Short of the Week – Balance

For those of us who grew up with the amusing antics of Wallace and Gromit, Balance can feel like the eerie, ghost-like shadow that haunts the dark underside of their cheerful lives. Standing on a platform suspended in a void, five expressionless, claymation men move in a form of synchronised individuality, in order to maintain their balance.

A fight disrupts their precarious teamwork; a fight over a music box hauled onto the platform. Enchanted by the only source of colour and music in their world, each of the men begins to tip the balance of the platform in order to bring themselves closer to the box – and the joy it seems to bring.

This classic animated short from brother directors Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein bites as sharp in its satirical look at human behaviour as it always has, and retains its power to haunt the viewer through image and sound.

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INFORMATION

DIRECTORS: Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein

WRITERS: Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein

SYNOPSIS: Five nameless men living in a void find their existence upturned by the discovery of a mysterious box and the power it holds over them.