Die letzte Reliquie

'The Last Relic' is one of the most beloved movie in Estonia. Wonderful characters, nice location shots, lighthearted adventure and clever humor. Again. Estonians love humor.

Director Grigori Kromanov's first intentions were to create serious historical philosophical movie exploring the mythos of free man, but he was force to take much adventurous-romantic view point. The witty dialogue and catchy songs (that has became classics their own) really carry the film. And the songs, did the authors intend it or not, have actually quite deep meanings, and add quite much to the director's wanted philosophical point. The film is also historically quite inaccurate - the character of Ivo Schenkenberg has gotten very free artistic interpretation in this film. He is real historical person, but was known as heroic fighter and leader of Estonian fighters against Russian army in Livonian War. Of course, Soviet regime didn't like depicting him as a heroic character in the film. That aside, Schenkenberg played by Peeter Jakobi is probably one of the most memorable characters in Estonian cinema.

The sword fight scenes look dame even compared to it's contemporaries. One part of that can be blamed the Soviet regime who had quite heavy regulations considering fighting and violence on the screen. At least we can get a glimpse of Ingrida Andrina's (Agnes) nipples, that somehow past the eyes of censor.

This might not seem like an outstanding film to an outsider, but it is a classic in its homeland. This is the story of how men and women fought for their freedom against higher power. The acting is great, the dialogue is classic material. This is most certainly the most often quoted piece in Estonia's history of film and for a reason. Watch it if you want to see a great film that has touched a whole nation without being too serious or too patriotic, but fun and careless among other things as well. This is as good as it gets.

My usual searches and sources did not turn up this movie, but I'd love to watch it. There are selected clips of this available on to watch on a popular video site, but not the complete film. Amazon U.S./Canada/UK also do not list either The Last Relic or it's Estonian title, Viimne reliikvia, available for sale. Netflix and Blockbuster do not show it for rent. Any help in finding it would be appreciated. Thanks.

Also, any help with finding international films not widely released in the United States would be much appreciated. With more international web friendships, I hear more and more about movies I don't have access to watch.

If there's one Estonian film you have to watch in your lifetime, it's this one. It plays out like a Hollywood sword and sandal epic. There's romance and action and tension, beautiful damsel in distress, swashbuckling hero and a moustached villain. Check it out!

I really loved this movie when I was a kid, but now I don't see how I could think of it as nearly perfect at that time. Don't get me wrong, although I have to admit that it seems funny or goofy or unrelated to the novel at some parts I still think the movie is great. I like such historical movies; and movies of the era that "Viimne Reliikvia" is situated in especially. One of my favorite genres is adventure and fight-for-independence, so that's another reason why I like it(although fight-for-independence or something similar isn't listed in "Viimne Reliikvia" genres I think it should be; Gabriel and his men are definitely fighting for independence). For everybody else I suggest that you watch the movie, but of course what you think about it is your own concern.