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Notes from Underground

  And, indeed, I will ask on my own account here, an idle question: which is better—cheap happiness or exalted sufferings? Well, which is better?---Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Even now, so many years later, all this is somehow a very evil memory. I have many evil memories now, but ... hadn’t I better end my “Notes” here? I believe I made a mistake in beginning to write them, anyway I have felt ashamed all the time I’ve been writing this story; so it’s hardly literature so much as a corrective punishment.  Why, to tell long stories, showing how I have spoiled my life through morally rotting in my corner, through lack of fitting environment, through divorce from real life, and rankling spite in my underground world, would certainly not be interesting; a novel needs a hero, and all the traits for an anti-hero are expressly gathered together here, and what matters most, it all produces an unpleasant impression, for we are...
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Hope

To be human is to be a miracle of evolution conscious of its own miraculousness — a consciousness beautiful and bittersweet, for we have paid for it with a parallel awareness not only of our fundamental improbability but of our staggering fragility, of how physiologically precarious our survival is and how psychologically vulnerable our sanity. To make that awareness bearable, we have evolved a singular faculty that might just be the crowning miracle of our consciousness: hope.-- Erich Fromm


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Knife in the Water (1963)





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Roman Polanski’s feature debut is more than a thriller; it is a clinical dissection of class friction and fragile masculinity, set within the suffocating confines of a floating stage. 

"Whether it be the clammy creepiness of suburban Satanism shocker Rosemary's Baby or the cloying seediness of nilhilistic noir Chinatown, Roman Polanski has a gift for conjuring an unsettling atmosphere. Knife In The Water, his feature debut and only Polish film, is no exception. It's a slow-burning exploration of jealously, spite, and middle age - set almost entirely within the confines of a small yacht."

Co-written by Polanski, Jakub Goldberg and Jerzy Skolimowski this remarkable directorial debut won Polanski worldwide acclaim, a place on the cover of Time, and his first Oscar nomination.

I wanted my first feature film to be cool, brain-worked, construed, and precisely, almost formalistically constructed. It was to resemble a classical thriller: a married couple take on board of their yacht a passenger who then vanishes in mysterious circumstances. My idea from the very start was to show a conflict-rich interaction between characters confined in a limited space. (Roman Polański, Roman. Warszawa 1989).




Andrzej, a sports journalist, and Krystyna, his wife, are driving in their luxurious car for a holiday in the Masurian Lakeland. On the way they give a lift to a young hitchhiker.

At once both fascinated by the young man’s vitality they invite the hitchhiker to join them for a day and night on the water. 
Shortly after tension gradually starts to build between Andrzej and the hitchhiker as they compete for the attentions of Krystyna.
The rest of the film documents this competition that ensues between the two men.
However, the struggle is not merely between the two men, but also between the men and the woman. In the final section of the film, Krystyna refuses to remain a witness or prize  and instead becomes an active participant in the events that follow. With the knife in the water the climax begins and neither of the man is unable to assert his power over the boat, the woman or each other.




The film started a true media storm in communist Poland. Polanski was attacked for snobbery, yielding to Paris fashions, superficiality. Many opponents of the picture found the journalist's financial status particularly painful. The supporters pointed out utter materialism of the aspirations of the characters and of their relationships, and the bogus rebellion of the boy, his set of values being in no way different (Małgorzata Hendrykowska Kronika kinematografii polskiej 1895-1997 / A Chronicle of Polish Film-Making 1895-1997, Poznan 1999).

Polański's film was arguably the first attempt of the Polish film-making to come out of the closed circle of the historicism of the 'Polish school' with its fixed repertory of topics, complexes, traumas and individual and collective obsessions. In this sense it is a completely new and fresh thing, unknown in our post-war cinema. No Polish director had ever talked like that. (Marek Hendrykowski Kwartalnik Filmowy, 1997).


MORE ABOUT FILM

Knife in the Water - Roman Polanski and Jerzy Skolimowski Interview




*Polanski could not accept his Oscar in person due to his fugitive status. Harrison Ford accepted it on his behalf.

A defining aspect of Polanski's biography is his fugitive status in the United States. In 1977, he was arrested and charged with multiple offenses involving 13-year-old Samantha Geimer. He entered a plea bargain, pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

After serving 42 days in psychiatric evaluation, and believing the judge intended to impose a harsher sentence than agreed upon, Polanski fled the U.S. for Europe in 1978. He has not returned since.



Before launching into international stardom, Roman Polanski’s early Polish period was defined by a tight-knit circle of brilliant artistic collaborators. Among them, cinematographer Jerzy Lipman and composer Krzysztof Komeda were instrumental in shaping the distinct visual grammar and sonic identity of his early masterpieces.

Both men brought an uncompromising, modern sensibility that helped Polanski break away from the traditional, heavy handedness of the "Polish Film School" and forge a sleeker, more psychologically acute style.

Jerzy Lipman: The Geometry of Isolation

Jerzy Lipman was already an established giant of Polish cinematography—having shot seminal films like Andrzej Wajda’s A Generation (1955) and Kanal (1957)—when he partnered with Polanski for the short film The Fat and the Lean (1961) and his debut feature, Knife in the Water (1963).

Lipman’s contribution to Polanski's early aesthetic was rooted in a profound understanding of spatial psychology:

  • Deep-Focus Realism: Lipman utilized deep-focus cinematography to keep multiple narrative layers sharp within a single frame. In Knife in the Water, this allowed him to position one character dominant in the foreground while keeping the other two perfectly clear in the background, making the shifting power dynamics visible without needing constant cuts.

  • Conquering Spatial Limitations: Shooting an entire feature on a small yacht presented immense technical hurdles. Lipman used innovative camera rigs, hand-held tracking shots, and wide-angle lenses to turn the cramped deck and tiny cabin into a pressure cooker. He managed to make the vast expanse of the Masurian Lakes feel paradoxically claustrophobic.

  • Chiaroscuro and Texture: Lipman was a master of high-contrast black-and-white lighting. He captured the harsh glare of the sun reflecting off the water alongside the deep, murky shadows of the boat's interior, visually mirroring the characters' exposed egos and hidden, darker impulses.

Krzysztof Komeda: The Sound of Modern Paranoia

If Lipman provided the physical frame, Krzysztof Komeda provided the psychological pulse. A trained otolaryngologist (ENT doctor) who chose to live as a jazz pianist and composer, Komeda is widely considered the father of modern European jazz.

His collaboration with Polanski began with the filmmaker's landmark student shorts at the Łódź Film School, including Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958) and When Angels Fall (1959), before peaking with Knife in the Water, Cul-de-sac (1966), and Rosemary’s Baby (1968).

  • Jazz as Narrative Subversion: In early 1960s Poland, jazz was associated with Western non-conformity and youth culture. By layering Knife in the Water with Komeda’s cool, melancholic post-bop jazz—anchored by Bernt Rosengren’s haunting saxophone—the music immediately signaled a departure from state-sanctioned socialist realism. It gave the film a sleek, cynical, and cosmopolitan atmosphere.

  • Melodic Simplicity and Dread: Komeda had an uncanny ability to write deceptively simple, lyrical melodies that carried an undercurrent of deep unease. His themes often felt like warped lullabies or fragmented improvisations, perfectly capturing the internal isolation and creeping paranoia of Polanski’s protagonists.

  • The Blueprint for Global Success: This specific synergy reached its creative zenith a few years later in Hollywood with Rosemary’s Baby. Komeda’s iconic, chilling lullaby (voiced by Mia Farrow) juxtaposed against the dark, satanic forces of New York remains one of the most effective horror scores ever composed.

A Tragic Dissolution

This formidable creative triad was short-lived, severed by geopolitical shifts and tragedy. Following the political backlash against Knife in the Water, Polanski left Poland to work in Western Europe and Hollywood. Lipman, facing the state-sponsored anti-Semitic purges of 1968, was forced to emigrate from Poland, spending his later career in Western Europe and Israel.

Most tragically, Komeda suffered a fatal head injury in a freak accident while hiking in Los Angeles with writer Marek Hłasko, falling into a coma and dying in 1969 at just 37 years old. Though brief, the intersection of Polanski’s structural precision, Lipman’s camera choreography, and Komeda’s haunting modernism created a cinematic language that fundamentally altered post-war European cinema.





The Core Dynamics

The narrative setup functions like a sterile laboratory experiment in human behavior:

  • The Catalyst: Andrzej (Leon Niemczyk), a wealthy, self-satisfied sports journalist, and his younger wife, Krystyna (Jolanta Umecka), encounter a nameless young hitchhiker (Zygmunt Malanowicz) on their way to a weekend sailing trip. In an act of pure, patronizing bravado, Andrzej invites the young man along.
  • The Power Struggle: Once aboard the yacht, the film transforms into a psychological duel between Andrzej and the hitchhiker. Andrzej uses his material success, age, and technical sailing vocabulary to assert dominance, while the hitchhiker counters with a performative detachment and his prized possession: a large, folding switchblade.
  • The Spatial Constraint: Jerzy Lipman’s brilliant cinematography utilizes deep-focus photography and wide-angle lenses inside the cramped quarters of the boat. The camera constantly forces the two men into tight visual compositions, framing them against one another to emphasize their silent battle for status, with Krystyna observing from the margins as both a prize and a judge.




Generational and Class Conflict

The film serves as a critique of the "New Class" in Communist Poland—individuals who had achieved material wealth and status but 

had become stagnant and arrogant. 

The older Andrzej represents the establishment, while the nameless boy represents a rebellious, disenfranchised youth.

Masculinity and Sexual Competition

The two men engage in "human chess," using Krystyna as a pawn or prize. The phallic symbolism of the knife and the yacht's mast 

underscores the primal nature of their competition for dominance.





The Role of Krystyna

Krystyna is often misread as a passive prize. However, as the film progresses, she becomes the most active player. 

While the men are obsessed with their "toys" and status, she is the one who ultimately controls the narrative's outcome by deciding 

which "truth" Andrzej will have to live with at the end.




Production & Context

  • Political Resistance: The script was rejected several times for a "lack of social commitment.

  • " To appease censors, Polanski and co-writer Jerzy Skolimowski added minor snippets of dialogue to suggest 

  • the characters were participating in the socialist state, though the core of the film remained a personal psychological study.

  • Technical Challenges: Filming on a small yacht (the Christine) was a logistical nightmare. 

  • The crew had to wear safety harnesses and hang over the side of the boat to capture shots.




Critical Legacy

  • Academy Awards: Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film (lost to Federico Fellini’s 8½).

  • FIPRESCI Prize: Won the Critics' Prize at the 1962 Venice Film Festival.

  • The "Polanski" Style: This film set the template for the "intimacy thriller." Its influence can be seen in later works like Dead Calm

  • (1989) and Polanski's own Rosemary's Baby (1968). Martin Scorsese later included it in his "Masterpieces of Polish Cinema" series.












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