Temptation of St. Tony, by Veiko Ounpuu, 2009
To appreciate Veiko Õunpuus artful tale of moral confusion, lets begin where he doeswith Dantes Inferno: Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark. Tony, a middleaged, midlevel manager, leads a quiet life. But one day, he starts to question the value of being good. In a series of bizarre encounters in which he fires his employees, witnesses his wifes infidelity, and meets a soontobe kidnapped girl (never mind the severed hands and mystery dog), Tony gradually becomes unhinged from reality. Õunpuus second feature asks, what good is goodness when all it brings is loss He gleefully supplants our sense of narrative context with avantgarde flourishes, wryly devised vignettes, and unfolding metaphors, stranding us in poor Tonys forest dark. Provocative and evasive, the film infuses chaotic energy and emotional tension into its elegant blackandwhite imagery. Õunpuus stark vision feels more like a dream (or nightmare) and recalls the beauty of being oblique.
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