Le couteau dans l'eau

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.

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")

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...

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.

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.