ‘imagination’ scenes are clearly defined - those abstract scenes where she’s half asleep, and when she remembers the devil’s eyes at the end. The rest is real.

The audience is sometimes ‘in the dark’ as the film plays out and Rosy becomes increasingly paranoid and Dr Hill believes her to be so, but the ending is conclusive, it’s all real.

Polanski’s films are nearly always about evil forces crushing innocent people, and RB is no different.

[–] April-151-CT (10210) a year ago

Not to mention that the movie is a 90% carbon copy of the book. The closest rendition of a book that I've ever seen. And in the book Rosemary has the devil's baby.

[–] Drooch (5333) a year ago

Yes, that too.

[–] Cherubino1 (101) a year ago

This is not proof that the events in the movie are real for two reasons. First, a movie is different from a book, even if it follows the book closely. A movie can retell the plot of a novel while reinterpreting it. In other words, even if Rosemary’s experiences in the novel were undeniably real, it could be that Polanski took a different approach in his film adaptation.
Second, the plot of a novel can be told in such a way that the reader doubts whether it is “true events.” In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, there are numerous passages full of errors and contradictions that make the reader wonder about the veracity of the text.