A marvellous first feature and although Polanski was approached to remake the film with big US stars, he said he wasn't interested in repeating himself. To give him credit, he never did. It is usually possible to tell a Polanski film fairly quickly because of the slightly off kilter subject and the dialogue. This one, probably not, for although it is incredibly well made, presumably under difficult circumstances, it is more pastoral than any of his others. True there is the human triangle here with two men battling it out, here not particularly for the woman but because they must. It strikes me that we are given enough hints in the wonderful car sequence at the start, that all is not entirely well in the couple's relationship and it is the emergence of the young student that seems to give him a chance to show how good he jolly well is. Great music, great composition, spot on dialogue and a major achievement to entertain so fully with simply a cast of three and all in glorious black and white.

Roman Polanski's feature film debut is a competently crafted, patiently narrated & finely performed thriller that finds the then-new filmmaker showcasing his firm grip on the storytelling elements as he manages to carve out some tense moments from its simple premise & minimal setting.The story of Knife in the Water follows a middle-aged couple who, while on their way to a sailing trip, encounter a young hitchhiker and invite him along. As the day progresses, tension increases between the two men as they both start vying for the attention of the same woman.Co-written & directed by Roman Polanski (best known for Rosemary's Baby & The Pianist), the majority of Knife in the Water takes place aboard a yacht and is solely focused on its characters, whose arcs are well-written and the rivalry & sexual tension between them is what drives this tale.Camera is manoeuvred in an atypical fashion, employing unconventional angles & close-ups to provide some really interesting shots which in turn complements its black & white photography while sound & score also play their role in creating an atmosphere that brims with uncertainty.Coming to the performances, there are only three cast members in the film, two playing the ageing couple & third being the hitchhiker who goes sailing with them. Each one of them gets sufficient time on screen and they all play their part wisely. Chemistry between the three is even better and it only gets better as plot progresses.On an overall scale, Knife in the Water is a splendid start to Polanski's feature filmmaking career and is a fine exhibition of his innate cinematic knowledge. However, despite getting many things right, it still left me indifferent & cold, for I didn't care much about the characters' fate nor found the premise as compelling as I expected. Experimental & intriguing, Knife in the Water is nonetheless worth a shot.

Knife in the Water is again one of the Polanski films I have set on seeing. It is his debut feature, and all of his talent is present here in this unpredictable, tense, and complex character-driven film.The film enters a sense of ambiguity. It's good not to read too much on it, as the characters themselves are always behind a curtain. We see what they do, and we notice glimpses In their faces that tell their story, yet the reasons for their actions a times aren't always clear. The film itself is completely magnificent. The ambiguity of the characters, along with a well-paced story of events unfolding, creates this intriguing sense of unpredictability and excitement in the story- telling. It takes in the tension of a regular thriller, yet it never is that. Not even as the film continues, and even in the big 'event' that involves the breaking of the triangle, the film continues to surprise up until the ending. Not once did I stop dangling at the edge of my seat.Ultimately, this is a masterpiece. Great direction filled with a brilliant screenplay, it is probably the best debut film I have ever seen, as well as the best foreign-language film ever. I am not overestimating that, just thinking about this film gives me goosebumps. There aren't many films with sort of ambiguities like this, filling up each of the characters and the events of their lives.

I firstly saw Nóz w Wodzie sometime in the sixties. Throughout the years I forgot some details of the plot, while I kept the essential. I remained with the impression of one of the greatest movies ever. I watched many other of Polanski's works, none of them has succeeded to replace this one in my soul. Many of his movies are great, this one is unique. By the purity of his minimalism? Maybe. You see, his other works started from very generous stories, offering full potential to create great movies. This one has practically no story. A couple is driving their car toward a lake for two days of sailing, a hitch-hiker appears as of nowhere, they invite him to join, their stay on the boat is tensioned by obscure conflicting impulses, a fight takes place, the unknown guy leaves toward nowhere. Drowned (as the male believes)? Alive (as the female knows)? Or is it just the woman imagination? After many years I encountered the movies of Kim Ki-Duk. 3-Iron made Nóz w Wodzie come to my mind. It seemed to me that both movies were sailing on the same waters. I related 3-Iron to Nóz w Wodzie, and then I related all Kim Ki-Duk films to 3-Iron. They are exploring two universes: ours, where what matters is a good job, a good car, a good house, a good marriage (to be read a spectacular wife), and the other universe, where everything is just absurd (by our standards). The hitch-hiker in the movie of Polanski, the drifter in the movie of Kim Ki-Duk, are just visitors: our reaction is of open hostility (if we are the subjects in our world), sometimes of obscure attraction (if we are rather the objects, dreaming escapes). Hostile or attracted to them, it happens the same: they remain just visitors, we'll never know anything about them.