Autumn Ball (2007)

A film about the loneliness, despair and hope of six people who all live in a bleak Soviet-era apartment complex in Tallinn, Estonia.

Director:

Veiko Õunpuu

Writers:

Mati Unt (novel), Veiko Õunpuu (screenplay)

Stars:

Rain Tolk, Taavi Eelmaa, Juhan Ulfsak

14 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Rain Tolk	...	Mati
Taavi Eelmaa	...	Shveitser Theo
Juhan Ulfsak	...	Arhitekt Maurer
Sulevi Peltola	...	Meestejuuksur Augusti Kaski
Tiina Tauraite	...	Arhitekt Maureri naine Ulvi
Maarja Jakobson	...	Laura
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allan Hmelnitski	...	Laulja restoranis
Janek Joost	...	Theo ülemus
Karl Kermes	...	Jaan
Ülo Krigul	...	Klahvipillimängija restoranis
Kaupo Käsik	...	Theo töökaaslane
Armin Kõomägi	...	Restoranikülastaja
Paul Laasik	...	Telekaparandaja
Erki Laur	...	Maureri sõber
Mari Lill	...	Poemüüja I

Storyline

A young writer called Mati is stalking his ex-wife, while also trying to make unsuccessful passes at other women. Augusti is a barber living a dreary bachelor life who forms a bond with little girl, but his approaches are misconstrued as pedophilia. Laura, a single mom, tears up over sappy soap operas, but refuses real-life advances from clueless men, because her ability to trust has been ruined by her violent drunk of an ex-husband. Maurer, the architect, worries about the wellbeing of humanity, but ignores his own wife Ulvi, who in turn looks for solace in the arms of a coatroom attendant named Theo. Women have always liked Theo, but due to his low social status, they don't take him seriously. All of these people might inhabit identical tower blocks, but they couldn't feel more alienated from each other if they tried.

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Plot Keywords:

erection | male full frontal nudity | male frontal nudity | male nudity | melancholy | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

The final credit: 'The movie is inspired by novel by Mati Unt and is dedicated to all men with fragile soul and weak liver who stand alone in night, in pants.'

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Connections

References Love Streams (1984)

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Soundtracks

The Burning Man
Written by Songs of Green Pheasant
Performed by Songs of Green Pheasant

User Reviews

Daring, but runs a little dry

Movies like this are easy to like. Dramatic, brutal stories told with black humor, interwoven in a way that makes it all a journey into a theme. Magnolia and Shortcuts comes to mind as great examples of this. Sügisball is a good attempt with high ambition, but sadly it fails to follow through on it.

Perhaps if the movie was a bit longer it would not be as obvious, but the characters within the stories told are all to similar. Not only in their loneliness (which, to me, seems to be the central theme of it all), but also in their situation, age, etc. I wish the stories were a bit more varied, as it would not have made the movie as dull as it was at times. But as mentioned, this could maybe have been fixed by shortening it by quite a bit.

That said, there are some great scenes in this movie, and some interesting and memorable characters.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Estonia]

Country:

Estonia

Language:

Estonian

Release Date:

13 September 2007 (Estonia)

Also Known As:

Autumn Ball

Filming Locations:

Lasnamäe, Tallinn, Estonia

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,073

Company Credits

Production Co:

Homeless Bob Production, Kuukulgur Film, Tugev Tuul Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1