Roman Polanski, Knife in the Water / Nóz w wodzie (Poland, 1962)

Polanski avoids dealing directly with the socio-political context of Poland in the 60s and instead, focuses on human interrelationship and psychology with Knife in the Water. The moment of discussion between Krystyna and the young man regarding the student quarters is virtually the only thing we hear in regards to class. Also, the argument can be made that Krystyna and Andrzej are of the privileged class because they can afford leisure time and a yatch.

Knife in the Water is Polanski's debut film. With the budget of a novice film maker, Polanski makes due with minimal actors and settings. The film has only three actors and two or three different settings. The minimalism becomes a close-up portrait (nearly a still life) of three character types who are united by the compression of space and time. Most of the film is set on a small yatch over the course of a single day. The enclosed space of the yatch functions like the frame of a portrait with emotional detail as the primary storyteller and the fickle weather highlighting the turmoil behind the face of the action. Low angle shots and few cuts with the camera following the character who is speaking or acting at any particular moment demands the audience to consider the most subtle interactions between the characters.

The two men are opposed to each other; one having experience and lacking virility and vise versa. Consequently, the two men's' battles result in a relatively balanced draw. Krystyna connects them by offering each what they lack. She gives advise to Andrzej when confronting him about his arrogance and she offers herself to the young boy who then gains sexual experience. Her growth throughout the film can also be detected in a subtle way. We see her gradually become more attractive as the day progresses which highlights her growth as a woman as she referees the competing male egos.

Metaphor also drives the narrative, since dialog is kept at a minimum and we know nearly nothing about the characters' backgrounds or motives. The oblique angles soften the directness of the camera lens which leaves us with the feeling of an implicit action or motivation at the core of each scene. Speech is rarely direct, aside from Krystyna's efforts to confront Andrzej about her infidelity and his personal flaws of arrogance and masculine pride. However, even these slivers of overt plot points are left as loose ends for the audience to make sense of. The ambiguous ending with the car at a crossroad offers the audience the space for an engaged inquiry about gender roles in general and dishonesty within relationships, also the potential or perhaps hopelessness for positive changes.