Knife in the Water

Director: Roman Polanski, Roman Polanski, Roman Polanski, Roman Polanski

1962 / 94min / 35mm

Preparing to make his debut feature, Polanski recruited his old friend and Lodz Film School classmate Skolimowski to co-write the screenplay. The result is a riveting drama about a husband and wife who invite a student hitchhiker onto their yacht after almost running him over, its war-of-wills between the older and younger men presaging the central importance of intergenerational tension in Skolimowski’s early films. Already a master at carefully modulating tension, Polanski gets an invaluable assist from Krzysztof Komeda’s jazz score.

Extended Introduction from Dominic Leppla, Polish film scholar, on Friday, May 5th

Extended Introduction from writer Nick Pinkerton on Sunday, May 7th