The true story of “The Captain” / How it was written by Skënder Plasari, after conversations with an old man from Dardha

Skënder Plasari, actor and screenwriter, was the screenwriter of the film Kapedani in 1972.

He has said that when he wrote “Kapedani,” he had in mind an old man from Dardha, who disliked women — Uncle Nasho whom he had met while they were in Dardha for skiing, at a time when Skënder was a student at the Institute of Physical Education.

One day, Uncle Nasho came to Tirana and met “those boys from physical education,” asking them to take him to meet the prime minister because he wanted to complain about a woman in his village who worked with livestock.

There, he saw female students exercising in shorts and said:

– “Hey, what’s going on here? Does the government know about these girls staying in their underwear in the middle of the square?”

Later, Skënder wrote the screenplay of “Kapedani,” including these details as well as many other humorous elements from the life of his father-in-law, who had performed as a comedy actor in Greece.

He requested that the role of Kapedani be played by his father-in-law, but Albert Verria was selected instead.

Meanwhile, the role of Uncle Beqo was initially intended for Mihal Popi (who had asked Skënder to write a screenplay for him in fact, he wrote “Kapedani” at Mihal’s request).

However, during screen tests, Mihal Popi realized that Nikolin Xhoja performed the role better than him, so he voluntarily withdrew, saying that the role suited Nikolin and that “he plays it much better than I do. I am old.”

Skënder Plasari is the father of actress Sesilja Plasari. (Kozma Borova)

“KORÇA BOOM”