Polanski's directorial debut is an impressive film that examines humanity's secret insecurities by detailing the development of the relationship between a couple and a roaming stranger, which gradually becomes as unstable as the waters they are drifting on. On their way to the marina with plans to take out their sail-boat for the day, Andrzej and Krystyna (Leon Niemczyk & Jolanta Umecka) almost run their car into a nameless young man hitchhiking down a country road. Prompted by arrogance, and eventually the need for physical assistance, Andrzej invites the stranger along for the ride. Their leisurely sea-bound journey gives them time to acclimate themselves with one another, for better or for worse. The stranger's mysteriousness is maintained throughout as the source of danger or conflict seems to originate from Andrzej's jealousy or fear of inadequacy in regards to Krystyna rather than from the young passenger, even if the titular knife belongs to him and is responsible for much of the film's narrative escalation. Filmed almost completely with wide angle lenses, the crisp resolution of both the travellers and the water within same shots creates a dual impression of freedom and imprisonment, the far-away horizon right-there yet inaccessible due to the terrain's limitations. Polanski often mixes close-ups in the foreground with long or medium-long shots in the background, distorting the integrity of the space and emphasizing the notion that something is always going on behind someone's back. Minimal in many ways, including cast and setting, Knife proves that there is nothing small about Polanski's skills as a director, his first foray into filmmaking a clear sign that, while setting the bar high, his best is still yet to come (see The Tenant, 1976).
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