Losing Balance (Felix Fuchssteiner, 2009): Germany

Reviewed by Nicole Muhlethaler. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Losing Balance follows the slow deterioration of a once-happy family as financial setbacks, fighting, and poor decision-making eventually lead to a complete meltdown of the family unit, along with the loss of each individual in the family’s sense of right and wrong. We follow Jessika, a philosophical, sensitive, teenager, as she witnesses and reacts to her changing family dynamics, at first trying to regain her family’s lost balance and eventually fighting for her own sanity as well.

In the film’s opening, Jessika compares the family unit to an ecosystem needing careful balance — if the temperature slightly changes, everything dies. We start near the end of the story, when Jessika’s dad, sporting the cowboy hat he wears throughout the movie, is agitatedly smoking cigarettes outside, while Jessika appears to be getting ready to cut herself — numerous scars line her inner arm. This family unit has clearly self-destructed. The film then takes us back to happier times. Our story starts at the family’s lake house — Jessika’s mother and father are in love, cooing mushily to each other as their two teenage daughters roll their eyes in embarrassment, but laugh good-naturedly. Everyone is happy. However, the winds of change are about to blow as the family piles into a sailboat and the father tells them that he may be losing his job in the upcoming weeks. As the parents begin to fight, Jessika jumps into the lake, fully clothed, and we immediately understand how affected she is by the fighting of those she loves.

A few weeks later, and Jessika’s father does indeed lose his job. Money is suddenly an issue. The parents are constantly fighting over money at the grocery store, much to their daughter’s embarrassment, yet Jessika’s mother soon lands a job as a kindergarten teacher, becoming the sole breadwinner of the house as her husband slowly crumbles into depression. A neighbor boy moves in next door and offers Jessika some relief as her home life becomes even less stable. Jessika’s mother’s newfound sense of power leads her to overspend and start staying out after work with other men — as Jessika witnesses in an awkward moment at the mall. Meanwhile, her normally good-natured older sister suddenly finds the need to rebel, staying out later partying with her boyfriend and friends. Finally, Jessika witnesses her parents cleaning up a bloody secret, and what was left of the family’s dynamic is blown to pieces.

Jessika’s voice is surprisingly relateable and real as a troubled teen philosophizing about her life. She uses facts learned in science class to explain the actions of those around her, in a way that only an introspective teenager could. Her dialogue and reactions are surprisingly right on, and even as things get ugly, we find that everything unfolds in a way that only makes sense. There is no over-dramatizing just for dramatic affect, this story feels so natural that we want to stay around to see what the characters will do next. Not because we’re watching soap opera – like contrived conflicts, but because we’re watching true life. The camerawork and lighting feel no frills; everything is real, with mostly natural lighting, no Hollywood gloss. The actors are dressed as real people would dress, the mother is largely overweight, Jessika and her sister’s make-up, costume, and hair appear to be done themselves. Nothing feels artificial or created for the camera.

The writing of the movie is its strong point: the characters are complex and real, as are their circumstances. The storyline is strangely compelling, as we find ourselves rooting for each character and for the family to regain its footing, yet somehow only stumbling further and further into dark and troubled places.