Knife in the Water (1962)

Along with Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, David Lynch's Eraserhead, and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Roman Polanski's 1962 film Knife in the Water is considered one of the greatest directorial debuts of all time. Though the story is straightforward enough, the film contains some seemingly peculiar stylistic choices. While not all of these aspects are necessarily expressive in nature (though most of them are) because they deviate from the classical Hollywood narrative, but are likely just the product of a different culture—in this case, Polish culture in the early 1960's. Even with these non-traditional elements (or perhaps even because of them), Polanski is very effective in telling his story.

Knife in the Water tells a fairly simple tale. A married couple, Andrzej and Krystyna are driving out to a lake for a relaxing time in their sailboat when they nearly strike a young man who is hitchhiking in the middle of the road. Immediately, Andrzej's temper flares at the young man's insolence, which certainly foreshadows the tantrums thrown by both of the men later in the film. The couple invites the young man to sail with them, and after spending a stormy night in the cabin of the boat, the two men begin taunting each other when the young man's coveted knife—the knife that seems to be his only possession—is accidentally tossed into the lake where it never be recovered. A scuffle ensues and the young man ends up falling into the water. After the couple does not see him resurface, they assume he has drowned and begin arguing amongst themselves. As Andrzej swims off in anger, the young man returns to the boat and he and the woman copulate. The film closes with the woman trying to convince her husband of her affair with the young man, and his refusing to believe her.

The narrative of Knife in the Water is similar to those of classical Hollywood in that it is simple, but it differs in that there is no clearly defined antagonist or protagonist. Throughout the film, both Andrzej and the young man are capable of filling either role. Also atypical is that the true motives of each of the characters are uncertain, to say the least, which makes the film less predictable and more suspenseful overall. The setting of Knife in the Water is also anything but standard in that it not only takes place almost entirely in one location, but also because that location is a sailboat in the middle of a lake. The isolation of the characters from the rest of society that results from this adds a subtle tension to the story because one gets the sense that anything can happen on this boat and that those on the boat will not necessarily be held legally or socially responsible for their actions. This single setting reflects the minimalistic style of the film, which is also found in many other aspects. One example includes its use of subtitles. There are noticeable gaps in the subtitles wherein whatever the character is saying is presumably supposed to be implied or unimportant enough to garner translation. The non-diegetic music in Knife in the Water is not minimalistic in frequency of use, however it seems to consist solely of a short bit of blaring, saxophone-heavy jazz music that is recycled repeatedly, and in this way its soundtrack as a whole is rather minimalistic.

The camerawork in Knife in the Water is surely its most expressive aspect. Right out of the gate, odd camera angles are noticeably prevalent, such as a shot from behind a person, through their legs, and a shot that seems to be setup on a character's shoulder. Though they are not the same angles that are generally used for this purpose, those shots seem to be a means of expressing Andrzej's psychological strength and overall confidence and the young man's contrasting vulnerability, respectively. Another expressive use of camerawork exists in the somewhat frequent use of a shaky camera, particularly while depicting events on the sailboat. By replicating the effect of being on the boat with the characters, this technique enhances tension by reinforcing the feeling of chaos created by the uncertainty of the characters' motives and intentions. Countering this expressivism but adding to the suspense is Polanski's use of long takes, which convey a sense of real time and space.

While the story of Roman Polanski's 1962 film Knife in the Water takes no genius to comprehend, its departure from the classical Hollywood narrative is found in subtle features such as ambiguous characters and their ambiguous motives, and, really, an ambiguous conclusion. Many stylistic features of the film, particularly expressive camerawork, contribute to its deviation from the norm and reinforce the overall suspense and tension of the film. Without question, Polanski effectively tells his story without resorting to the cliché and stale filmmaking methods of classical Hollywood.