Nóż W Wodzie (aka Knife In The Water) (1962)

A husband (Leon Niemczyk) and wife (Jolanta Umecka) are on their way to a marina where their sailboat is docked when they pick up a hitchhiker (Zygmunt Malanowicz). They invite him to go sailing with them and he accepts. Directed by Roman Polanski in his feature film directorial debut, the film received international acclaim and solidified Polanski's reputation as an exciting talent to watch. While I can admire aspects of the film, I found the circumstances that led to the hiker being invited aboard very contrived. Why would they invite this young stranger on board to spend the weekend with them? Kicks? It certainly wasn't out of the kindness of their hearts. The antagonism by the husband toward the hitchhiker is evident from the beginning. What I really loved about the movie was Jerzy Lipman's stunning B&W cinematography. Images that you could hang on a museum wall. Still, as far as Polanski's pre Hollywood films go, I much prefer CUL DE SAC or REPULSION but this is worth seeing because it's a great director in the early stages of his career.