Firmly located within my top 10 films of all time, Rosemary’s Baby (1968) is a film that makes a permanent impression upon the viewer. Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband Guy have just moved in to a beautiful yet creepy apartment building that is rumoured to have been the location for a number of grisly murders and witchy occurrences. After moving in, meeting their neighbours, and agreeing to have a child together, and spending some time living in the creepy building, Rosemary begins to suspect that the relationship between Guy and their neighbours is more sinister than she originally thought.
I recently watched Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) because I’m going to be writing a review on it for Cinema Parrot Disco’s IMDb Top 250 Film Challenge. So, please expect a full review soon. In the mean time, directly after watching the film, my thoughts went something like “UUUGGgghhhhh I love this film so much I want to post about it now”. So, here goes. This post will highlight some of my most favourite cinematographic moments in the film, with further words to follow at a later juncture.
There are many, so please be warned. I’ve mixed them up to avoid storyline spoilers if you haven’t seen this film yet (in which case, please go and watch it, I’ll wait here). There is also a bit of mild nudity so please avert thine eyes if you aren’t interested in that.
Proper review coming soon!
5/5
Watch the trailer here.
Screencaps from this website and from Google Images.
Watch this film at Amazon!
FILM GRIMOIRE 
Great post, love your use of images. The part I always remember is the lullaby over the opening credits, so spine chilling.
Thanks! 🙂 That’s one of my favourite things about it – the amazingly creepy music. So perfect for the film.
Great post! Massive fan of this film. It’s the definition of a slow burner and is much more effective than 90% of horror films in my opinion.
Thanks! 🙂 Totally agreed. I never saw this one as a slow-burner because I’m just enthralled whenever I watch it, but you’re right, it progresses much more slowly than others. But it’s a much classier and more stylish film as a direct result of that. Love it.
I love this movie! Great selection of some of the best scenes. Need to re-watch this one.
Thanks! You definitely do! I pick up on more and more little clues whenever I re-watch it.
Love these screen shots.
Me too! 🙂
Can’t wait for the full review! Don’t keep me waiting for long, Anna 😛
Haha, I’ll try not to! 🙂
You included some amazing shots. Anxious to read that full review.
It’s on the way! 🙂
Somehow I managed to never see this. But those screen shots are beautiful, and its reputation precedes it, of course.
Maybe I’ll see it soon.
You have to see it! And then let us know what you think about it. 🙂
Avert thine eyes!!! HA!!!!
Is it me or does Farrow look a lot like Paul Bettany??
Haha! I can totally see it!
LOL
Good review yo. My mum’s been telling me to watch this for a while now but I never really knew what it was about until now and to be honest I was never properly into films until 2010, so yeah will probably have to watch this sooner rather than later haha.
Haha! You have to see it, your mum’s totally correct. 🙂
“mild nudity” – ha!
Haha. Just a little bit of 60s sideboob, thought I would warn people just in case!
A total slow-burner, but you know what? It’s totally worth the wait once that final-twist hits you right in the dome. Or, at least that’s what it did to me. Good review Anna.
Thanks! The final twist is perfection. Sometimes I wish I could rewind time and experience a film again for the first time – that’s how I always feel about this film.
Look forward to your review 🙂
It’s on the way! 🙂
Can’t wait to read your full review, this is also one of my top 10 films of all time. I just rewatched it on Netflix Streaming the other day, actually. Have you also read the book?
I haven’t read the book yet! I’ve always meant to though. Apparently the film is very faithful to the book and most of the dialogue is directly from it!
Yes, the movie follows the book very closely. It’s a very easy read and my favorite book by Ira Levin (Stepford Wives is pretty good too). I definitely would not recommend his Son of Rosemary though. It’s so awful that I wonder if he was in some kind of financial bind towards the end of his life and needed to write anything to make money.
Interesting stuff! Definitely reading the book now! (After I finish the book I’m currently reading.) The sequel sounds horrible but I would still probably read it because I’m a completist when it comes to book series, even with disappointing books.
Great images. I liked the film a lot as well.
Good taste! 🙂
Incredible film. One of my favourites too. I love the images you’ve chosen and they highlight just why I love Polanski’s work here – makes me want to watch it again right now.
Polanski’s direction is faultless! Totally agreed, it’s incredible.
I really adore the entire Apartment trilogy, but oddly Rosemary’s Baby, as wonderful as it is, places 3rd for me after Repulsion and Tenant.
I loved Repulsion but I’ve actually never seen The Tenant! That’s a shameful confession right there.
Tenant is awesome, it’s probably the creepiest out of the three, you should definitely check it out! 🙂
Excellent image choices, lady! Love this film, and I’m glad you did, too! P.S. A little Sunshine Award for you! 🙂 http://caragaleblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/the-obnoxiously-massive-awards-post/
Thanks so much Cara! 🙂 I’m chuffed!
[…] this brilliant film & posted a little about it along with some amazing images from the movie HERE. Anna is passionate about film and writes excellent reviews on a wide variety of genres. Anna […]
[…] everyone, here’s the follow-up to my cinematography post focusing on an amazing film that you might have heard of, called Rosemary’s Baby (1968). I […]
[…] Rosemary’s Baby 1968 (Guest Reviewer: Film Grimoire) […]
[…] Rosemary’s Baby (1968). I’ve written a review on it, plus a post on the visuals and cinematography, and Rosemary herself proudly appears at the top of my website. I even found two locations from the […]
Hi Anna, nice blog you got here and thanks for leaving a link to my website ( i run bluscreens.net)
It’s always nice to see people makin use of the screencaps. Feel free to browse around if you need more screencaps from other movies.
[…] written before about the visuals of Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and how much I love them, and I felt it was just about time for me to gush about how much I […]
[…] I was surprised to see that Polanski played quite a bit with some experimental moments in his first film. There’s a moment on the boat where the hitchhiker is looking through one eye at his finger and changing the perspective by blinking his eyes – it’s difficult to explain, but on camera, it’s a somewhat cute moment and a light-hearted break from all the toxic power dynamics on display. Polanski also plays with some religious imagery which doesn’t quite fit with the themes of the film but was visually beautiful. The cinematography by Jerzey Lipman makes beautiful use of the boat and surrounding water, but also enhances the enclosed nature of being isolated on a boat in the middle of water; making us as viewers feeling claustrophobic and shut in, even though the boat exists in an open space. This only adds to the sense of stuckness and tension between the characters. There’s a blisteringly cool jazz soundtrack composed by Krzysztof Komeda, who also worked with Polanski on such films as Cul-de-sac (1966), The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), and Rosemary’s Baby (1968). […]