Knife in the Water: Amazon.ca: Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Anna Ciepielewska, Roman Polanski, Barbara Lass, Henryk Kluba, Andrzej Kondratiuk, Ryszard Filipski, Jakub Goldberg, Andrzej Kostenko, Stanislaw Michalski, Jean-Pierre Rousseau, Karen Stetler, Jerzy Skolimowski: DVD

Product Description

Amazon.com Essential Video

This simple but taut psychological thriller was the first full-length film from the great director Roman Polanski. A bickering couple pick up a hitchhiker, a good-looking young man whom they invite to go for a sail. But on the water the two men, separated by age, class, and experience, subtly and not-so-subtly jockey for status and fight for the attentions of the woman--a struggle that threatens to turn fatal. In Polanski's hands, this lean, spare movie, without any special effects or spectacular scenery, manages to lay bare the driving forces of machismo, envy, and marital spite. It's the beginning of a truly remarkable career that's ranged from the heights of Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown to the more dubious realms of Bitter Moon and The Ninth Gate. Knife in the Water is particularly significant to Polanski fans, but also a striking movie in its own right. --Bret Fetzer

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

polish film(1)

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Great early Polanski, who usurps control of your DVD player, April 3 2004

By

bdlion "Have Gun Will Travel" (Charter Oak, Covina, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knife in the Water (DVD)

A fascinating, suspensful film debut for Roman Polanski, who already shows great promise with his amazingly original camera angles and creative shots. However, Criterion allowed Polanski to dictate the terms of the disc in which the step back/forward function is disabled. This is maddening, especially if one misses a subtitle or two when pondering some of his amazing shots.

Another complaint I have is about the subtitles. I don't speak Polish, but it seems to me there is a lot of spoken dialogue that is not translated into English. I can recall several instances when the characters speak, but no subtitles appear. A harmless error, or a glaring mistake? I don't have an answer.

This doesn't detract from the movie itself, which is excellent. Five stars would have been given if not for these flaws. However, I do hope Criterion does not repeat the very rude mistake of disabling disc functions in any other future editions of their releases. Another reviewer got it right: "Polanski controls his set, not my DVD player."

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

2.0 out of 5 stars The DVD will taint your appreciation of the movie., Mar 15 2004

By

R. Illingworth (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Knife in the Water (DVD)

I have to say that the pretentious move of the Director to disable DVD navigation is so irritating that it distracts from the movie, and may create in you a desire to fire the disc against the wall.

What do DVD controls have to do with the movie anyway? Is it supposed to make us feel like we're at the theatre? Well, we're not. And unless Roman Polanski is willing to buy me a 52 inch TV set to go along with the experience, I wish he'd keep his hands off.

Further, I don't see it mentioned anywhere that in addition to disabling the scan features, the resume function is also gone. So, let's say, you have to go to the bathroom; answer the phone; exit the building due to a fire alarm; whatever. Well, make sure you use Pause, and leave it that way, or else the disc will start over. If you accidentally push Stop, which is what I do, the disc will start from the beginning and you'll lose your place. And you can't scan to find it. So, I guess you're supposed to watch the movie all over again.

This is punishment for being a Modern Viewing Audience, plain and simple. Stupid!!

As for the film, it was okay. It would've been more enjoyable if I could watch it the way I like. Might've even watched it again.

Frankly, I thought the Shorts stunk. A great addition for hardcore fans but, to me, most of them were just obnoxious.

One tip for you if you do get the DVD: some Sony DVD players have an "instant replay" feature, and this actually *does* work, I figured out after the fact. So if you need to back up, everytime you push this button the movie will jump back 10 seconds. Don't tell this to Roman Polanski, though. ;O)

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable yet with a technical complaint!, Feb 7 2004

By

Uncle Borges (Via Lungomare 6) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knife in the Water (DVD)

The forward/backward function doesn't work on this edition. You can only jump through the chapters in the "Knife" while on the otherwise brilliantly important Disc 2, with eight early Polanski student and short films, you can't move at all. It's not that these films are ever boring or that you can't watch them repeatedly. But sometimes you just want to skip back or forth to catch up a detail---
Otherwise, add a 28-minute live interview with Jerzy Skolimowski (coscripted + dialogue) and Polanski, this of course should be a definitive edition.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Report abuse

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Want to see more reviews on this item?

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 36 reviews 4.1 out of 5 stars

Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Looking Transfer to DVD
A remarkably satisfying disc that gives viewers a crisp, virtually flawless transfer as well as lots of extras. Read more

Published on Jan 26 2004 by Christopher Beckwith

5.0 out of 5 stars Polanski's Razor-Sharp Debut
Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water is a masterful piece of filmmaking, and surprisingly the director's first full-length feature. Read more

Published on Nov 23 2003 by Matthew Warner