Melchior the Apothecary

Melchior the Apothecary (2022)

Apteeker Melchior

In medieval Tallinn, a famous knight who is freed from the pirates of the Baltic Sea is murdered. The hero's head is cut off and his mouth is stuffed with coins. The gold chain he bought the same day is missing. The bailiff orders Melchior, an apothecary, to investigate the crime. The clever young man discovers that the slain was looking for a mysterious "Tallinn prisoner" and the traces lead to the Dominican monastery. A fabulous sequence of bloodwork is unleashed - anyone who comes into contact with this secret is in danger of dying.

Date of release
2022-04-15
TMDB
6.9 / 10 (19)
Runtime
1h 40m
Genres
Thriller, Crime, History, Drama
Director
Elmo Nüganen
Collection
The Melchior Collection

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Tallinn, Hermann Castle, and Kuressaare Castle

Melchior the Apothecary is a 2022 Estonian historical mystery film. It is the first instalment of the Melchior trilogy, based on the novels by Indrek Hargla. The film stars Märten Metsaviir as the apothecary Melchior Wakenstede, who solves crimes in medieval Tallinn. The film is directed by Elmo Nüganen.

Background

The film was set to premiere in October 2021, but was delayed to April 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The second part of the trilogy Melchior the Apothecary: The Ghost, was issued in August 2022, and the third Melchior the Apothecary: The Executioner’s Daughter followed in October. It is the first time in Estonia film history where an entire trilogy were premiered within a single calendar year.

Filming locations in Tallinn included St. Catherine's Monastery, Danish King's Garden, Town Hall Square and Pikk Jalg street. Some scenes were also filmed in Kuressaare Castle.

The film is one of the most successful in Estonian cinema history with cinema admissions of 125,500 by 31 August 2022. It is one of only 11 Estonian films to receive over 100,000 cinema admissions since Estonia restored independence. The film received a limited release in Vantaa, Finland, with producer Veiko Esken citing the response as positive and planning to screen the sequels in Vantaa, as well.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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