The boy appears to be "homeless" and without many worldy possesions.
The shot of the mast looking very much like a cross.
The shot from above of the boy on deck, looking like Jesus at his crucifixion.
The boy "walking" on water.
His blurting out the word "sheep" when he's looking at the clouds.
Is it because the boy's "death" ends up "saving" the couples's marriage? Just wondering.
not to mention the shot of the side of the boat revealing the name Christine, but the last part framed out of the shot so it says Christ, while the traveler is looking over it. I think it was definitely intentional.
shareI couldn't help but notice something obvious (at least to me) with the shot of the boy laying on the deck with his arms stretched up and out, his feet crossed, and then the round painted circle on the deck at his head. . . . a bit too much don't you think? What was the point? It was no accident.
shareI also noticed the shot of the boy laying on the deck and thought of Jesus on the cross. Which means it must be really obvious because that sort of thing usually goes flying over my head. But that wasn't a painted circle on the deck behind the boys head--it was a coiled rope. I'm pretty sure it's the one that the skipper ordered him to coil up.
shareJerzey Kozinski wrote "Being There" directed by Hal Ashby had better themes of what you speak of. Roman Polanski is a Polish Jew who had experienced ant-semitish unlike so many who love to spew the shouts of "Anti Semitism" like as so many spew the "N" word as if it's a cool thing. If (and there are some)Christ symbolism, Roman showed how Christ is in all that we learn and become redeemed not by any institution, but by each other. He was one of many who had to endure the pain and deathful hatred of many who hid behind religion to justify thier ulterior motives.
shareI saw "Knife In The Water" on ETV in New York (Ch 13) around 1972. After the viewing, the "host" of the classic movie series interviewed Polanski. I believe the segment was called "Frame of Reference". I distinctly remember Polanski seemed irritated by the interviewers questions. I also distinctly remember the interviewer ("host") asking him about the young man posing like Jesus on the cross, and Polanski seemed especially annoyed and told him that no symbolism was intended. Whether he was telling the truth or not, well, I just don't know; but I guess I must assume that he was.
shareHate replying to my own post, but I did a google search and came up with this, for anyone who might be interested:
"Side A: TV Show Film Odyssey presents Knife in the Water (1962) by Roman Polanski, Frame of Reference (Charles Champlin) interview with Roman Polanski"
These are some very interesting points; the thought of any religious undertones hadn't even crossed my mind.
There're big brave balls, and there're little mincey fa ggot balls
This is not simply a movie about male ego or male posturing, it runs much more deeply than that.
The Christ symbolism in KitW represents mankind's development towards maturity to accept responsibility for himself/herself and not rely on miracles, and not maintain a limited belief that god only helps those who help themselves, but also in two other ways.
One is the suffering/pain and temptation; human trials of existence, the stories of walking on broken glass, contrasting the reference to walking on water, also the getting burned and sexual temptation.
Secondly, the sheep contrast the young man's constant praise of Andrzej as a man who has made it and is a self made man. This contrasts political belief systems, the collective vs. the individual.
The young man represents the testing of Andrzej and what he thinks he is entitled to as a self made man. Andrzej openly and honestly demands respect from his younger rival.
The movie shows that it is not about male ego or posturing because ultimately it is the younger man who rivals for the sexual attentions of Krystyna and wins, even though he is less of an accomplished man.
Virility, attraction, and novelty win out, this lends itself to a laughing critique of American market capitalism.
The younger man is at the mercy of strangers, at the mercy of those more powerful than himself, and he offers himself as a mock, figurative sacrifice. He toys with martyrdom simply as a role he plays at and this gets under Andrzej's skin because of the younger man's effeminate posturing, until Andrzej realizes that the young man is truly naive and much more simply an inexperienced young man who plays the fool to cover his weaknesses of lack of skill and character.
Andrzej, despite his jealousy sees the complexity of what is happening but is now at the mercy of unfolding human events and drama, albeit some of which is of his own making.
The end of the movie sees each person singled out, separate and alone, no false pretensions of brotherhood abound; suspicion is the predominant tone one is left with, the assumption of trust at the beginning of the movie that Andrzej adheres to with pride is gone. The younger man feels self righteous, smug in his martyrdom that he was right to not trust Andrzej. Andrzej is bewildered how he inadvertently reinforced the very experience of distrust he was trying to undo.
Krystyna is not totally oblivious to the male interchange between Andrzej and the young man, however she is in denial about the damage done to the nature of trust for both men and believes her love alone will bridge the impasse, despite the fact that she was partially to blame for that breach of trust and the fact that she played upon the younger man's weaknesses to test/strengthen her marriage, despite the risk to all three.
As a woman I found Krystyna, manipulative, and self serving. There is nothing redemptive in her Mary Magdalene type performance, other than her, "faith," in unconditional love, which proves itself to be a very dangerous weapon.
nova
Yeah, that occured to me too.
Maybe the woman is a Mary Magdelene type?
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