Knife in the Water [Nóz w wodzie] **** (1962, Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz) – Classic Movie Review 3,946

Roman Polanski’s 1962 Polish first feature film Knife in the Water tells of a bored, aging husband and wife couple whose bourgeois conformism is shaken up by a hitch-hiking beatnik young man.

The 1962 Polish psychological thriller film Knife in the Water [Nóż w wodzie] is co-written and directed by Roman Polanski in his feature debut, and stars Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, and Zygmunt Malanowicz.

Co-writer/director Roman Polanski’s 1962 Polish first feature film tells of a bored, aging husband and wife couple, Andrjez and Krystyna (Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka) whose bourgeois conformism is shaken up by a hitch-hiking beatnik young man (Zygmunt Malanowicz) with a completely different outlook on life. The trio set off for a sailing trip on the couple’s boat and all their relationship’s tensions spark into trouble.

His only film in his native Poland, Polanski’s highly promising movie is deservedly acclaimed for its brilliantly observed character studies, the compelling acting and the inventive, excellent camerawork in the black and white cinematography by Jerzy Lipman.

Co-written by Jerzy Skolimowski and Jakub Goldberg, Polanski’s film was Oscar nominated as 1964 Best Foreign Language Film and brought him instant success and a ticket to Britain to make his next movies, Repulsion (1965) and Cul-de-sac (1966), before heading to America.

It was the first Polish film to be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Polanski won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1962 and was nominated at the 1964 Baftas Best Film from any Source.

Jolanta Umecka, who plays Krystyna, and Zygmunt Malanowicz, who plays the young man, had virtually no previous professional acting experience, and, perhaps for that reason, are both dubbed by other actors.

Polanski uses his own dubbed voice for that of the hitch-hiking hero, an on-screen role he had intended to take until Jerzy Bossak, head of the Polish film unit Kamera (who made the film), rejected him because he thought he wasn’t handsome enough.

The screenplay was rejected for production by the Polish Ministry of Culture because of its ‘lack of social commitment’, but, after making some minor changes — mainly dialogue demonstrating social commitment — Polanski again pitched the project to the Polish national film board, who then approved it for production.

It was a difficult shoot as it is filmed on the water in the Polish Masurian Lake District, and largely in a sailboat and life raft. The boat was large enough for the three actors but cramped for the crew, who had to hang over the side of the boat with safety harnesses to shoot.

It was released in Poland on 9 March 1962 and in the US on 28 October 1963.

Cast: Leon Niemczyk as Andrzej, Jolanta Umecka as Krystyna (dubbed by Anna Ciepielewska), Zygmunt Malanowicz as Young Man (dubbed by Roman Polanski).

Knife in the Water [Nóz w Wodzie] is directed by Roman Polanski, runs 94 minutes, is made by Zespol Filmowy ‘Kamera’, is released by Centrala Wynajmu Filmów (Poland), British Film Institute (UK) and Kanawha (US), is written by Jerzy Skolimowski, Roman Polanski and Jakub Goldberg, is shot in black and white by Jerzy Lipman, is produced by Stanislaw Zylewicz, is scored by Krzysztof T Komeda and Bernta Rosengrena, and is designed by Bolewska Kamykowski.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3,946

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