Autumn Ball
“Autumn Ball” is a new Estonian film that talks about six inhabitants of Soviet-era tower blocks whose lives touch together, and who are all united by a feeling of loneliness. The young writer, Mati, lurks outside the window of his ex-wife and unsuccessfully approaches other women. August Kask is a bachelor-barber living a drab life who takes to a little girl, but his approaches are misconstrued as pedophilia. The single mom, Laura, watches a sappy soap opera on TV and pushes away men’s advances because she cannot trust them. Maurer, the architect, thinks about the wellbeing of humanity, but has forgotten his own wife, who, in turn, looks for solace in the coatroom attendant Theo. Women like Theo, but due to his low social status, they don’t take him seriously.
“Autumn Ball” tells a tale of human seclusion and the incapability to reach others. But you also find humor and the absurd, and the properly attuned viewer might even find oneself laughing out loud. If I were to define the film, I would say that “Autumn Ball” is a pitch black comedy about loneliness, despair and hope.
Synopsis
Tõnul tekib tõrge kuuldes pugejalikku väidet oma headuse kohta ja küsimus jääb teda painama. Kas ta on hea? Miks peaks üldse hea olema? Kellele on see kasulik?
Tõnu mõtleb ja mõtleb, olles samal ajal sunnitud vallandama oma tuhat alluvat, olema tunnistajaks abikaasa reeturlikkusele, matma oma vanaisa ja tagatipuks leidma võsast 12 paari inimkäsi. Tõnu loodab leida uue ja lihtsa elu striptisibaaris lisaraha teeniva venelannast sekretäri Nadezhda abil kui tema teele astub saatus salapärase Herr Meister’i näol. Too paneb Tõnu ette valiku – kas lootusetu mäss ja hukkumine või absoluutne allaheitlikkus ning võimu ning naudinguid täis elu. Muretu eluga harjunud Tõnu valib eneselegi ootamatult mässu ja kaotab. Inimene on tõepoolest sügavik, millel pole põhja.
