Oscar Politics: Polanski’s “Knife in the Water” (1962)
The Polish government denounced Polanski’s stunning debut, Knife in the Water, which had been nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
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Original Polish poster
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The government demanded that the Academy removed the picture from its list, but to no avail.
A psychological thriller, the film was co-written by Polanski, and starring Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, and Zygmunt Malanowicz.
It premiered in Poland in 1962, but was released in the U.S. a whole year later.
The tense tale center on a husband and wife who are accompanied on boat trip by a young male hitchhiker, who spurs escalating confrontations between the couple, which, defying genre expectations, do not get physically violent.
The film is Polanski’s only Polish-language feature to date.
Critical Status:
Knife in the Water has garnered acclaim from film critics since its inception, and still is one of Polanski’s best-reviewed works.
The movie won the Fipresci Award at the 1962 Venice Film Fest.
The conflict with the Polish administration contributed to Polanski’s ambition to move out West, which he did, first to the U.K., and then Hollywood.
