Rosemary's Baby: A Retrospective (2000) Online

Rosemary's Baby: A Retrospective (2000)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Director Roman Polanski, producer Robert Evans and production designer Richard Sylbert sit down for a look back at the making of ROSEMARY'S BABY. Evans starts off talking about how William Castle owned the property and wanted to direct it but this of course didn't happen. Polanski was slated to direct DOWNHILL RACER but Evans brought him over for this picture. Polanski talks about his influences for the film, his favorite scenes and even his favorite shots. The director also talks about the casting of Mia Farrow, the decision for the lead (both Robert Redford and Jack Nicholson were considered) and what he wanted for the ending of the picture. At under 20-minutes there's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but fans of the film should enjoy hearing these stories. The entire group does a very good job at talking about everything from the making of the film to them knowing that they were making something special and something that was going to effect people. I think a more detailed documentary could be made but at the same time there's no question that this one here does a nice job.

This is one of the two documentary on my library's DVD of Rosemary's Baby. It's 16 and a half minutes long.

It consists of a series of, well, interviews with the cast and crew of the movie, all done a number of years later, some specifically for this piece. Occasionally, the editing jumps between them when two people have different(not to be confused with contradictory; what I mean is that they each express where they were coming from) things to say on the same exact subject. There are film clips, as well. The other documentary, The Making Of, has lots of behind-the-scenes footage, and those who put together the picture itself recorded what they say in it back when it came out, which in general appears to be when it was made.

This gives you a good amount of information on how they came to make the feature, a lot of it before they started filming. Who they considered for the main couple. Redford or Nicholson were almost chosen. They talk about why they picked the supporting players that they did, and how happy they were with them(you didn't expect to be spared the typical lovefest, did you?).

I recommend this to anyone interested in knowing more. 7/10