Ted: För kärlekens skull

Ted: För kärlekens skull
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Hannes Holm
Produced by	Lena Rehnberg
Written by	Hannes Holm
Screenplay by	Hannes Holm
Starring	Adam Pålsson Peter Viitanen Happy Jankell
Music by	Jimmy Lagnefors[1] (incidental music) Ted Gärdestad (songs)
Production company	Stella Nova Film
Release date	3 January 2018 (2018-01-03) (Sweden)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish
Budget	$5 million

Ted: För kärlekens skull (English lit. "Ted: For Love's Sake"), also known as Ted: Show Me Love,^[2][3] is a 2018 Swedish biography film directed and written by Hannes Holm and produced by Lena Rehnberg. Starring Adam Pålsson and Peter Viitanen as Ted and Kenneth Gärdestad, respectively, the film is about the brothers Gärdestad, who rose to fame with their pop songs in the 1970s, and explores Ted's relationships and the circumstances of his personal life.

The film was released on 3 January 2018 in Sweden by Stella Nova Film.

Plot

In 1971, Ted Gärdestad, a struggling tennis player, falls in love with his friend Björn Borg's then-girlfriend, Helena Anliot, while on a tennis match against each other and loses a game. Ted's father Arne warns him of the expenses of being a tennis player and the danger of letting his feelings interfere with his life. Another day, while Ted was walking to his school, he witnesses the nature such as the sun and the universe, which serves as one of the inspirations behind his songs. He first meets a girl in the library and discusses the universe. Ted then calls his brother Kenneth to help him write the lyrics to his songs "Universum" and "Snurra du min värld" and record a tape consisting of two aforementioned songs as a hope of being noticed by a record label. The brothers Gärdestad walk to the building of Sweden Music and meets Benny Andersson, a former keyboardist of the Hep Stars. During a meeting, Ted assumes himself as a composer and Kenneth as a lyricist. Ted gave Benny an enclosed demo tape, but the tape was left home, leaving him to playing instruments to get Benny's attention. It also attracted the attention of Stikkan Anderson and Björn Ulvaeus, leading to a signed contract between Ted and Stikkan's record label, Polar.

On their way home, Ted's lack of participation in his tennis training session frustrated Arne, while their mother Margit responds positively to Ted's contract. Ted and Kenneth first enter the studio and meets singers Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog, and session guitarist Janne Schaffer. During the recording of Ted's debut album "Undringar", Kenneth and Stikkan discuss how his fantasy lyrics do not match with his hard rock style of music. The discussion bothered Ted, who abruptly left the studio with Kenneth, as Stikkan tries to resolve the dispute. After another tennis training session, Ted encounters Björn Borg again and tells him he cannot play with him until he finishes his debut album. During the mixing process, Stikkan persuades Ted to follow his career as a singer, since Ted cannot be a singer and a tennis player at the same time. Ted accepts the offer and starts his touring at the folkparks, debuting with his song "Jag vill ha en egen måne". Faced with a dilemma between continuing his education and recording another album, Ted reassures to Stikkan that he wrote enough materials for his next album.

In 1972, during the zenith of Ted's fame, he performed at Liseberg before a large number of audience. After performing his encore song "Jag ska fånga en ängel", he exited the stage and escaped from the audience that was coming after him. During a party, Ted attempts to call Kenneth, but he encounters with his mental rival. Fame ensued as the years progressed; Ted meets Lotta Ramel at a party and decides to start a relationship. Conflicted with the choice to stay with her domestically or to embark on an international tour with ABBA, Ted chooses to stay with Lotta. With Ted's interference of her studying at theatre school, Lotta decided that they should split and have space for their own lives. Meanwhile, in 1979, Ted composes "Satellit" as a slow ballad. His manager Stikkan responded enthusiastically to Ted's song, with the condition that Ted should speed up the arrangement of the song for the Eurovision Song Contest. The brothers Gärdestad then enter the 1979 Melodifestivalen Contest with the song and won. On their way to Jerusalem to represent their country in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, Ted suffered from a nervous breakdown at his hotel room, before he performs "Satellit"; Kenneth and the people inside the hotel room rush to give valium for Ted to lessen the severity of his anxiety. Disappointed with the placement (17th place) in the Eurovision Song Contest, Ted turns on every appliance at his room in the hotel and throws his shirt away out of frustration.

In 1981, Ted is at a yoga session and is introduced to the Rajneesh movement by a student. At the studio, while Ted records a song, Ted does not like Kenneth's lyrics, in favour of Finn Kalvik's lyrics, which provokes a heated argument between Kenneth and Finn. At the Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Ted meets Ann Zacharias and starts a second relationship and family, by going to the cinema with her. One night, Ann wakes up as she hears Ted's meditation. She is shocked at his "surrendering" to guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The following days, Ted assumes his name as Sangit Upasani in a candid interview and alienates his family via his resistance to being confronted by them. Ted then leaves for Oregon, United States and meets Rajneesh, who tries to solve his problem in Ted's identity. In 1986, the Gärdestad family sees Ted return from the United States via the train, but is uncomfortable with Ted's excessive cleanliness. Kenneth then talks to Ted about what he has missed since his departure to Oregon, and his schizophrenia. Ted then chokes Kenneth, accusing him of associating with Ted's mental rival. In the 1990s, while Ted is withdrawn, walking in the snow, he meets his ex-girlfriend Lotta who notices his change and runs away to his house. At the Gärdestads' basement, Ted destroys his photo frame and guitar and escape to a distant island. Meanwhile, Kenneth finds a struggling Ted on an island and comforts him. Ted pleads to Kenneth that he wants him to write lyrics for him again since he considers Kenneth to be the only lyricist who can express Ted's feelings. Kenneth initially declines, but relents and accepts the offer. At the brothers Gärdestad's house, they look back in the nostalgia of what they had done for the past 20 years and record "Himlen är oskyldigt blå". At the end of the film, in the 1990s, Kenneth finds Ted, alone at a building, and persuades him to perform with the backing band at a folkpark.

Cast

• Adam Pålsson as Ted Gärdestad
• Peter Viitanen as Kenneth Gärdestad
• Maria Kulle as Margit Gärdestad
• Johan Hedenberg as Arne Gärdestad
• Jonas Karlsson as Stikkan Anderson
• Tove Edfeldt as Kicki Gärdestad
• Happy Jankell as Lotta Ramel
• Lotta Ramel as Susanna Ramel
• Dan Johansson as Povel Ramel
• Hanna Alström as Ann Zacharias
• Gustav Orvefors as Janne Schaffer
• Edvin Bredefeldt as Benny Andersson
• Jonas Bane as Björn Ulvaeus
• Amanda Gylling as Agnetha Fältskog
• Angelina Håkansson as Anni-Frid Lyngstad
• Kristoffer Veiersted as Finn Kalvik
• Sajid Malik as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh^{[nb 1]}
• Ludvig Lindblom as Björn Borg
• Mikaela Ardai Jennefors as Helena Anliot
• Niklas Strömstedt as Bo Strömstedt

Production

Soundtrack

On 5 January 2018, the music for the film was released on an album, "Ted - För kärlekens skull (Musiken från filmen)", with Ted Gärdestad's songs being covered by Adam Pålsson.^[6]

Notes

References

External links

• Ted: För kärlekens skull on IMDb