He also remembers the American response to the Polish film:
‘The Americans considered remaking the film, they wanted to set it in the States and cast Richard Burton and Warren Beatty. Such a film was never made though’.
There are three main characters in Roman Polański’s directorial debut. Andrzej (Niemczyk), a sports journalist, takes his much younger wife Krystyna (Umecka) on a boat trip in the Masurian Lake District. A young hitchhiker (Malanowicz) stops them on the way, which nearly results in a car crash. The young boy does not get out of the way until the very last moment, forcing Andrzej to brake sharply.
The journalist is impressed by the boy’s bravado and decides to take him along on a trip in his luxurious yacht. While on board, the men start competing with each other, and a conflict of ego arises. Both men, despite the age gap and their different attitudes to life, turn out to be just the same.
‘They both want to own and dominate. Knife in the water is a film about domination. The critical voices against the film were different. The critics didn’t like the main characters. The young man did not strive for a better Poland and, even though he contested Andrzej’s lifestyle, he wanted to take everything from him. Andrzej was also a conformist and did not contribute to the success of the communist country; instead, he sailed a yacht and drove an expensive car. It’s worth mentioning that the filmmakers decided to change the car in the end, instead of a Mercedes they went for a much more modest Peugeot’.
– says Bukowiecki.
The backstage of digital re-mastering from Culture.pl on Vimeo.
Having become harshly criticized after his directorial debut, Polański decided to emigrate. Bukowiecki points out that ‘the very same Polish authorities that scolded Polański decided that Knife in the Water should be the Polish candidate for the Oscar’. In 1964 Knife in the Water was shortlisted for the Best Foreign Language Film and lost to Federico Fellini’s 8½.
'Knife in the Water is Polish new wave cinema that resigns from the pictures on war and chooses to make films about contemporary issues. To me, Knife in the Water is one of the best directorial debuts ever and possibly Polański’s best film as well'.
– highlights Bukowiecki.
Bukowiecki also points out Jerzy Lipman's cinematography :
'Lipman shot the film in incredibly adverse conditions: on a real boat, on water, with constantly changing weather. Most of the film was therefore shot hand-held'.
'Filming itself was also very complicated', highlights the film critic:
'First of all, it was difficult to film the scenes on water. Secondly, while filming, Polański found out that his mentor and friend, Andrzej Munk, had died. Thirdly, also while filming, Roman Polański’s first wife, Barbara Kwiatkowska, left him. Fourthly, it was not always easy to work with the actors. Remember that the Malanowicz’s character was dubbed by Roman Polański. Umecka, with no acting experience, was noticed by Polański at a swimming pool. Her character’s voice is dubbed by Anna Ciepielewska’.