Tuesday, August 18, 2015

5 Off My Head - Framing Rosemary

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Some dude named Roman Polanski, of Rosemary's Baby fame, is turning 78 today. A couple of years ago I used Roman's birthday as an excuse to list my 5 favorite films of his so, since that's done already, let's just focus in on the one I always wanna be talking about. We've listed our 5 favorite "Minnie Moments" before (we have talked about this movie a lot) so how about this -- here are five of my favorite shots in the film, semi-randomly chosen with a quick once-through.

"Let's make love." Oh if you only knew what you were making, Rosemary! This scene, christening Rosemary & Guy's first night in their new fateful apartment, starts out all sweet, but once Roman's handheld camera closes in on them you can practically feel their gooseflesh. It manages to be both perfectly intimate and off-putting all at once.

"That's nawt pawsssssible." I've always adored the introduction of Roman & Minnie in the film, the way their gaudy rainbow costumes erupt out of the night, but this specific moment's all about Ruth Gordon's never-less-than-brilliant full-bodied performance - Minnie's reaction is so clumsily mannered that it actually swings right around to being believable, and yet Gordon lets you see it both ways. Much like the entire film.

 Beauty break!
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Okay well this might be my favorite shot in any movie, ever, and I've talked about it before so including it here feels like a cheat... but how could I not? The smoke wafting around that corner is the nothing less than the devil himself, the possibility of evil just off-screen so close, so possible it's breathing down your neck, and it's everything I adore about this movie and the way it makes me feel in a single static image. Stare Rosemary stare, there's still no helping what's right there!

That said this might be the straight-up scariest image in the whole film - the ghastliness of Farrow's bloodied powder-blue reflection is straight out of The Fearless Vampire Killers.

There's clearly a disturbingly sexual nature to this shot, with Rosemary boxed in the frame by Saperstein's looming crotch, and yet somehow if you're willing to look for it there's also kind of a nasty joke wherein Guy himself is turned into a dick, a literal dick. God I love this movie.
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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another potent shot (in a film full of them) is that of the Castavets in the hallway as they advance to congratulate Rosemary on her pregnancy: dark amorphous shapes reaching out for her, crooning and cooing. Brilliant.

Rob K. said...

Agreeance, Mr. Anonymous: the way the Castevets are bearing down on her, all smiles and congratulations - always loved that shot.
And JA - yes! That smoke curling away in the other room! This movie is just so masterfully done. It's pretty much my favorite movie. After watching that atrocious made-for-tv remake I decided I have to hate Zoe Saldana forever now.

Anonymous said...

I think Polanski uses shadow in a metaphorical way. In that last still of Rosemary looking up at the faceless Dr. Sapirstein as Guy stares at the floor in the background, Guy's face is in shadow. And in the scene with the congratulatory Castavets mentioned earlier, they enter the hallway in the light but then become completely engulfed in deep shadow, turning them into dense silhouettes for a few moments. Subtle, telling, intelligent. It's stuff like that that makes Polanski's movies endlessly watchable.

Anonymous said...

Vodka blush spills...the carpet!!! Rosemary drops the knife...on the floor inspecting the knick!!

Kevinzematis@gmail said...

Vodka blush spills...the carpet!!! Rosemary drops the knife...on the floor inspecting the knick!!