A Melancholy Life Trapped in a Penny Arcade [Music Video]

The feeling of being trapped in an automated world is a theme that artists have exploded time and time again, from Kafka's The Trial, to Fight Club, to Office Space, but a new music video animated by Israeli director Uri Lotan tackles the idea with its own charm and finesse. His visuals for Tel Aviv band Jane Bordeaux's "Ma’agalim" follow a lonely-looking doll in an old penny arcade, doomed to walk the same rotating path, looking at the same dumb, mechanized people all day. Doesn't sound too different from boring old Real Life, does it?

Of course, a wrench thrown into the works changes the doll's fate for the interesting. Lotan's attention to detail and anthropomorphization of the wooden dolls captivates, and would continue to, even if our protagonist stayed trapped in the same routine forever. His training at Disney | Pixar and subsequent work on big budget films like Hotel Transylvania 2 prove he has chops, but "Ma’agalim" stands on its own as an audiovisual delight. Watch it below.

See more of Uri Lotan's work on his website.

Via Vimeo Staff Picks

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