Polanski's Best?
I know some will say he has had better. But this movie is great. The images stick in your mind and the acting is suberb. But i know it was his first feature and just want to ask if he topped out on his first movie?
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MovieChat Forums > Nóz w wodzie (1963) Discussion > Polanski's Best?
this is a very very good first movie. but his magnum opus was most definetly THE PIANIST. and his most perfect film, scene by scene: was CHINATOWN.
"What Did you Say About my Mother"?- Every bad gangster movie ever
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This is deff. one of the better Polanski movies. It's touches so many subjects in the fairly simple story. It's filmed perfectly considering everything takes place on the water. Also the conversations aren't specially interesting, but constantly keep your attention. In my opinion this is in combination with "Repulsion", "Cul-de-Sac" and "Rosemary's Baby" one of his better works. Too bad he couldn't keep up his quality and made movies like "The Ninth Gate" and "Bitter Moon"
shareI love the Ninth Gate. There is alot going on in that movie. I think you would benefit from watching it again. I have the DVD, after seeing it on tv, wanted to see the uncut version. Check it out and let me know. If you know anything about Christianity, than you know the movie is really about the devil trying to get back to heaven. It was a great take on that idea.
sharefrom Noz w wodzie to the Tenant, Polanski was in top form...each film is a gem (in spite of Polanski's self dismissal of almost every film for one reason or another) ..the only stinker I find in the entire bunch is "What?"
..his post "california incident" portfolio is a huge disappointment in comparison to these earlier films
Polanski's Stinkers: "What?", "Pirates", and "Oliver Twist"
shareIMO "Chinatown" is Polanski's best film. Also better than "Knife in the Water" are "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Pianist".
Anyway it was a great debut for Roman.
Kinematico,
You hit the nail on the head! Chinatown is one of the best movies ever made. I'd put Rosemary's baby a close 2nd as far as Polanski's films go. Then I'd say the Pianist, Repulsion, and The Tenant. Knife In the Water wasn't a bad film, but to me it doesn't crack Polanski's top 5. BTW, anyone see The Ghost Writer yet?
Oh,I love Polanski so much! I think Knife in the Water is one of his best works.
shareI love most of his works but the movie which sticks in
my mind is Bitter Moon. So impressing and moving!
I think what makes this movie among his best, if not THE best, is the complexity in the characters and their relationships that he creates with the simplicity of cast and setting. You sense the attraction and hostility each character has for the other, but the minimal props, lighting and sets keep everything pure, crystalized.
It would be hard to say it's absolutely his best, but given what he was working with over 40 years ago, I don't see how it could have been better.
Im a huge Polanski fan Ive seen all the films mentioned (netflix is like the greatest thing ever) and all above mentioned some great and some truely brilliant.But the thing Polanski is a master at is making films that resonate, i mean watching some of his films is like reading a great novel.
shareChinatown is the best movie by Polanski. Perhaps by favorit movie of all time. The perfect directing, Robert Town's fantastic script, The pictures and the acting. Also the supporting roles. John Huston, Burt Young, Roman Polanski( even though it is small, I almost pissed my pants)
I also like "Repulsion"
I'm a HUGE Polanski fan, out of all the great American directors (despite the fact that he started his career in Poland) he ranks right up there with Peckinpah and Altman. I don't have a favorite Polanski because everything from Knife in the Water to The Tenant are excellent films, even the incredibly underrated Fearless Vampire Killers.
shareI don't think Polanski is an "American" director in any way... He made some films in America, but that's hardly reason for calling him an American director...
I know I'm alone in this, but I find Rosemary's baby one of Polanski's worst, along with Oliver Twist, which was a let down.
From those I've watched, Knife in the water, Repulsion, Chinatown and The Pianist are his best, all very good films imo.
I also think Death and the Maiden is a very good piece, although it's often considered one of his least efforts. The Tenant, Cul-de-sac and Ninth Gate are OK, but hardly great.
Last film watched:
Zodiac by David Fincher - 7/10
It's one of his best. But he's made so many great films that it's hard to compare them.
W.W.G.D.
What Would Gibson Do?
There is absolutelly no way this can be the best Polanski´s. Anyone who says that obviously has not seen Chinatown, Rosemary´s baby and others. This is the weakest Polanski´s I´ve seen so far.
shareWell i'd say top 5 definitely. But The Tenant, Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby and of course Repulsion i would rank above.
shareHere's my:
1. Knife in the Water
2. Repulsion
3. The Tenant
4. Chinatown
5. Rosemary's baby (sorry, I think it wasn't that great, and in the adaptation, Polanski left out one really simple, but important thing from the end.)
I don't think this is Polanski's best. The pacing is inordinately slow, and the jealousy and tension among the characters is so subtle that it's almost nonexistent. For instance, the blond fellow is respectful of Krystyna and is never caught stealing glances at her. Even when she changes below deck, his eyes dart in her direction just once -- when she is fully covered -- and only because he was engaged in swatting a fly. Krystyna never so much as flirts with the newcomer; in fact, she doesn't seem to mind that the men pay her hardly any attention. It makes her interlude with the stranger at the film's end all the more inconsistent.
Andrezj and the young fellow have their skirmishes, but then make up so quickly that resentments hardly fester -- a quality I would think is necessary in order for tensions to build up and boil over. Their competitiveness seems too good-natured. When Andrezj plays a trick on his guest by turning the boat in circles while he's paddling, the guest's next move is to steer the boat away from Andrezj and his wife while they're swimming. When Andrezj catches up to the boat, I expected him to be furious with his guest for nearly abandoning them. Instead, he practically congratulates him for his attempts at helmsmanship and acknowledges how tricky it can be. By this time I thought that something would have to be extremely serious in order to faze Andrezj. But by the end of the movie he nearly drowns his guest over something trivial.
In flow and tone, I just found it jarring and unsure of itself, although that could be due to self-editing to make it more acceptable to communist film censors.
This is how I felt, thanks for confirming it wasn't just me. I really admired the cinematography, and could appreciate what he was trying to do. I can appreciate too how someone else could adore it, it didn't work on me.
My movieblog: http://cinecism.blogspot.com
I think that part of Krystyna's attraction to the hitchhiker is because he is respectful of her. She is drawn to both his innocence/ the ways that he is different from her husband and his similarities to the husband. She never flirts with the hitchhiker exactly, but she is always kind to him, she does not mind showing off her body around him, and during the game of pick-up sticks, she starts looking at him differently. It may not be flirtation, exactly, but when she sings and he recites the poem, her look conveys attraction to him. Add to this the fact that Krystyna's fear that the hitchhiker had died, her anger at her husband for being such a macho jerk, and the fact that Krystyna and hitchhiker were alone for the first time, it is not such a stretch that the two sleep together.
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