A thriller about gender and sexuality
In my reading, this film was an outright thriller about gender, sexuality and gender roles - especially about masculinity. There is almost a seduction element in the way Andrzej manages to convince the boy to go on the boat trip, which he does only to show off - to the boy, to himself and to his wife.
Everything seems to be framed by their quarell in the car (which we don't hear) and Andrzej's story about the sailor who hurt his feet on glass shards after forgetting his feet had gotten soft. The film is then set around the men's struggle to prove which one is stronger. But little did they know that the REAL answer to the great dilemma of masculinity (how to remain powerful when you're poor, or old, or married, etc.) is what Krystyna did in the beginning - by allowing Andrzej to drive so he wouldn't keep bugging her, she relinquished control, knowing full well that control is limited, and an illusion - and that she could have a limited control EVEN if she is not driving. By the end of the film we can clearly see that although she has kept to her background function for most of the film, she is clearly the one in control.
Basically a film about the pitfalls that masculinity throws in men's directions that women can see so well and evade.
Could fit perfectly in any list of queer or gay cinema.