Knife in the Water (1962)

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

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Jakub Goldberg (scenario), Roman Polanski (scenario)

Stars:

Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Leon Niemczyk	...	Andrzej
Jolanta Umecka	...	Krystyna
Zygmunt Malanowicz	...	Young Man

Storyline

Well off Andrzej and Krystyna's marriage is at a stage where familiarity breeds contempt, that contempt which is outwardly shown only behind closed doors and only when an incident of some sort sets off one or the other. While driving through the countryside on a Sunday on their way to the lake to embark on an overnight sailing excursion, they almost run over a young male hitchhiker. Despite the antagonism between Andrzej and the hitchhiker, Andrzej offers him a ride as far as the marina. By the time they reach the lake, their antagonism has dissipated enough that Andrzej asks if he would like to join them on their sailing trip. The hitchhiker accepts despite knowing nothing about sailing. As the sailing trip progresses, the antagonism between the two men begins to increase again, fueled on both sides as each strives to be the alpha male. Andrzej needs to show his superiority, while the hitchhiker needs to show that his young age and inexperience, not only with sailing but with life in...

---

Plot Keywords:

bare chested male | woman in bikini | female nudity | sailing | hitchhiker | 

---

Taglines:

Poland's Official Academy Award Entry

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Poland

Language:

Polish

Release Date:

28 October 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Knife in the Water

Filming Locations:

Poland

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zespol Filmowy "Kamera"

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The cover of Time Magazine's Sept. 20, 1963 edition used a still from this film. The cover story was about international cinema. The cover photo's caption simply said "LOVERS IN POLISH FILM" without identifying the movie or the actors in the photo.

---

Goofs

When the young boy is trying to stabilize the Christine by hanging off its side, you can see the railing of the camera boat in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Andrzej: [sees the boy for the first time] Hitching at this hour.

---

Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Episode #10.26 (2013)

User Reviews

Nature created neither servants nor masters.

WELL,you can defined this great film just by one particular scene: the old man is rich,have good social position and took the boy on board to play the role of his mentor.However the young man was dragging the beautiful knife,which was_as he claimed_ the most important thing in his life.The guy was always playing the knife between his fingers and the old man was jealous about that.So when the boy went inside the yacht leaving the knife,the old man took the knife and tried to do the same.Suddenly the young appear and saw this.The only way for the old man to get away with some honour was to allow the boy do the play:he played the knife between the old man's fingers,looking straight into his eyes.Well the lady at the same time was swimming using a funny rubber cocodrile.So, imagine this beautiful scene with the knife,all the tension and suddenly we hear the woman shouting:'Andrzej, Andrzej,the cocodrile is making the bubbles',huh,when I was in the cinema the whole audience burst laughting after hearing that!. The woman stays in the background, just think why? There's another great funny shot when the woman lays there for a sunbathe with her small bikinis,well, her breast dominates the scene!. is the waving movement of the yacht who creates the sensual scene!.

Of course this scene was part of the longer plot ,the critics described this `knife scene' as the most famous and symbolic scene in all of Polanski films..Zygmunt Malanowicz,the actor who played the part of the young man said that he practice a lotnfor those scenes,polanski was afraid if he was prcticing long enough,finally everything was Ok.As Leon Niemczyc,the actor who played the mature role said" Malanowicz only gave me sligh scars'.The idea of the film was the strange competition between this two men.the jury and the prize was the woman.Polanski said he needed a actress that looked plain and normal in ordinary dress but intriguing in bikini!.

Polanski was not only interested in this kind of personages,he likes the relantionship between' the master and the servant' The domineering and the repressed ,as we can see in his short film' The Fat and the Lean' (1961, B&W, 15mins) or in features like Knife in the Water (1962); Cul-de-sac (1966);Dance of the Vampires(1967) etc.