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Autumn Ball
Director: VEIKO ÕUNPUU
In a rundown sprawling Soviet-era hotel somewhere deep in the heart of Estonia, six misguided characters struggle to make a little sense of their days in this quirky prize-winning ‘dramedy.’
Estonian writer/director Veiko Õunpu’s melancholic comedy of relationships fashions a world in which the collective failures of those among us play like Chekhov’s sad little songs in our hearts. But this situation provides Õunpuu with great humor -- like the bored bellhop who spontaneously reenacts Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ video, or the coatroom attendant who scams his way into a conference for free food, and then fi nds himself pontifi cating about true Slavic identity.
As these quietly hysterical moments play out before our eyes, the characters try to fi nd themselves by any means necessary. Meticulous art direction and a subtext suggesting a Baltic refl ection of U.S.S.R. change, Autumn Ball (Sügisball) brings a hard-to-come-by look from an almost-forgotten planet to the festival. Thanks to the the Estonaian Consulate, D.C. for assistance.
ESTONIA • 2007 • 123 MINUTES • DIRECTOR: VEIKO ÕUNPUU
Comments
Only this film of grey,
Only this film of grey, gloomy Estonia could make our Minneapolis spring seem splashed with sunlight and warmth. We missed the comedy part, though god knows we kept looking for the entire 123 very slooowww minutes. If this be comedy, I hate to imagine the director’s idea of tragedy.
Then there’s the smoking and drinking, relentless depresso drinking to oblivion, cause, get it? They’re all struggling with rejection and the Baltic blues. The men do the big drinking. The women either cry a lot or are very afraid, though several have serious post-coital laughing fits.
I like to drink. I was looking forward to a post-flick martini, but this “Autumn Ball” (huh?) served as a sort of visual Antabuse. We left, went to our favorite martini dive, but all I could manage was a short glass of Mississippi tap water. It’s that bad.
My final take? What happens in Estonia, stays in Estonia. Or should.
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