Knife in the Water

Nóz w wodzie, Polish thriller, black-and-white, 1962, by Roman Polanski, Language: Polish, Subtitles: English, Hungarian, 101'

SCREENINGS

09.05. 14:30
Toldi Main Hall

Directed by Roman Polanski
Screenplay by Jakub Goldberg, Roman Polanski
Director of photography: Jerzy Lipman
Music by Krysztof Komeda
Cast: Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz
Production: Zespol Filmowy "Kamera"

Watching Rosemary’s Baby or The Tenant, one could say that Roman Polanski’s career development was extremely controlled, and one could think that even with this, his first feature  film, he was very well aware of what suited him most, which genre he would be able to come out as being one of the best. At the same time, from this film it is not possible to deduce the large scale and sombre opus of The Pianist, which can also be seen from many aspects as autobiography, nor Chinatown, the secret favourite of filmmakers and an aspirant for the title of world’s best film. This is a small budget crime melodrama, to the Poles something like what Sodrásban/Current is to Hungarians. A work of a great era that still has an impact today, the overture to a broad and important directorial career. This gives the base tone to the oeuvre.