Wonderful character development!

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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.

KNIFE IN THE WATER is a psychological drama about ego, pride and sexuality.A sports writer and his beautiful wife are driving to a lake to go sailing. A young hitchhiker joined them. The young man does not know much about sailing and boats. His host assumes the role of a captain and constantly provokes him. Meanwhile, tension gradually builds between the sports writer and the hitchhiker as they vie for the attentions of a beautiful woman. She gives enough attention to both men. However, tension has quickly grew into a psychological war between the two of them. A knife and a naked woman found their places between jealousy and sexual desire...Mr. Polanski has made an impressive and unusual scenery, which, at the same time, fully corresponds to a suspense story and humorous tones. His direction is a kind of salvation from anxiety and monotony. Sex is the culmination of relief in this case. The protagonists are psychologically isolated in a certain way. The cause of the conflict between an older and a younger man is stubbornness. A sexual desire is, perhaps, a hidden motive, which is not very pronounced. Therefore, their rivalry is very interesting. A woman skilfully connects two hot sparks in this film. She criticizes both men, after the final climax, in an ironic way, which is the culmination of pathos in this case.The dialogues are direct and sharp. Characterization is very good.Leon Niemczyk as Andrzej is an unpleasant man and a nasty husband who thinks he knows everything. He's a character, who is not sure of his quality, so he makes fun of other people's clumsiness. Jealousy has stimulated a hatred in his case. Zygmunt Malanowicz as Young Man is a curious fake. His character is rebellious, impulsive and unstable. Those attitudes hide his fears. Jolanta Umecka as Krystyna is a beautiful, attractive and provocative woman. She has preserved a few grams of contempt for both men.This is a very disturbing view of human fears, humiliations, conflicts and sexuality.

I watched this movie because of Martin Scorsese's promotion of Polish Cinema and I really didn't understand the hype around it and specially why it was nominated for Oscars. Actually the screenplay is pretty silly. A couple heading for a boating vacation ran into a stranger. For the silliest reason (which was no reason), the husband lets the stranger in the car to ride with them, then again for the silliest reason (which was no reason), he asks the stranger to go on the boat trip with them. In reality a couple go on such trip to have so privacy and intimacy and no one wants a third wheel around. The stranger acts pretty silly and they just tolerate him and the NO STORY goes on. The movie has no direction at all, it has no message. It is nothing. It has no value for a western filmmaker as it bears no inspiration. At best, it's worthy of a film student who takes a camera and makes a film with his friends with virtually no budget to prove that he/she can hold a camera and shoot. 1/10!

Say what you will about Roman Polanski but boy, can he direct brilliant movies! This movie was not only Polanski's feature length directorial debut, it also was the first and only Polish movie he had ever done, that immediately earned an Oscar nomination as well.In all of its simplicity, this is a strangely haunting movie. There really is not all that much to its story, which actually only adds to the movie its atmosphere and constant tension. Because we know so very little about the 3 characters in this movie, we as the audience, also never fully know what we can expect from any of them. You could call this a slower movie but never a boring one. It's simply far too intriguing for that.But what also makes this movie great is its approach and visual style. It has some beautiful cinematography and some great compositions in it. Some of the scenes are build up extremely well, especially the ones that consists out of some very long shots. It's a movie made with lots of eye for detail and also with lots of love and passion for cinema. Normally these sort of movies tend to come across as incredibly pretentious but never a Polanski movie! He simply is an unique director, who doesn't need much story or dialog to tell a story, with multiple layers- and depth in it.I won't pretend like I love everything about this movie, it still has its flaws and weaknesses but overall this remains one real intriguing and exceptional movie!8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/