Tanjuska and the 7 Devils

When 10-year old Tanjuska suddenly stops eating and talking, her parents are at their wits' end. Neither the village healers' medicinal water nor the insulin treatment in a psychiatric hospital brings any improvement. Then Tanjuska's parents meet Father Vasili, an exorcist from Estonia who believes that the girl is possessed by the devil. As Tanjuska sits through the priest's interminable masses, the film ponders what exactly is wrong with her. In this second installment of her trilogy about the meaning of spirituality, Finnish filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo succeeds in subtly contrasting Tanjuska's father's blind faith in Father Vasili's therapy with her mother's doubts.