Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh Fri 01 Feb only

Roman Polanski / Poland / 1962 / 94 min

Roman Polanski’s directorial debut, and the only film he shot in his native Poland, Knife in the Water marks his first foray into his recurring themes of the outsider, the couple and the resulting ménage à trois. Beginning when older married couple Andrzej (Leon Niemczyk) and Krystyna (Jolanta Umecka) pick up a teenage hitchhiker (Zygmunt Malanowicz) and decide to take him on a day long boat trip, their decision unleashes a number of power games between the two men which lead to humiliation.

With a title like Knife in the Water, you would be forgiven for believing that Polanski’s film is a tense and bloody thriller. But where this film differs, and where it draws its strength from other films in a similar setting, is its study of masculinity, superiority and the human condition. It’s a film that deals with a battle of age,  wisdom, ability, and belonging, as the knife in the title refers to this analysis as well as being the one thing that represents the power struggle between Andrzej and the Boy.  Absorbing, thought-provoking and subtle, Polanski’s directorial début is a refreshing examination of humanity’s desire to be seen as superior at all costs.

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