100 stories from the hiking route

1969 – film “Viimne reliikvia” (“The Last Relic”) is finished

Information

Topic

Literature and culture

Coordinates

Long-Lat WGS 84

Latitude: 58.11488041

Longitude: 27.05156355

L-EST 97

x: 6444910.78
y: 680826.30

Location

Ähijärve-Aegviidu Hiking route

It is likely that nobody knows what makes the film “Viimne reliikvia” so important for Estonia – is it the story about the romantic adventure of a free man fighting for justice, the memorable quotes or the soundtrack of the film? The locations of the film definitely have a role to play as well.
The filming took place in several locations from early spring to late autumn in 1969. The landscape of Taevaskoja is known as the location of romantic scenes and you can find Agnes’ alder (“Gabriel, what will become of us?”) and Gabriel’s pine (“You can tell that they are old friends!”) there even today. Moving onwards by the hiking route, you will soon reach the Ületammi cliff, known among people also as the Risbieter cliff (“Are we on the right path?”).
“Viimne reliikvia”, which has become a cult classic in Estonia, has little in common with Eduard Bornhöhe’s historical tale “Prince Gabriel or the Last Days of Pirita Monastery” (1893). At the discussion of the fourth version of the script at the studio’s artistic council on 6 February 1968, Lennart Meri, the editor of the film, half-jokingly mentioned that out of Bornhöhe’s characters, “the only one that remains is Agnes’ perky-eared roan”.
The film set records even on the first day of screening (45 million viewers in the Soviet Union, 773,000 in Estonia). No other Estonian film has had such popularity among the audience. “Viimne reliikvia” was revived in 2002 when its restored version was once again shown on the big screens. “Viimne reliikvia” was chosen to be the best for its quotes and soundtrack on the centenary of Estonian cinema in 2012.