Where did the unforgettable Akatava from the movie "Hearts of Three" disappear, and how did the search for Piret Mängel end?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the filmography of this Estonian actress, there are only three roles: an episode in "The Man from Boulevard des Capuchins" and two parts of the film "Hearts of Three". But, once seeing Piret Mängel on the screen, it is simply impossible to forget her. Perhaps that is why from time to time there are people interested in the fate of the actress. After all, after the phenomenal success of the picture "Hearts of Three" she completely disappeared, and the fans again and again persistently tried to find at least some information about Piret Miangel.

Beautiful legend

The name of this actress since the release of the movie "Hearts of Three" has been shrouded in an aura of mystery. Apart from the date and place of birth, nothing was known about her at all. She was born in Tallinn on January 13, 1969, lived with her parents and, for sure, dreamed of becoming an actress.

At least for the first time on the movie screen, she appeared in Alla Surikova's film "The Man from Boulevard des Capuchins." Since then, the database of actors at the Mosfilm film studio has kept photos and contact details of Piret Mängel.

The director of the film "Hearts of Three" Vladimir Popkov, starting filming, approached the choice of actors with particular care. There is a legend, according to which the film was launched into production, the first shots were already shot, and there was still no actress for the role of "The One That Dreams". And allegedly Vladimir Popkov accidentally saw Piret on the beach in Crimea, where the shooting took place. The girl's mysterious beauty allegedly coincided with the image that the director drew for Akatava, and the stranger immediately received an offer to star in a movie.

In fact, the story of Piret Mängel's approval for the role of Akatava was completely prosaic and similar to thousands of others. The director's assistant for actors Olga Alekseeva was looking for an actress for the role of Akatava literally throughout the Soviet Union, including the Baltic states. Vladimir Popkov, the director of the film, wanted to see an unusual, almost alien appearance, stately beauty and at the same time coldness in the image of “The One Who Dreams”.

Olga Alekseeva recalled how in the Baltics she was advised to go to a theater school. And there, among the many students, Olga Alekseeva singled out Piret Myangel. She really had a very unusual appearance, the bewitching beauty of the actress seemed, as the director said, just Martian. The auditions showed that Piret Mängel was actually made for this role.

Difficult job

However, working with Piret proved to be very difficult. Firstly, she almost did not speak Russian, since in the family of the future star everyone spoke exclusively in Estonian. Outside the set, she did not particularly communicate with anyone and did not strive for rapprochement.

Alena Khmelnitskaya, who played Leoncia in the film, later recalled that the girl who played Akatava was very strange. Besides the fact that she did not speak Russian, Piret did not like her colleagues. She even repeatedly used the expression "These nasty Russian boys" in relation to the actors with whom she was filming. And Vladimir Shevelkov even feared that Piret Miangel, as in one of the scenes, might bend over him sleeping with a dagger in his hand. However, there were no objective reasons for his fear.

Whatever it was, but after filming "Heart of Three-2" Piret Mängel disappeared without a trace. One of the members of the film crew tried to contact the actress at the old address and phone number, but was unable to find any traces of the mysterious beauty.

Finding Akatava

Many viewers, impressed by the unearthly beauty of the actress, tried to find at least some information about Piret Mängel. Communities were created on the global network, where people shared information about what exactly they managed to learn. Some even turned to the "Wait for Me" program for help, but never received an answer.

One of the users, who introduced himself as the cousin of the actress, claimed that she actually left for Italy and worked there as a model, and later became a teacher at a modeling agency, but no one was able to verify his information. A relative of the actress claimed that Piret regularly visits Tallinn, where her relatives live.

However, for several years, the search for Piret Mängel did not stop. In the program “Three Hearts. Secrets of Our Cinema”, aired on the TVC channel, journalists claimed that the actress married an Italian aristocrat, moved to Italy and worked in the architectural council of Venice. But the journalists failed to contact Piret.

Ordinary users found a mention of the actress in the information for the Italian short film "Imprevisti", filmed in 1998 as part of a practical film and video course. Her name was on the list of students who worked on the tape.

However, in the era of the spread of information technology, fans still managed to find Akatava on social networks. There you can find only a couple of personal photos and incredibly beautiful pictures of nature, but Piret Mängel prefers not to display information about himself.

She has remained an unsolved mystery of the film "Hearts of Three". Appearing out of nowhere and disappearing into nowhere. The one who dreams …

This exciting adventure film about romantic love has become a landmark for the Soviet film industry. We started filming the film in the USSR, but ended it after its collapse. And since funding was suspended, the filmmakers had to take out a $ 1 million loan to complete filming. However, later this amount paid off in full. It is interesting that this film was shot according to the only script written for Hollywood by Jack London, and such stars of the Soviet screen as Vladimir Shevelkov, Sergey Zhigunov and Alena Khmelnitskaya starred.