The Mask (Lem short story)

[1][2] The story is set in a quasi-feudal world which is unusually technologically advanced, reminiscent of that of the Fables for Robots and The Cyberiad and is written in an archaized language.

[3] The protagonist and narrator is a complicated "hound machine", an insectoid robot disguised as a beautiful girl.

[5] Second, it was an attempt to model the above science-fictional situation within a framework not typical for science fiction; hence he framed it as a classic love story in the form of a gothic novel.

For example, love at first sight may be interpreted as the phenomenon of imprinting, only not of biological origin, but as a result of external programming of a robot.

[5] Finally, Lem wrote he wanted to introduce a motif from the genre of fantasy: that of horrible transformation of the heroine.

[7] Parker proceeds to interpret the story in terms of phallic aspects, gender language, the programmability of femininity, love, and erotic behavioral cliches, etc.

was shot by Polish Se-ma-for studio directed by the Brothers Quay, music by Krzysztof Penderecki.

In this rendering the robot is beautiful in its both forms: the girl and the machine, while the surrounding human world looks rotten, which fits the mood of the story.

[2] In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, actress and director Hanka Brulińska created a 13-min short Maska, dedicated to the Year of Lem.