The all-American art of door-to-door sales comes to Estonia in this witty documentary from filmmakers Andres Maimik and Jaak Kilmi. Peep Vain is a salesman and motivational speaker who after a spell in the United States has returned home to the Baltics to help launch an Estonian branch for Southwestern Publishing, an American firm specializing in textbooks. Southwestern has had great success selling educational materials through door-to-door sales in the U.S., and Vain is convinced he can help them achieve the same in Estonia. After hearing Vain present a seminar on the art of salesmanship, Raigo Saariste decides to give book sales a try, but it's clear he lacks Vain's natural gift of gab, and a visit to Southwestern's main branch in Tennessee is little short of disastrous. Mare Pannel is a housewife who also attended Vain's talk, and she decides to try selling something a little closer to her own experiences, Tupperware; however, the American Tupperware representatives do a better job of persuading her to embrace Christianity than move their merchandise. Muumise Kunst (aka The Art Of Selling) was released in two versions -- an 87-minute edition for theatrical release and an hour-long edit for television.
by Mark Deming
synopsis
