Balance

I second the view of the Canadian commentator, who said this was the greatest animated short every made. It is perfect in a way only Chris Marker's "La Jetee" is--pure and simply, one of the best films ever made. Go out of your way to find it on video--it should be on one of the "International Tournee of Animation" videos or the video pictured above. 6 men. 1 platform. And a strange object.

By far the greatest short I have ever seen. The style of animation in this short is very interesting and a little dark, but appropriate for the story. The moral of the short, the need for cooperation in society and what could happen without it, comes through clearly and is well done. It won the Oscar for Best Short Film in 1990, and it certainly deserved it. Check this out!

10/10

This short won an Oscar for Animated Short and was most deserving of the honor. This has got to be the most disturbing and thought-provoking animated short I've ever seen in all of my life. I kept thinking about the ending for several days. It reminds me of a three part Chinese curse: 1) May you live in interesting times 2) May people in high places take notice of you and 3) May you get everything you wish for. A sad commentary on human nature. This is in print on The World's Greatest Animation and is worth getting, not just for Balance, but for practically everything on it, as it's all worth seeing and most is outstanding! Most highly recommended.

A platform floats in a neutral space. Strange men, identical except for the numbers on their back, appearing as though out of some dystopian future, must work in concert to prevent the platform from tipping. The emergence of a strange box, a new development in this closed and sterile space, disrupts the tedium but also the teamwork, as each man wants to individually inspect and enjoy the box—threatening them all as the platform becomes increasingly unbalanced.

Add though a context. A time and place to the film's creation. Germany, 1989. The fact that the men are identical but for their numbers, is this not a oft-used symbol for the anonymity desired of those in a Communist society? That they are all the same and thus interchangeable? The cooperation they display at first is perhaps indicative of Socialism, and the box, what is the meaning of the music it plays, the dancing it inspired? Radio Free Europe used to broadcast American music, such as the jazz heard coming out of the box, into Communist countries throughout the Cold War. Perhaps the box is a symbol of possibility, of what is outside the closed system, which inevitably undermines said system.

And so a parable about selfishness becomes an allegory about German society and Soviet Communism at its fall. The sad and ironic ending of Balance, who is at fault? The men that fail to do what is best for them? Or the system that fails to acknowledge this human quality?

Read the full review at ShortoftheWeek.com

It's been several years since I saw this, but it sticks in my mind like I saw it recently. This short does one of the best jobs I've ever seen of making a point in minimal screen time.

I won't go into the plot of the moral; part of the joy of this film is figuring it out. When I saw it, you could watch the audience members individually recognize what was happening over the time of the film. It's under 10 minutes long (I believe), and it would be a shame to spoil it for someone.

The film is not something children would enjoy. While there's nothing objectionable about the film, it's not typical colorful, pretty animation. One thing that struck me is that the animation style is very Eastern European, while the plot is rather Asian (group dynamics).

The bottom line is that this is well worth seeing -- and it won't even take that much time out of your schedule!