Cinema
Knife in the Water
Nóż w wodzie
Roman Polański · 1962
Synopsis
Andrzej, a well-known sports journalist, sets off with his wife Krystyna, much younger than he is, for a day's sailing on the lakes of Masuria. On the road, a young hitchhiker nearly causes an accident by standing in the middle of the roadway; Andrzej takes him along, then invites him onto his sailing boat to show him his authority as captain. Everything separates the two men, age, money, way of life, and they measure themselves against each other under the eyes of the young woman.
Context
Written by the director with Jerzy Skolimowski and Jakub Goldberg, produced by Jerzy Bossak's Kamera group, photographed by Jerzy Lipman to music by Krzysztof Komeda, the film was shot in Masuria with two actors, Leon Niemczyk and Zygmunt Malanowicz, and a newcomer, Jolanta Umecka, a student at the Warsaw conservatoire. Polish critics reproached it for its cosmopolitanism and its praise of a consumerist way of life, and the authorities officially condemned it.
Who it is for
A black and white film with three characters, almost entirely on a sailing boat, with no plot outside the confined setting.
Prizes and reception
Critics' prize at Venice in 1962, the first Polish film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and regarded today as one of the best Polish films.
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