The Temptation of St. Tony
Veiko Ounpuu’s bold, contemporary update of the stations-of-the-cross genre more than lives up to the promise of his 2007 debut, Autumn Ball. Nods to filmmakers Bergman, Fellini, Bunuel, and Tarkovski aside, with a wink at such cultural icons as Bosch, Flaubert, and Blake, his imprimatur is on every frame of this delicious black-and-white prestige product.
Mid-level factory manager Tony (rubber-faced Everyman Eelmaa, giving a remarkable performance) suffers an existential crisis following the death of his father. Questioning the value of being ethical versus achieving worldly success, and probing what is real rather than illusory, he bounces back and forth between sacred encounters (a “priest” and phantom labourers from the afterlife) and much more profane, in fact carnal, episodes (an over-the-top strip club where people eat like animals and become violent; snotty society events).
– Howard Feinstein, Screen International
Original name: Püha Tonu Kiusamine
Duration: 110 min
Dialogue: English, French, Estonian
Subtitles: English
Age limit: K18
