Balance - animated short film

February 27, 2005 9:01 PM

Balance is an animated short made in West Germany in 1989. I saw it at an animation festival years ago and am now pleased to see that Milk & Cookies has posted a link to a Flash version of it. I hope you enjoy. [7 mins, Flash]
posted by scarabic (18 comments total)

Great short film. Coincidentally, I just saw it last week on display loop at the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem.
posted by twsf at 9:22 PM on February 27, 2005

Double.

twsf: that museum looks very interesting.
posted by kickingtheground at 9:30 PM on February 27, 2005

I, for one, shuffle to the left a bit and bend over a tad.
posted by mwhybark at 9:43 PM on February 27, 2005

Wow. very cool, says a lot about greed and self-destruction.
posted by Kifer85 at 9:46 PM on February 27, 2005

Reminds me of the less existential and more abstract work by Beckett, Quad.
posted by DaShiv at 10:05 PM on February 27, 2005

Ah crap. Delete!
posted by scarabic at 10:16 PM on February 27, 2005

Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance.

...

Seriously though, I'm trying to figure this one out. I believe I need some context. Anyone have interpretations?
posted by redteam at 10:40 PM on February 27, 2005

cold war nears end.
posted by mwhybark at 11:46 PM on February 27, 2005

Well I am glad this was posted again, missed it the other time.

[this is good]
posted by litghost at 1:00 AM on February 28, 2005

I think it's an illustration of zero sum games. And the connectedness of the actions of different people. And the tension between the desire of the individual to achieve his own full potential, even at the expense of society, when in fact society's benefit is key to his own. And working together. And being somewhere lonely with just a radio. And there's actually a completely telling sexual maneuver between jacket 23 and jacket 75 in one of the earlier scenes - watch them when they're huddled in the back as the one guy pulls the box up on deck - I swear that handjobs are exchanged. Which is clearly a statement about blue collar moralism as affects populist sexual identities in a post-cold-war paradigm of free market economies.
posted by scarabic at 1:00 AM on February 28, 2005

75: "It's a physics demonstration!"

23: "No, it's an ideological discussion!"

75: "Physics!"

23: "Ideology!"

75: "Physics!"

23: "Ideology!"

49: "Hey, hey, hey, calm down, you two. Balance is both a physics demonstration and an ideological discussion. And a floor wax!"

I saw this years ago on a videotape collection of international animated shorts, and thought it was brilliant. Still do. Great, simple setup, interesting twists, and a heavy ending to keep you thinking about what it all "meant" for a long while afterwards.
posted by Al_Truist at 4:22 AM on February 28, 2005

Wow. Thanks for sharing, scarabic.

This is now my new favorite short film, after The Last Red Riding Hood.
posted by Lush at 4:44 AM on February 28, 2005

That was great. I missed it before too.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:27 AM on February 28, 2005

I love this little film. I remember seeing it on "Night Flight" back in the early 90s. Thanks for the link, scarabic.
posted by BoringPostcards at 7:24 AM on February 28, 2005

Wow, that was incredible! I missed it the first time.
posted by grimcity at 7:37 AM on February 28, 2005

I, for one, shuffle to the left a bit and bend over a tad.

Is Tad okay with that?
posted by five fresh fish at 9:25 AM on February 28, 2005

good post scarabic, i hadn't seen it before...

i don't think it's zero sum, tho. with the right coordination, all of them could have been near to the box...that's what makes it so tragic, for me...

you're definately right about the handjobs, tho...

was anyone else waiting for a jack-in-box to pop up and throw someone off, or am I just low-brow?
posted by es_de_bah at 2:56 PM on February 28, 2005

This reminds me of the indie animation halcyon days of the early '90s, what with Spike & Mike's Festival of Animation and MTV's Liquid Television.

I miss seeing these kinds of things.
posted by Down10 at 3:53 PM on February 28, 2005