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:

melancholy | male full frontal nudity | large breasts | male full rear nudity | one male two females threesome | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

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

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

Did You Know?

Connections

References Faces (1968)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

A Kaurismäki story from Estonia

From those lands which have been in the stronghold of the former UdSSR and where any form of creativity has been strangulated systematically, there is normally not much to await regarding advanced culture. The few Estonian films that are at present (end of 2009) available of international DVDs, are thus practically worthless. But not so Sügisball (2007). It tells, partly serially and partly parallel, the actual stories of five or six couples living in the same typically Communist tower-block where the windows must have been recently substituted but the money was lacking in order to get the isolation material into the wall. Because, in Communist times, most apartments were not rented, but owned by their tenants, we also see how different they look: starting with the poor, booth-like interior of the hairdresser, passing the roomy private-library of the writer/drinker and arriving at the fancy penthouse-stylish flat of the architect.

The people in this movie are basically potential suicides, drinkers, hopeless, betrayers and betrayed, desperate housewives, children without any clear future. We see pictures from one habitation-silo, but they are representing the basic atmosphere of a whole land at the geographical transit from East and West and at the temporal transit between Sowiet dictatorship and a boundless but insecure freedom. The style of the movie is practically a full-copy of that of Kaurismäkis films. I wonder, if the director made this decision deliberately or if there is something coming up like a "Fenno-Estonian movie-style Koine". Fact is: The Kaurismäki-style is so laconic and so light-less that by its means alone it is sufficient to describe despair and hopelessness. However, the director's decision was good. Film-style and story are "isomorphic". Finland has in the person of Aki Kaurismäki the "Finnish Fassbinder". Perhaps Estonia has gotten now in the person of Veiko Öunpuu the "Estonian Fassbinder". I would be happy for Estonia. Like all Fenno-Ugric lands, it has a grand potential of culture, history and metaphysics.