Knife in the Water (1962) User Reviews

Polanski's film has artistic integrity...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 8/10 · 30 April 2005]

In Polanski's feature debut, "Knife in the Water," strange power games were again to the fore, with ridiculous macho rivalries arising when a young looking man hitches a lift with a sportswriter and his attractive wife… Though the plot itself is slim, the film is distinguished by Polanski's precise visuals, which point the shifts in allegiance between the three characters through subtle groupings; impressively, although almost the whole film is situated on a small yacht, the effect is always cinematic rather than theatrical…

Polanski's film is implicit, ingenious, mesmerizing, and has artistic integrity… It is filled with a very different sort of suspense… There is no violence… The suspense is hinted at, suggested, refined tautly, glimpsed, did-he-mean-what-I-think-he-meant?

The rich man's confidence was in his possessions, among which was numbered his attractive wife, lying in bikini, teasing by arousing expectations between them on the deck… The student's confidence, casual, almost unaware, was in his very being... The husband resented the youth, the strength, the "cool," the easy virility of the student and worked out a compulsion to keep challenging them, to try to show his superiority…

Polanski was fair – each had his own strengths and skills; but the one obsessively resented the others

Surprisingly free of violence

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 13 August 2001]

Devastating and beautiful early film from talented director Roman Polanski...but 'beautiful' in a sad, melancholy sense. Rarely have I seen a picture which so vividly captures the wonder of weather (gray and drizzly skies and choppy sea water, illuminated suddenly by a burst of sun rays). Sure, the film is in black-and-white, however that foreboding sky actually becomes a character in the plot involving a couple out for a boating weekend who pick up a hitchhiker and invite him along on their trip. Not a whole lot of story (in the conventional sense), though both Jerzy Lipman's amazing cinematography and Krzysztof Komeda's jazzy score make the journey a worthy ride which builds in suspense and a creepy, muted kind of ambiance. Polanski's eye is unerring, but don't expect him to give into a big pay-off. The narrative is pretty much based in reality--it's grounded--and is without major outbursts, violence or melodrama. *** from ****

Claustrophobic, Tense and Erotic Little Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 22 April 2008]

While driving to sail with his wife Krystyna (Jolanta Umecka) in his yacht, the arrogant and wealthy Andrzej (Leon Niemczyk) "stumbles" with a drifter (Zygmunt Malanowicz) in front of his car hitchhiking on the lonely road. Andrzej gives a ride to the young man with despisal. When they reach the marina, Andrzej unexpectedly and without any reason invites the young man to sail with them, initiating a tense dispute of power with the youth, in a claustrophobic and erotic environment.

"Nóz w Wodzie" is a claustrophobic, tense and erotic little movie of the earlier career of Polanski. The simple story is supported by a magnificent cinematography and camera work with unusual angles, and great performances of the lead cast. The Brazilian DVD shamefully misses many subtitles, leaving without translation many sentences in the dialogs. I immediately recall at least two movies that used concepts of this screenplay: "Dead Calm" and the open end of Adrian Lyne"s "Unfaithful". My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Faca na Água" ("Knife in the Water")

The games people play

[Michael_Cronin · 9/10 · 30 December 2003]

Polanski's first feature, on paper, sounds like nothing more than a run-of-the-mill claustrophobic thriller set on a boat - a couple takes a loner on board, you figure out the rest. 'Dead Calm', 'The Deep', etc etc etc.

Instead, 'Knife In The Water' is an agonisingly tense look at male posturing & ego, the husband & hitch-hiker constantly challenging each other in every possible way - sailing prowess, games of fiddlesticks, knife throwing & just generally strutting about. There's almost never a single moment where the two aren't trying to trump each other, & one gets the impression that it's not even to impress the girl, so much as themselves. As the film progresses, the tension mounts & tempers fray.

In a Hollywood film, this would build up to a dramatic climax of violence & catharsis, accompanied with thunder & lightning. Polanski doesn't let us off the hook that easily - things get rough, but the games continue, right until the very end of the film.

Shot in black & white, with a cast of three, & virtually one small location, 'Knife In The Water' puts bigger films to shame. No stars, no pyrotechnics, no special effects, probably very little budget, & it's completely riveting from start to finish.

It was nominated for the Best Foreign Film at the Oscars - the first feature of a young Polish film student - & rightly so.

A brilliant start to a brilliant career.

Lubricated Blade

[tedg · 20 January 2005]

There is nothing more thrilling than discovering a natural filmmaker for the first time. There are only so many, and you can only have menarche once. Its an introduction into another life.

I first saw this in 1965 at the Orson Welles Cinema near Harvard Square. We were told it was made behind the backs of Iron Curtain thugs, only surviving because of international attention. (I wouldn't meet Tarkovsky or Kieslowski until later.) And that it was made by the fellow who had made the striking "Repulsion," which at that time was anticipated but yet unseen in the States.

I've since learned some striking things: that both Polanski and his co-writer wanted to play the hitchhiker and indeed it is Polanski's voice. And that the mistress who seems only half alive was in fact played by a non-actress they found by looking at swimming pools. Also that the situation was suggested by a long planned and discussed Orson Welles project ("The Deep") that was started after this and never completed.

The writing is good of course, especially the central image the title denotes, but the camera finds the perfect place always. It is like Altman's camera (after this) that discovers the action rather than, say Spielberg's where the action is obviously happening in such a way to be cleanly seen by the camera. And so much harder on a boat!

But the interesting thing about such an introduction to a filmmaker is the relationship that follows: we know certain things about how he thinks and sees. We expect the conversation to continue and mature over the years. And what a rocky ride this man has taken us on, through perfectly created worlds (in which I include "Ninth Gate") but also through pure dreck and rank sentimentality (both of which tag "The Pianist").

Sometimes he's internal to the narrative, even the charmed actor. Sometimes he is outside the narrative, pulling strings (as with this film) but sometimes it is clear he never got out of bed.

As with Kubrick and so many others, you really must start at the beginning, which essentially means here.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Roman's Spring

[Galina_movie_fan · 10/10 · 7 February 2006]

The first Polish film to be nominated for a Foreign Language Oscar, Roman Polanski's "Knife in the Water" is one of the most impressive director's debuts I've seen.

The story is simple. A wealthy couple on its way to spend a weekend on their yacht picks up a young and attractive hitchhiker. The middle-aged husband, a successful and cynical sportswriter invites the young man on board, perhaps to show off his nice yacht, his seamanship, and eventually, his superiority. His young and sexy wife does not say much but as the yacht moves along and tension between two men rises, she seems to enjoy the presence of a passenger and the obvious competition between them for her attention.

Made of the very simple material, the film is a brilliant psychological thriller that shows the young writer-director's extraordinary ability to create menace on the screen throughout the profound study of the characters' deep hidden emotions. Not as widely known as "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby", "Knife in the Water" is the perfect introduction to the work of the director whose craft in creating disturbing studies of anger, humiliation, fear, and sexuality is truly remarkable.

There isn't much here

[KnightsofNi11 · 6/10 · 20 May 2011]

Knife in the Water is the debut feature film from Polish director Roman Polanski. It is a very minimalist film, shot in black and white, and spoken in Polish. It isn't much by you have to start somewhere. The film is about a rich writer and his young wife. They are going sailing for the day, but on the way to the docks they pick up a hitchhiking student whom we never learn the name of. They allow the student to accompany them on their day tour of the lake, a decision they will forever regret. Tensions start to slowly boil on the boat as relationships grow more and more heated. Almost the entire film takes place on the boat and these three are the only people in the whole movie. It is the definition of minimalist filmmaking in looks, as well as content.

Knife in the Water is, for lack of a better word, dull. Not much happens and I never feel like this film is going anywhere. It is a mere 94 minutes, but the first 70 of those minutes seem to be useless and mundane. There are moments when you think it is going to pick up, but it never really does. It is a slow film that chronicles every little moment of this trip to sea and it eventually grows tiresome to just watch these characters rig up ropes, steer the boat, cook food, eat food, play games, etc. The film does start to pick up in about the last twenty minutes as events start shaking up the story so that it can come to a vague resolution. And yet the film still lacks any kind of "aha!" moment and is devoid of any real wow! factor.

The film's central focus is on the relationship between the three characters on the book so most of the action is meant to develop the characters. The development is just as slow as everything else, however. We get to know these characters very well, but in the end we sort of regret it. There isn't much to know about these people and their stories lack any sort of intrigue. When I finally started to figure out these people I was hit with a faint breeze of anticlimactic. Then things begin to pick up, slow down again, become mildly interesting, then the film ends. And then as the screen fades to black I sort of just shrugged my shoulders and walked away.

You could argue that there is a lot of subtext here with lots of things open to interpretation. The film is vague in location, time, and character background, so there is a certain amount of this film that you could interpret in all sorts of bizarre and far fetched ways. Personally, I don't see it. I realize where a lot of the deeper prying into the film comes from. People want to see a lot more in this film than what I believe is actually there. What I did feel was a certain amount of tension that was underlying the entire film in a very discreet and possibly non existent way. Again, I feel like I was expecting something more to this film than what was actually there, thus the tension and uneasiness was all fabricated in my mind. This is just a weird movie to wrap your head around, and it doesn't seem to amount to much in the end.

Knife in the Water left me expecting a lot more. It just isn't an incredibly fascinating film. It isn't a bad film, but it isn't that great and I definitely wouldn't watch it again. I like Roman Polanski a lot and so I was really interested to see his very first feature film so it was pretty disappointing to see what little his first feature amounted to. If I had seen this in 1962 I probably wouldn't have thought much of Polanski, but of course I know how renowned he is in 2011, so Knife in the Water in no way hurts my opinion of the man's work.

One of the powerhouse debuts is a minimalist, existential suspense film

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 18 November 2004]

Knife in the Water is the kind of film that works beautifully at making so much out of seemingly so little. A little tale of a couple who ask a hitch-hiker they pick up to come along with them for a sail on the lakes is all the story there is. But within that story are little bits that keep the story pumping, alive. There's also a style that lends itself to a kind of film-making that was just budding with the new-wave movements of the 60's.

Roman Polanski, who co-wrote and directed the film (as well giving an entire voice-over to the hitch-hiker), is careful in reeling in the emotions out of little dialog, and is also granted two tremendous assets aside from the actors: 1) Jerzy Lipman's crisp, free-flowing, and usually tight (to get the tenseness of the three characters) b/w photography draws one in by it's deep focus and sometimes documentary feel.

2) Krzysztof Komeda's jazz soundtrack. Polanski uses the riffs of the soft, easy-going side of the weekend-out; the up-beat pacing when a humorous situation occurs when the hitch-hiker loses control of the boat; the variations that sometimes occur with the simple shots of a boat sailing fast and slow across the water. Komeda's score for the film is among one of the better ones I've ever heard, in regards to it being a great work on it's own, and to corresponding to the film (he would later provide the memorable theme to Polanski's Rosemary's Baby).

The acting itself is interesting in what is not said between them, what has to be said by their expressions. The fact that the three have distinct personalities adds to the tenseness- it would've been more conventional if the hitch-hiker (Zygmunt Malanowicz) wanted to come on and stay, but Andzrej (Leon Miemczyk) is the more insistent one. Krystyna (Jolanta Umecka), meanwhile, never says more than the other two, but is perhaps smarter as well. One thing that definitely shows the film breaking away from the attitudes of the 50's in the emphasis on the sexual tension, and the actors convey that very well when called upon - adding to this, Umecka is a total, natural knock-out, if not entirely in performance (though the quiet, inward quality is when she's at her best).

Simply, Knife in the Water is an observant, amusing, eye-widening experience, and it ranks as one of the premiere debuts of cinema. A+

"If two men are onboard, one's the skipper"

[Steffi_P · 7/10 · 5 October 2007]

Roman Polanski's first full length feature is a simple, minimalist piece filled with male posturing, dead end situations, claustrophobic environments and eerie calm. This is part of Polanski's art house beginnings, but many of its themes and much of its style would be carried through to his later, more accessible work.

Like many a Polanski picture, Knife in the Water shows us men competing over a woman. Typically however this is to the end of making the men look ridiculous rather than objectifying the woman. Here the competition is the central theme, and the bulk of the film is basically a series of set pieces in which the middle-aged husband and the young hitchhiker attempt to outdo each other or show the other up. This drama is concentrated and focused by having only the three characters, and confining the action almost entirely to one location. This kind of minimalism is a safe, simple way to make a straightforward, uncluttered story – a good strategy for an up and coming director – but it's a lot harder to make a really great picture out of such simple elements, and the young Polanski does fall somewhat short here.

What Polanski does have is his natural talent and feel for cinematic form. His sense of rhythm was evident from his earliest shorts, and by this point he had clearly settled upon a style of slow, even paces, letting scenes take as much time as they needed and never being afraid to hold a shot into so-called "dead time" if he felt it was necessary. Often, the stillness of Polanski's pictures could build up a greater feeling of dread or tension than speed and shocks. Here, the pace is leisurely, in tune with Komeda's breezy jazz score, a sound synonymous with early Polanski. It may be slow but Knife in the Water has great atmosphere.

Another of Polanski's strengths was in his feel for space, particularly confined space. In Knife in the Water we have a kind of contradiction on this level, because a small boat in the middle of a lake is both a very wide open space and a small confined one. You kind of get half the effect of a later Polanski picture such as The Tenant – you do get the sense that the characters and the camera itself are incredibly restricted in their environment, but of course you don't get that feeling of all the walls pressing in on you. Nevertheless, Polanski was a master at creating this sense, and he does tend to surround the camera with bits of boat or actor. There are numerous close-ups – typical of the early Polanski although it's something he would drop later in his career – which give a slightly surreal look to some of the shots. A particularly effective moment is the first shot of the boat drifting out across the lake with trees dotted in the background, which then cuts to a close-up of Krystyna, the wife, lying on her back filling the lower half of the frame, with the exact same background as the previous shot.

Knife in the Water is a fairly good film with some good ideas. It suffers a bit from style over substance but is well acted and well directed and is not long enough to get overly tedious. Better things were to come from Polanski once he moved out of Poland and began his English-language film career.

Brilliant in every way!

[zetes · 10/10 · 16 May 2002]

Roman Polanski created a landmark film with Knife in the Water. It perhaps even trumps his most famous film, Chinatown. A man and his wife (or is it his mistress?) pick up a hitchhiker. For reasons that are obscure for most of the film, the man asks the hitchhiker if he would like to come along on their sailing trip. They plan to sail until the next dawn. It feels like it'll be a run-of-the-mill thriller, but it's much smarter than that. Really, it's a tale about male posturing, and it may be the best film on that subject. The three actors are excellent. Polanski's direction is flawless. The jazz score is wonderful, as well. One of the best ever made. 10/10.

I feel like I need something else....

[Space_Lord · 7/10 · 20 December 2004]

Polanski's first feature. Hmmmmm..... This film is a study of macho rivalry, sexual tension and establishing who is the alpha male. I felt strangely unfulfilled after the film, I guess I was expecting something darker or more serious to happen, but it never did.

Don't get me wrong there is some excellent acting by the Polish cast as well as some innovative camera work. The tension between the rich, older Andrzej and the exuberant, free spirited young man (you aren't told his name) is evident from the first time they meet. This carries over on to the boat where Andrzej takes every opportunity to play captain, ordering the young man around in an attempt to demean and humiliate him. Eventually things turn to hostility with the young attractive wife trying to placate the two.

Not bad for a first feature, a good springboard for Polanski as we all know he went on to better things from here.

Terrificly Tight & Atmospheric Drama/Psychological Thriller

[antonio-21 · 9/10 · 16 August 2000]

Well, this film may not appeal to the legions of folk who consider drivel like The Sixth Sense to be great drama/thriller material, but to those of us who adore movies and respect the great ones, this one is a gem.

This great-granddad to later works like "Dead Calm" or even "The Talented Mr. Ripley" manages to deliver the goods on this wickedly smart little tale about a young middle class couple who pick up a hitchhiker who manages to turn their life around in the course of one day.

What sets this film apart from others is it's place in movie history and it's polished (no pun intended) directorial style.

This early hit by future great director Roman Polanski manages to make you believe in these three people without questioning the typically silly things that people do in thrillers. Of course most of us would not invite a strange hitchhiker onto their private boat for an evening, especially when the hitchhiker carries with them a huge hunting knife and an attitude.

Just throw your disbelief to the wind, and sit back and enjoy this little gem. I loved the juxtaposition of the vast open air and beautiful water vistas with the claustrophobic atmosphere aboard the little "yacht". The terrific moment when the couple dares the young man to hang over the edge of the boat and he begins to "run" on water alongside. Even the inevitable seduction rings true due to the circumstances. I won't reveal anymore scenes.

This film is to be enjoyed by all! The only complaint is while I saw this film at the normally wonderful Film Forum in NYC, the grossly outdated and shabby looking subtitles positively cry out for a restoration!!

Make it a 7.5!

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 23 December 2022]

A Criterion Collection disk, this seems to be a restored version. It's extremely good looking with beautiful contrast & lighting in an interesting location- the Polish Lake district Masuria according to Polanski in the intro. Only the occasional treeline back ground illustrates they are not on a vast ocean. Polanski had a tight budget since he just graduated from film school, so primarily set on a boat with only 3 actors was a clever way to keep costs down.

It's an odd tale of a couple that pick up a young hitchhiker and take him along on their day off, sailing the lakes. There's a power play between the two men, the mature, established man relentlessly challenging the young drifter. The woman (who I found absolutely stunning) stays out of it and just goes about her tasks, fixing lunch, steering or relaxing with a swim. Not much seems to happen, but I'm sure with subsequent viewings, I'll see the symbolism in all of it-this time I was just following the basic story.

The last half hour of this taught 96 minute film is rather exciting and worth the wait, after all the "smooth sailing".

I don't want to reveal any of the plot, it would ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen this. But you need to know it's there....just wait for it. I don't know if Knife In The Water struck me as one of the "great" films, it suffers a bit from what I call the "Pretentious 60's Art Film" syndrome. But it definitely is a strong film with a great, somewhat quiet, story very well told. The cinematography is a standout. Very clever camera angles that illustrate the isolation, yet crowding of these 3 passengers on a sailboat. (you often wonder where the film crew are)

Eye of the Beholder

[robsha · 5/10 · 3 February 2005]

This early work of Polanski's shows us that he has always had a great eye with the camera and he shows us that he's not afraid to use it. He frequently breaks way from the traditional film shots as he frames the shots in unique and interesting ways.

The story is simple and yet he is able to brew some dark energy even with an amateurish cast. The psychological conflict that continues to grow until we have storm on the set and a storm in the film is somewhat simple in it's symbolism but unlike many director's today he is looking at the story on multiple levels.

All in all this still has the feel of a really good student film. It reminds my somewhat of Scorese's "Whose That Knocking at My Door". I'd have to say that it's overrated in most aspects but I find it a tasty morsel of things to come.

Classic study of the "Anything you can do, I can do better" attitude.

[Poseidon-3 · 27 September 2006]

Almost legendary, as director Polanski's first full-length feature film, this moody, tense tale of one-upmanship remains impressive today, even more so when considering the circumstances of its genesis. Niemczyk plays a stubborn and cocky man who is travelling with his younger wife (Umecka) by car en route to their sailboat for a long day of sun and fun. When a young hitchhiker (Malanowicz) steps in front of his car, a tug of war begins in which Niemczyk and Malanowicz attempt, over and over, sometimes playfully and sometimes not, to out-do each other in practically everything they can think of. Niemczyk enjoys taunting the seemingly-assured Malanowicz, encouraging him to overextend himself at various tasks and trials while Umecka looks on, sometimes amused and sometimes annoyed. The tension builds throughout the day, relieved only occasionally by periods of camaraderie and placidness. Eventually, however, the men's attitudes and rivalry begin to boil into a serious level of competition, leading to fear, confusion and deception. Made under the Communist regime in Poland, Polanski's film was fraught with issues from the start and was, in fact, banned there for depicting upper middle class citizens enjoying the luxury of sailing on a private boat. Polanski, who suffered a skull fracture in a car accident during the filming, refused to rest up for fear that his film might not see fruition if he took time off for recovery! He achieves amazing results from the potentially disastrous raw materials at hand such as two young performers who had never been in a film before (!) and the specter of working in the confined locale of the sailboat on water (water, as a filming location, has defeated many a budget and many a director over the years.) Film buffs attracted to the movie for it's striking title and the director's reputation for blood and mayhem may be disappointed that the movie doesn't end with a lot of violence, but the mental game of chess is intriguing enough to hold one's attention (abetted by an almost endlessly growing feeling of tension.) Also, the young lady of the film is quite attractive in her bikini once she dumps her goofy cat's eye glasses and let's her hair down. The men are frequently stripped down to abbreviated swimwear as well, though their appeal will depend upon the taste of the individual viewer as they are not necessarily matinée idol in their appearance. This concept was reworked and amped up in the later film "Dead-Calm" starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. Fans of that film might find this one tame, but this one is the more atmospheric, not to mention realistic, of the two.

Tense, compelling debut

[Chris Knipp · 10/10 · 30 September 2006]

Knife in the Water (1962), Polanski's feature debut, made when he was twenty-nine, is a tense overnight sailing trip taken by a man with his pretty younger wife and a handsome young drifter they find hitchhiking on their drive to the boat. The action is claustrophobic and fraught with menace – the two men are in conflict from the moment they first meet – and a cool jazz score gives the film an edgy contemporary air. The young man carries a long knife of the switch-blade type. Does the old rule apply, that a weapon, once introduced in a story, has to be used?

Polanski was to do many other things in his career, but his ability to create unease was all there in this first one. And the shooting on the water is as effective as that to be found in another remarkable film of about the same time, Rene Clement's Plein Soleil, with Alain Delon as Tom Ripley.

Superb!

[vensperme2003 · 8/10 · 2 March 2005]

This film is a masterpiece for a movie fan that understands sharp dialog and is interested in so called "mind" suspense. Characters in the movie are psychologically fully developed and the direction is superb; if you include Komeda's nervous jazz elements, the result is Perfection with big P. Polanski knows exactly what perfectionism is about - the devil is in the details, and the devil has no place in this great little classic. I recommend this movie to everyone that wants to get involved in film industry. Let it be the reminder why movies exist in the first place. It's the story that matters and it's the impact that dialog provides; if scenes or words stay with you long after you've seen the movie, you know that something BIG has hit you. You know that you actually start THINKING about yourself...

Knife in the Water

[henry8-3 · 6/10 · 16 August 2019]

A couple reluctantly pick up a young man and he goes out sailing with them. Pressure mounts between the three, driven largely by the middle aged man trying to outdo the younger. Tension slowly builds and leads to a set of circumstances that will affect them all.

Very little actually takes place - in fact the sailing routines are quite interesting - but slowly and surely the pompous Andrzej pushes and pushes the young boy and you know it'll end in tears. How Polanski keeps the tension and sexual overtones bubbling so well with little occurring has to be admired - although certainly this is not to everyone's taste, particularly lovers of thrillers

An astonishing directorial debut

[tbaybars · 9/10 · 22 May 2002]

When I first saw this film on its release in London (1962) I was only too ready to dismiss it as a pastiche of Ingmar Bergman. I am therefore more than glad to have seen it again on tv a couple of nights ago. How totally mistaken I was! It is an original film through and through, and the young Polanski had already his artistic stamp ready to forge on his first work (Three men and a wardrobe was not directed by him, I don't think). Forty years on, what is so astonishing is that the film and therefore the social, emotional and psychological problems examined in it, has not aged at all. Communist Poland? What does it matter? A young student hiking his way? So what? A young woman "married ???" to an older man? Entirely timeless and placeless. What remains as solid as ever is the primordial conflict between two men, one weaker the other stronger, but you cannot be so sure about that, in the presence of a woman who is both a sex object and a recipient of the seed of one of the two men. Why is the couple without child? How can a woman whose "husband" is dangerously swimming ashore to summon help, can be so relaxed as to have sex with the young man when he is going to vanish from their lives within a few hours?

Louis Malle famously said that he prefers the filmgoers to leave the cinema with lots of questions in their heads, rather than answers to all the questions in the film. Polanski has never stopped doing that.

A preview of Polanski's potential

[Jonny_Numb · 6/10 · 21 April 2006]

Roman Polanski's feature debut, "Knife in the Water," is a well-handled drama with fragments of suspense and tension that are (unfortunately) never fully realized. The plot has a curiously detached couple (Leon Niemczyk and Jolanta Umecka) en route to their boat when a hitchhiker (Zygmunt Malanowicz) stops them; the husband, Andrzej, reluctantly gives the boy a ride, and goes so far as to allow him to tag along on the boat. The remainder of the film is wrought with bizarre character motivations and developments that run contrary to the standard thriller mode (the boy, who would have been pegged as a psychopath in any other film, is a relative innocent here); while this is commendable, Polanski ultimately drops the ball in the last act--just when our throats should be firmly gripped by suspense, he lets go completely. I was literally thinking to myself, "Is that it? THAT'S our payoff?" That the characters retain a blasé demeanor throughout renders their supposed 'changes' with a minimum of dramatic impact, which is unfortunate, since a bit more charisma would have rendered the conclusion more ironic. As it stands, "Knife in the Water" is a beautifully-shot film; Polanski shows deft skill in composing his scenes, and (for a while, at least) keeps us engrossed in the story in spite of the limited setting. In the end, it's ultimately best viewed as a teaser precursor to the great works that would come from this gifted director.

very creative and surprisingly interesting

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 24 September 2005]

I liked this film more than I thought I would. Perhaps this was because the last Polanski film I saw was REPULSION--a technically well-made but repulsive film (that few average people would ever want to see). It is a very simple story with only three characters but manages, somehow, not to bore the viewer or give in to what is expected. For example, when the couple met the hitchhiker, I expected the old cliché of the "psychotic drifter" who would ultimately terrorize and/or kill them. But, as the film unfolded, I kept waiting and waiting and waiting and he never dismembered or terrorized them at all. In fact, one of the OTHER main characters turned out to be the jerk! Now that's interesting.

Why not an even higher score? Well, the ending of the movie just didn't make sense. The nasty husband jumped overboard to try and rescue the drifter but the husband appears to have drowned. BUT, when the wife and drifter take the sailboat back to shore, the nasty husband meets the boat!!! How could this have happened unless maybe there was a submarine in the lake that rescued him?! My daughter thinks maybe he could walk on water, but that's a pretty rare occurrence. This is a pretty big mistake, now that I think about it--and it's a shame since the rest of the movie is so good.

ADDENDUM--I received a message on IMDb from Chris-Krzysztof indicating that this was NOT the way the film ended. His post is given below:

"I guess you missed something in the subtitles or there was something "lost in translation". After having searched the boy for some time the couple thinks he had drowned, they have a fight and when the husband disappears, he's not searching the boy anymore, but he's swimming to the shore to a police station to confess what happened (mostly to prove his wife he's not a coward). In the morning, they meet at the shore (the husband of course didn't have enough courage to go the police, he's making excuses that it was in the night, he was almost naked, couldn't get into the car - the keys were on the yacht). When they leave the marina, he stops the car at the crossroads, where we can see a sign (not sure if it was translated) "Do posterunku MILICJI obywatelskiej, 10 km" (To the POLICE station, 10 km). And the car remains there, so we don't know which way he chooses ... "

As I responded to him, in the version I saw, this is not how the ending was translated. Considering I think Chris speaks Polish, I am sure he is right. However, many older films exist in multiple versions and translations and I think the version I saw was mistranslated. As a result, I am adding this addendum to clarify things.

Was Polanski trying to invent a new genre: "film gris"?

[FISHCAKE · 7/10 · 23 December 2000]

Since the basic plot elements of the week-ending couple and the hitchhiker have been well publicised, I will not dwell upon them. However, in the course of discussing the suspense elements, I will have to reveal the essential denouement, folks who haven't seen the film are advised to skip this comment until after they have.

A great deal of praise has been showered on this first effort of Roman Polanski. It's overblown but not entirely off the mark. He is certainly clever with a slender plot and manages to keep you expecting the worst to happen. It never does, though, which may be very artistic, but is surely a let-down to many. Is it a deep psychological examination of complex people? I think it is better described as a "slice of life" story about people who don't know how to live and let live. For "slice of life" to succeed,it seems to me, you must have people who are out of the ordinary in some way beyond being merely inept at living. In the end, in this story, things just seem to "fizzle out". No doubt that is what Polanski intended, but can I be forgiven for asking "What is the point?". There is some mild excitement in the "drowning" scene, but if you look back over what you have seen, it is rather dull altogether. Dull, in fact, as the low contrast camera work. Was Polanski trying to invent a new genre: "film gris"? That aspect doesn't seem to have caught on.

The three people who assist Polanski as cast members are certainly very competent, but the most interesting "cast member" is the 9 metre (about) Marconi rigged sloop "Christine" they are sailing about a seemingly deserted lake. Therein lies a bit of a puzzle. Here it is Sunday, there are other vessels moored in the marina, but only our folks are "enjoying" the holiday and the perks of having both a private car and a private yacht in a commusist state. Was this subtle propaganda of some sort on Polanski's part? There is no doubt he is a subtle director.

Great slow-burning drama

[grantss · 8/10 · 31 December 2020]

A couple pick up a hitchhiker on the way to their yacht. The husband then invites the young man to come along for their day's sailing. As the voyage progresses, the antagonism between the two men grows. A violent confrontation is inevitable.

Roman Polanski's debut film (as director and writer) is a great one. Plot is reasonably straightforward, mostly, but Polanski builds the tension superbly, through small, initially innocuous, events that eventually lead to something bigger. He also toys with our engagement, first having us support the one protagonist and then the other. It's a great study in not judging until all the information is in.

Plus, just when you think you've got the plot sussed out, Polanski throws in a wonderful twist towards the end.

Great film.

Great Art, Weak Story

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 9 April 2011]

A man and his wife go sailing for the afternoon, taking a hitchhiker with them. As a storm approaches, they are forced to stay on the boat overnight. The threat of violence lurks.

This film will be of interest to anyone who admires the work of Roman Polanski. Polanski was said to be only the second protégé of the Lodz Film School to achieve international success. The first was Andrzej Wajda, and we can safely assume that Polanski was far more successful and influential.

This film in particular earned him an Oscar nomination for best foreign film, and catapulted him to fame by putting him on the cover of Time magazine in 1963. For me, I think the hype is too much: all I really learned from this picture is that Polanski likes wild jazz music and that in Poland people will steal your windshield wipers.

Critic Michael Koresky has a much deeper view of the film, saying it expresses class warfare, class envy, eroticism, tension, isolation and carries an "atmosphere of recumbent terror". This is grossly overstating the facts. There is some tension, and being that the film takes place on boat, isolation naturally follows. But the rest is a bit of a stretch.

The class envy or warfare aspect you can only see if told to look for it, which leads me to believe it is probably not there. One man is an author and another a hitchhiker, but any struggle they may have does not appear to arise from class. Eroticism is also a stretch, as I kept thinking the film would become erotic, but it borders on it a few times without crossing over. The closest to anything erotic in this film is a young man in tight shorts, and this is hardly sexually appealing. The atmosphere of recumbent terror is a beautiful phrase but would be better used on another film.

The film is strong in the area of visuals. Polanski has made a striking film in contrasting black and white, his angles and use of zooms and wide shots is excellent. So, on a technical level, I cannot say anything bad about the film. But the plot is just not there. I spent the film waiting for something to break... the tension would rise and lower, but never reached a crescendo. I cannot call this one of my favorite Polanski films.

ho-hum

[cherold · 4/10 · 9 December 2004]

Okay, I'm going swimming against the tide on this one, since so many people consider it a brilliant work of art, but I found it pretty dull and pointless. The basic setup strikes me as ridiculously unlikely, and the movie feels very artificial. I found the petty power struggles between bland and uninteresting characters tedious. The movie picked up a little for the last third, finally giving a pay off of sorts to the wrangling beforehand, but while that last part is marginally interesting it hardly makes up for the preceding hour.

The best thing was actually the deep focus cinematography, which was well done and showed more interesting ideas than anything in the script.