"Knife in the Water" was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1963 Academy Awards, the first Polish motion picture to receive this kind of recognition. "Time" used a still from the film, with Umecka and Malanowicz on the verge of a kiss, as the cover of an issue featuring international cinema. It won the FIPRESCI Prize in 1962 Venice Film Festival. The film has been included in lists of the best debut feature films and was ranked number 61 in "Empire" magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.