Renars Kaupers: The Adventure of Becoming a Blonde and a Pirate, and the Philosophy of Life and Friendship

“It was quite an adventure – to become blonde and then to jump a little every morning when I saw myself in the mirror. Of course, it was also a “test” for the home team,” says popular musician Renars Kaupers, leader of the group “Prāta vētra”, smiling.

He has an episodic but very colorful role – delicate and saucy blonde pirate Versace – in the intense adventure and fantasy film for the whole family “Eriks Akmensirds” (“Erik Kivisüda”, 2022) by the well-known Estonian director Ilmar Raag. The film will be on screens from Friday, October 20.

»Vakara Zinæum« had an exclusive opportunity to watch the film before the official premiere in Latvia and meet the director of the film Ilmars Rāgas, Renārs Kauperas who played the role of the pirate Versace, and the co-authors of the film’s title song “Alive Again” – the musicians of the band “Prāta vētra” Jānis Jubalta and Māris Mihelsons.

Four million, five years

A recluse, Eric is convinced that his heart is made of stone. The 11-year-old boy does not mind that his parents are always busy with everything else, leaving him alone. When the family moves to Aunt Brunhilde’s inherited property, Eric does not want to stay there. Discovering that another family lives in the house, whose parents want to adopt, Eric gets to know Maria. She has an idea how her family could stay – they both need to find Maria’s mom, then Erik and his parents won’t have to live here. Sounds like a great plan, but no one mentioned the encounter with pirates and miracles as the two of them make their way to the Middle World…

A haunted house, a pirate ship, sea voyages, a mirror with superpowers, a journey between worlds – surprises await Eric and Maria at every step…

The authors of the film script are Andris Feldmanis and Līvija Ulmane, who also worked on Viesturs Kairis’s film “January” (2022). It is one of the most ambitious Baltic film projects of recent years, with a total budget of around four million euros, and six countries participated in its creation – Estonia, Latvia (“Lokomotive Studio” and producer Roberts Vinovskis), Lithuania, Luxembourg, Finland and Ukraine.

“It was a technically complex and financially intensive project, and the joint cooperation of six countries is a rare case, even in a global context,” says Roberts Vinovskis. “But as it turns out, it is possible, and it is also possible in our region, and we have dealt with it,” he is pleased, stressing that it was a fantastic five-year adventure.

Only then about pirates

Inviting the main characters of the film and also the audience to a new adventure, the latest film of the experienced Estonian director Ilmar Raag (his best-known film is the scandalous feature film “Class”, nominated for an “Oscar”, 2007) is about the human desire to feel needed and appreciated. About first love and how important a friendly supporting shoulder is in the face of life’s difficulties.

“When I was asked why I, a serious director, made a film for children, I said that “that little boy” still lives in me and this film is about myself,” says the director of the film, Ilmars Raag. He expresses his hope that the viewers of “Eriks Akmensirds” will have something more than just entertainment. He himself, while reading the script, realized that the main question to which the film should answer is: how do we know that we are alive?

«And I realized that it’s only when you feel something… Eric, returning from the Interworld with Maria, has to show it, and I think that’s the most important thing in this movie. It’s a love story in a sense, and only after that it’s a story about pirates and everything else,” says the director.

Understand and know yourself

“I received the news with great joy that I have the opportunity to be on the big screen again,” says the popular musician, leader of the group “Prāta vētra” Renars Kaupers, who speaks Estonian in the original version of the film.

This is already his third role in the big cinema. Thanks to the director Jānis Streich, he was Juzik in the film “Mysteries of the Old Parish House” (2000), and he played the ballet dancer César, the friend of singer Georg Ots, in the Estonian film “Georgs” (2007).

“Versace is an episodic character, but spoiled with a very glamorous visual image and rock star mannerism. He is arrogant and unscrupulous, just like all pirates, but he also has a desire to get out of the Middle World in which they are stuck,” says the person playing the role of Versace.

Renard discovers that Versace has a very beautiful gold ring on his finger with an inscription in Latin, which translates as “Know Yourself”. “It’s a very deep philosophical call, and I thought it was wonderful that this “husband-type” pirate, who likes to take everything shiny for himself – even though this ring also came to him in a “secret pirate operation” – has a ring with such a message. Because this philosophy is also very close to me – to understand and know yourself. Because, as someone wise said: the highest mountain we have to climb in this life is ourselves. It’s interesting that it was so strongly reminded of me through such a role.»

If you have a friend’s shoulder next to you

“Prāta vētra” are also the authors of the film’s title song. They say that initially, knowing that it was going to be an adventure film about pirates, they felt that the song should be cheerfully dynamic, perhaps in an Irish style with a sing-along theme. But after several conversations with the film’s director, the musicians realized that they should look in a completely different direction.

“Because the song plays at the end of the film, and the film ends on a positive note – young people have returned from their adventures to their families, have become good friends. We realized that these are the values ​​that should be put into the song, so it’s melancholic romantic, and it reminds us that we are all lonely ships in the ocean called life, but with a friend’s shoulder and support, everything is possible… And we also put this energy into this song,” says Renars Kauper.

This fall, he created another project – he wrote the music for Rasa Bugavičutes-Pēce’s musical adventure for the whole family “Patakoļako and the theater universe”, staged by director Mārtiņš Kalita in the Liepāja theater.

“I like this coincidence – two jobs and both for families with children. It’s very nice when the big and small go to a joint event, because being together as a family is an extremely important moment,” emphasizes the father of three sons, who has been living in Liepāja with his family for more than four years.

2023-11-07 17:41:46
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