Duzniak38 Balance is a excellent short which revolves around a square board hanging in the air. This board represents the world. On this board are five men, all fishing over the side. There obviously represent the people of the world. These five men must cooperate with each other in order to keep the board balanced so that it doesn't tip. One man then reels up a musical box from the side of the board. This man wants to keep this box all to himself. However if he does this the board will become unbalanced and will effect others. But if this man were to put the musical box in the centre of the board and share it so that everybody could enjoy it together, then peace and calm would still exist on the board. This is obviously referring to people's possessions and resources, and how if one part of the world takes too much power over resources, then other parts of the world will be effected, yet if we shared all resources, all countries would be balanced and we would have no need for concern and worry. The short is simple and creepy, yet this emphasises even more about how the shorts message need to be taken into account and have something done about it, because it's message is simple and the ideas of what could happen if the world went into conflict over resources is an unsettling feeling. The end consequences of the short are amusing, but hint what could happen in reality. This short is very clever and well-made, and has messages and meaning. A short I could view many times and have very good conversation and debate over. A really interesting film to seek out.

patrick_dunne Balance is a great short film about a group of men who live on a platform. Each one has to stay on their end, so that the platform doesn't tilt, because if it does...they will fall. One day, a music box comes to them, and each one of them is fascinated by it.Balance eventually has a moral about teamwork. Of course, the short film is predictable, (If you expected a moral.) but morals are always a nice addition to cinema.The film may be more complex than I remember, because I don't remember too much. But, the moral about teamwork is nice, and it has a great visual style. Plus, it has no dialog...just like good short films do.I think I will re-watch it sometime...Feel free to send me a Private Message regarding this comment.

homer_simpson91 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

simon-47 I think I have not seen any German animation except this one. This is one of my favorite short films, and if you have a chance to see it, you will find out how brilliant the Director is.On a flat (in this world, there is only one small flat and five men on it), the five men had to make a balance not to be slipped. When one man wants to go fishing, the other four men also have to do the same thing. It can be total-socialism or other else...like a physically balanced world. When one man picked up a music box, and all of the five men want to hear the music without order, it became unbalanced. They fought each other and one man won by dropping all the other four men under the flat world. But, the survived winner had to stay at the corner of the flat while the music box stayed at the opposite corner, which means the remaining man could not hear the music anymore because he had to make a balance with that box on the flat.It's thrill to me to see this short but great movie.You can buy this with other Oscar nominated or winning short animations by DVD.