Polanski’s third feature is a subversive send-up of a gangster story, heavily influenced by surrealists and the theatre of absurd (the film’s initial title was Waiting for Katelbach, clearly referencing Beckett). It is an early variation on one of Polanski’s favourite motifs ? the power play between the characters, where the role of the victim and the victimiser constantly changes. As usual with Polanski’s cinema, the action takes place at a closed space ? not as claustrophobic, as the boat in Knife in the Water or the apartments in Repulsion, <The Lodger or Carnage>, but inescapable nonetheless. (Michał CHACI?SKI)