Sunday, November 1, 2009
BOOK VS MOVIE: Rosemary's Baby
Like what I mentioned in the previous post, it takes a lot for a horror movie to scare the crap out of me. Like Psycho, Rosemary's Baby (mostly the movie) did just that.
Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse are a young couple who just moved into the Bramford apartment building. Guy is a struggling actor who gets his big break after the original actor goes blind. Soon after this, Rosemary becomes pregnant. But Guy's behavior, along with the behavior of their neighbors the Castevets, makes Rosemary suspicious.
Rosemary's Baby marks one of the few times where the book and the movie are great. Kudos to Roman Polanski for being true to the book. Compared to what Stanley Kubrick did with The Shining, Polanski actually followed what happened in the book. Mia Farrow was good as the title character.
There's also a weird connection Rosemary's Baby has with two infamous murders. A year after its release in theaters, Polanski's pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered by Charles Manson's gang. And in 1980, John Lennon was shot outside of the Dakota, where most of the movie was filmed.
What's worth checking out?: Both are worth checking out.
However true the film is to the book, it seems to me it's true in letter, not in spirit. The book focuses on how a woman bore Satan's child, while the film is, like many Polanski's movies, about the impossibility for an individual to stand against a group. The group being Satanists only gives some additional dimension, provides more bells and whistles, but the point seems to me very much the same as in The Tenant: they are together, they work against you, and whatever you're trying to do, you're doomed.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to note that, contrary to the book, in the film you never know whether the devil actually exists, or it is all only the group delusion to which Rosemary succumbs; we don't even see the baby. This ambiguity is one of the many things that make the movie so outstanding.
Thank you for reviewing this classic film! Maybe you wouldn't mind checking on my blog (http://polanski-oddmanout.blogspot.com/), any feedback would be priceless.
Thanks for sharing little snippets of information with us..It seems to be interesting one. I become curious about it..Let me buy it. Hopefully, I will start it soon...Cheers man !
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