#wasnt sure whether to put gabriel's actor as russian or ukrainian

[unofficial-estonia]

ESTONIAN MOVIE MONTH

      ↳ “Viimne reliikvia” 1969 (The Last Relic)

The Last Relic is based on Eduard Bornhöhe’s novel “Prince Gabriel or Last Days of Pirita Monastery”. The story revolves around  Agnes von Mönnikhusen, who is set to marry Hans von Risbieter, the best horseback rider in all of Livonia. They are allowed to marry if Hans gives relics of a holy Brigitte to the church. The wedding ceremony is interrupted by a rebels’ attack and Agnes is saved by an adventurer Gabriel. While being chased by the church,  Ivo Schenkenberg’s rebels and the bride’s family, they fall in love. Still trying to get the relics, the monastery now has to play a double game, while dealing with peasant uprising. 

“Viimne reliikvia” has had a big influence on our culture. Tons of parodies have been made of the movie and even songs. For example, a news show parodied it to let viewers know about their new airing time. It is one of the most quoted movies of all time. Songs from the movie, “Pistoda laul”, “Mässajate laul”, “Põgene, vaba laps”, have become iconic. 

It became the first digitally remastered movie in Estonia in 2000. At least 770 000 people went to see it when it was released in 1970 in Estonia, over 44 million all over the Soviet Union. It has been released in over 80 countries ever since. 

The main characters Gabriel (Aleksandr Goloborodko) and Agnes (Ingrīda Andriņa) were not played by Estonian actors, but instead by a Ukrainian and Latvian. The cast also included other foreigners (Elza Radziņa, Rolan Bykov,  Uldis Vazdiks). Now known and loved Estonian actors in the movie were Raivo Trass (as Hans von Risbieter), Eve Kivi (as Ursula), Peeter Jakobi (as Ivo Schenkenberg), Karl Kalkun (as peasants’ leader) and Kalju Komissarov (as Monk 2).