Payday, so what better way to treat myself than pick up a DVD at HMV on the way home. I got this classic Roman Polanski film because it’s simply wonderful. I think it’s safe to say that the makers of Dead Calm were probably over-so-slightly influenced by this Polish debut feature.
There are only three characters in the film, and we’re introduced to them all pretty quickly. Andrzej and Krystyna are a married couple – she somewhat younger than him. They’re on their way to spend a day and a night sailing around in the Polish lakes (I’m guessing somewhere in the northwest of Poland), when they stop and pick up a hitch-hiker. He ends up joining them on the trip, even though he’s never been sailing before and professes not to be able to swim.
The film is tautly made, and it’s a joy to see it again. Like Polanski’s later Cul De Sac, you get a real feeling of isolation. There aren’t any other boats (although given the weather’s so wonderful, this is perhaps surprising).
The DVD’s not bad, although there seems to be a degree of less important dialogue that’s left untranslated which annoys me. And the subtitles suffer from Americanisms – I doubt anyone in 1962 Poland described someone as an “Asshole”. But the film comes with a fine documentary detailing the making of the film, with nearly all the main participants showing up (only Jolanta Umecka who plays Krystyna isn’t represented).
And finally, I should mention that the soundtrack comprises of a series of wonderful jazz pieces, which all add the edgy moodiness of the film.