Shorts

Polanski's trademark combination of a gloomy view of the world and absurd humor is already very present in his early short films. In SSAKI (1962), two men get into a fight about who will pull the other one on a sled. They keep coming up with new fake injuries to get around having to be the puller. DWAJ LUDZIE Z SZAFA (1958) is a bitterly sarcastic variation on the theme of selfishness. LAMPA (1959) does without human malice, but can also be understood as an allegory. In a puppet maker's store, a fuse box comes alive one night. It sets the puppets aflame; meanwhile, on the outside, passers-by amble on in willful ignorance.