Knife in the Water (1962) Nóz w wodzie (original title)

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Roman Polanski
Jakub Goldberg
(more)

Release Date:

28 October 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

On their way to a sailing trip, an aging husband and wife invite along an emphatic young hitchhiker out of sheer patronization.

Plot Keywords:

Sail | Sailing | Hitchhiker | Knife | Sailboat

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Leon Niemczyk	...	Andrzej
Jolanta Umecka	...	Krystyna
Zygmunt Malanowicz	...	Young Boy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anna Ciepielewska	...	Krystyna (voice) (uncredited)
Roman Polanski	...	Young Boy (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Roman Polanski

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jakub Goldberg
Roman Polanski
Jerzy Skolimowski		dialogue
Jerzy Skolimowski		screenplay

Produced by
Stanislaw Zylewicz	....	producer

Original Music by
Krzysztof Komeda		(as Krzysztof T. Komeda)

Cinematography by
Jerzy Lipman

Film Editing by
Halina Prugar-Ketling		(as Halina Prugar)

Production Design by
Boleslaw Kamykowski

Makeup Department
Zdzislaw Papierz	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Josef Krakowski	....	production manager
Jerzy Laskowski	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jakub Goldberg	....	assistant director
Andrzej Kostenko	....	assistant director
Maria Pietrzak	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jerzy Bossak	....	artistic director

Sound Department
Halina Paszkowska	....	sound
Jerzy Szawlowski	....	sound assistant

Camera and Electrical Department
Andrzej Gronau	....	camera operator
Julian Magda	....	assistant camera
Józef Nasiadka	....	assistant camera
Jerzy Szurowski	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Maria Karpowicz	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Bernt Rosengren	....	musician: saxophone

Other crew
Jerzy Stefan Stawinski	....	literary director (as Jerzy Stawinski)

Production Companies

• Zespol Filmowy "Kamera"

Distributors

• Kanawha (1963) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Suomi-Filmi (1963) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (1991) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• Criterion Collection, The (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• MRA Entertainment Group (2003) (Australia) (DVD)
• Fox Video (USA) (VHS)
• RKV (Argentina) (video)

Also Known As:

"Nóz w wodzie" - Poland (original title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | UK:X (original rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (re-rating) (2004) | UK:PG (video rating) (1992)

Filming Locations:

Gizycko, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Poland

Company:

Zespol Filmowy "Kamera"

Trivia:

The boat used in the movie is rumored to be a former property of Hermann Goering, the Nazi party member and a friend of Adolf Hitler, who used to spend summer holidays in the palace in Sztynort neighboring the filming locations. Sunk during World War II in the Mazurian Lakes, it was restored and is - up to present date - owned by Almatur Travel Agency located in Gizycko, Poland, very popular in Polish showbiz-related circles. The real name of the boat is "Rekin" ("The Shark").

Goofs:

Continuity: Throughout most of the movie, they were shown driving a Peugeot sedan. But when the couple first got back from sailing, with the young guy no longer present, they were in a Mercedes sedan until the very end of the movie, when the couple were once again in the Peugeot.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)

Polanski's film has artistic integrity...

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…