The Lamp

No Image

Country:Poland

Director:Roman Polanski

Program:Parallel Pathways

Year: 
1959

Duration: 
7

Summary:

In waning winter light, a doll maker works in his shop, a kerosene lamp beside him, a jumble of dolls and doll parts, whole and broken, surrounding him. There are noises, too: a cuckoo clock chirps the workday's end. The artisan completes a repair and leaves, shuttering the shop from outside. Back inside, whispering begins. What else is in store for the shop's seemingly lifeless denizens? This is one of Roman Polanski’s earliest films and while hardly a word of clear dialogue is spoken the precise images and eerie premise promise the exigent cinema to come. There is something particularly disturbing about the sense of catastrophe and helplessness that will be a hallmark of Polanski’s life and art.