Knife in the Water

Roman Polanski’s first full-length movie got him so much attention worldwide that he was able to escape the stifling Polish studio system for France and Hollywood, where classics like Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown still lay in his future. Between Knife’s language barrier and the higher profile of his later work, it’s no wonder that his debut’s been largely forgotten. But this claustrophobic thriller, set almost entirely on a small seagoing yacht where jealousy reigns and three is definitely a crowd, is well worth a new round of discovery. The DVD is worth it just for Knife, but the second disc, collecting Polanski’s early short films, is a nice treat. Especially since it reveals that Polanski’s familiar obsessions with paranoia and violence were present in potent form in what’s literally the first minute of student film he ever completed, a simple yet chilling scene involving an efficient and anonymous stabbing.