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After all the hardship endured in the making of my first film, the press showing was a disaster. The critics were determined to pan it. The members of Poland’s nomenklatura (communist establishment) were starting to get rich quickly at this period, and Knife was, among other things, an attack on privilege. Whether motivated by spite or political zeal, most critics vociferously demanded to know what the film was about. My “cosmopolitan” background was grist to their mill.

Some eighteen months later, sensing the political climate had changed, I decided to try again with the Ministry of Culture. I tinkered with a few scenes, adding some snippets of dialogue designed to impart a trifle more “social commitment,” and this time the screenplay committee passed it for production.