Re: 215 Knife in the Water
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 4:19 pm
Recently re-watched KITW; Excellent little film, and Polanski definitely made the most of the limited budget, minimal cast (only three people throughout the whole film), and claustraphobic setting of the boat.
It was fairly evident that the arrogant husband only wanted to take the young hitchhiker along on his boat in order to display his intellectual, social, and financial superiority.
The film was also an interesting study of how people interact with each depending on gender & gender roles. Since there were two guys on the boat & 1 woman, the guys were trying to constantly one-up each other in order to impress the woman; i.e., they were showing off re: the knife throwing, the husband was showing off his nautical skills & making fun of the hitchhiker's understandable ignorance in such matters, etc. However, if there had been two women and a man, the dynamic would have been completely different...
It was fairly evident that the arrogant husband only wanted to take the young hitchhiker along on his boat in order to display his intellectual, social, and financial superiority.
The film was also an interesting study of how people interact with each depending on gender & gender roles. Since there were two guys on the boat & 1 woman, the guys were trying to constantly one-up each other in order to impress the woman; i.e., they were showing off re: the knife throwing, the husband was showing off his nautical skills & making fun of the hitchhiker's understandable ignorance in such matters, etc. However, if there had been two women and a man, the dynamic would have been completely different...
Spoiler
When watching the film for the first time, I half-expected that the husband or the hitchhiker would eventually eliminate the other (especially since the title was KITW). When this didn't happen, I was somewhat surprised, since it was the opposite of what I expected...
Spoiler
The ending was great, i.e. you weren't sure which road the husband was going to take (the road leading to the authorites, or the road home). It was fairly evident he didn't believe the wife when she said the hitchhiker was still alive. I like ambiguous endings like this, since they keep you guessing...