The Lamp
1959·Drama·8m
7.0
★
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?
Directed by Roman Polanski
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Cast
Roman Polanski
A passer-by (uncredited)
Crew
Roman Polanski
Director
Roman Polanski
Screenplay
Popular Reviews
10 reviews
Laura
6.0★ · 09/18/25
yeah okay Polanski he's really into his delirium
it made me think of industrialization, the arrival of electricity which ends up burying antiquity nvm
like what everything is better in the dark
it made me think of industrialization, the arrival of electricity which ends up burying antiquity nvm
like what everything is better in the dark
yeah okay Polanski he's really into his delirium
it made me think of industrialization, the arrival of electricity which ends up burying antiquity nvm
like what everything is better in the dark
it made me think of industrialization, the arrival of electricity which ends up burying antiquity nvm
like what everything is better in the dark
Rémy PoissonPRO
Anti-electricity propaganda.
Anti-electricity propaganda.
Luca Buca
7.0★ · 04/14/25
Bleak and subtilely disturbing. It’s interesting to observe this film after the immersion of Chucky, Annabelle, and the sentient play-thing trend in Hollywood because this is strangely a precursor to it in a way.We see the process of one of these dolls being crafted but very early on, the doll-maker exits and instead of following him, we stay with the dolls. And in a way, having this elongated exposure to their presence without a creator or human in view, a vitality then starts to become attributed to them. It’s also important to consider that everything in this film is apart of this distortion of reality. The dolls, the cuckoo-clock, and even the visual style. It’s all feigning a sense of normality which in actuality is risen from something unworldly and inhuman. There’s also the presence of the lamp and its significance not only in the film but of course, the title. From what the film gives us, the meaning found is Polanski illustrating to us that perhaps art or entertainment, simply any exaggeration of reality cannot protect us from the burning and sizzling destruction of the world we live in. And considering, it’s release being only a decade after WWII’s conclusion, this also maybe speaks on that as well.
Bleak and subtilely disturbing. It’s interesting to observe this film after the immersion of Chucky, Annabelle, and the sentient play-thing trend in Hollywood because this is strangely a precursor to it in a way.We see the process of one of these dolls being crafted but very early on, the doll-maker exits and instead of following him, we stay with the dolls. And in a way, having this elongated exposure to their presence without a creator or human in view, a vitality then starts to become attributed to them. It’s also important to consider that everything in this film is apart of this distortion of reality. The dolls, the cuckoo-clock, and even the visual style. It’s all feigning a sense of normality which in actuality is risen from something unworldly and inhuman. There’s also the presence of the lamp and its significance not only in the film but of course, the title. From what the film gives us, the meaning found is Polanski illustrating to us that perhaps art or entertainment, simply any exaggeration of reality cannot protect us from the burning and sizzling destruction of the world we live in. And considering, it’s release being only a decade after WWII’s conclusion, this also maybe speaks on that as well.
Gojira
6.0★ · 09/01/19
Zunächst, sehr creepy. Erinnert etwas an David Lynch.
Ansonsten, keine Ahnung, ob ich da so 'deutsch' bin, aber ich habe hier eine Metapher über den Holocaust drin gesehen.
Die Puppen sind Juden, jeglicher Humanität beraubt nur mehr Spielzeug in den Händen der Mächtigen, hier der Puppenmacher.
Die Elektrizität ist die maschinelle Venichtung.
Das Feuer spricht für sich selbst.
Und während dieses unbemerkt in der Werkstatt wütet, eilen die Passanten draußen dran vorbei, schnell schnell, nichts bemerken. Und dann ertönt schon wieder lustige Musik.
Ende.
Ansonsten, keine Ahnung, ob ich da so 'deutsch' bin, aber ich habe hier eine Metapher über den Holocaust drin gesehen.
Die Puppen sind Juden, jeglicher Humanität beraubt nur mehr Spielzeug in den Händen der Mächtigen, hier der Puppenmacher.
Die Elektrizität ist die maschinelle Venichtung.
Das Feuer spricht für sich selbst.
Und während dieses unbemerkt in der Werkstatt wütet, eilen die Passanten draußen dran vorbei, schnell schnell, nichts bemerken. Und dann ertönt schon wieder lustige Musik.
Ende.
Zunächst, sehr creepy. Erinnert etwas an David Lynch.
Ansonsten, keine Ahnung, ob ich da so 'deutsch' bin, aber ich habe hier eine Metapher über den Holocaust drin gesehen.
Die Puppen sind Juden, jeglicher Humanität beraubt nur mehr Spielzeug in den Händen der Mächtigen, hier der Puppenmacher.
Die Elektrizität ist die maschinelle Venichtung.
Das Feuer spricht für sich selbst.
Und während dieses unbemerkt in der Werkstatt wütet, eilen die Passanten draußen dran vorbei, schnell schnell, nichts bemerken. Und dann ertönt schon wieder lustige Musik.
Ende.
Ansonsten, keine Ahnung, ob ich da so 'deutsch' bin, aber ich habe hier eine Metapher über den Holocaust drin gesehen.
Die Puppen sind Juden, jeglicher Humanität beraubt nur mehr Spielzeug in den Händen der Mächtigen, hier der Puppenmacher.
Die Elektrizität ist die maschinelle Venichtung.
Das Feuer spricht für sich selbst.
Und während dieses unbemerkt in der Werkstatt wütet, eilen die Passanten draußen dran vorbei, schnell schnell, nichts bemerken. Und dann ertönt schon wieder lustige Musik.
Ende.
Tucker Clement
A Sentient Lamp Destroys A Bunch of Creepy Dolls
sadly it’s not based on a true story
sadly it’s not based on a true story
A Sentient Lamp Destroys A Bunch of Creepy Dolls
sadly it’s not based on a true story
sadly it’s not based on a true story