Blog 9 Rosemary's Baby

Movie Poster

This is a movie poster for Roman Polanski’s 1968 film Rosemary’s Baby. The poster was designed by Steve Franfurt. For those of you who don’t know about the film. Here’s a super-quick summary. Rosemary and her husband move next door to an eccentric couple. Rosemary fears that the couple is in a satanic cult. The couple offers Rosemary’s husband “help” with is acting career, which comes at a rather large cost. Rosemary ends up carrying Satan’s baby.

Mia Farrow's profile looms over the horizon as if it were the setting sun, as if she were larger than life. In contrast, the silhouetted baby carriage looks insubstantial and vulnerable. This strong visual image is ironic because in the movie the baby is larger than life and the mother is reduced to a fearful, vessel that will bring the baby into the world. The colors are dark and menacing. It reminds me of being in a photo developing room where only certain color frequencies are allowed. The green glow emanating from the carriage gives a hint that something is amiss. To me, this is a highly creative and artistically sound way to deal with the plot of this film.

Source: King, Emily, A Century of Movie Posters From Silent to Art House, Barron's Educational Seriea, Inc., 2003