MovieZine did an interview with screenwriter and director Per Simonsson about the Gyllene Tider movie.
When Gyllene Tider broke through in Sweden in the early ’80s, director Per Simonsson was only a few years old. Nevertheless, he became the right person to bring their story to the big screen more than 40 years later. “Sommartider” is as summery, poppy and crowd-pleasing as the band’s hit songs.
MovieZine’s Alexander Kardelo caught up with the director ahead of the theatrical release, to talk about the extensive casting, music choices and how much of the story actually happened for real.
The film is great, a warm and humorous success story. Alexander is curious if it was always the idea to make it a feel-good movie.
Yes, that was the plan. I come from the countryside, from a similarly small place as Harplinge. I played in a rock band myself and dreamed the same dreams. When I was asked if I wanted to write the script and direct, it was hard to say no.
I went home and listened to the first three records on repeat, until my twelve-year-old daughter wanted to move away from home… Then I felt – this is how the tone should be! You could make a drama film, many biopics lean more towards drama, but what I wanted to capture was: what is Gyllene Tider, what are their songs and lyrics and the feeling in them?
Many of their songs are about finding love. They are about a person who is quite closed in on himself and doesn’t really dare to “live life”. It had to be the guiding star. There is subtlety and humor in everything that Per Gessle writes. I’ve tried to capture that in the film.
When you see the movie, you realize how many great songs they have made, which we all know. But at the same time, there are young generations now who don’t know these guys that well. The director’s challenge was also to find a story that could carry a feature film. Alexander asks Per where this research began.
I got access to the band. Above all Per, but also the others. I asked a lot of questions. I read through all the books and biographies about them. Then the story started to come.
On the surface, it’s an underdog story about a band from the countryside that becomes the biggest in Sweden. It’s fantastic in itself, but what I would also like to touch on is the coming-of-age story of Per Gessle. From when he realized that the meaning of life is to start a band, with all the resistance that entailed, to conquering Sweden. There I started digging. What did he go through? He is an iconic figure in Swedish music, but he is also quite secretive.
The next challenge was to find the band members. Not just one, but five talented actors who can also play music. MovieZine asks Per about the casting.
Mine and the producers’ dream from the beginning was to find five Halmstad locals who can play instruments and who look a lot like the band. Gyllene Tider said: “do you realize how small Halmstad is? It will never work!” But we had four open casting opportunities over the course of a year in Halmstad. Then we found two of our band members. Valdemar Wahlbeck, who plays Per Gessle, is a real Halmstad resident, and so is Xawier Kulas, who plays Göran Fritzon.
When I met Valdemar, I noticed that he has a star quality, a fine sensitivity, and is a genuine artist’s soul, just like Per is. And he sings everything for real in the film. A great singer.
Phoenix Parnevik, who plays Micke Syd Andersson, first applied for the role of Per. He did an imitation of Per in his first TV interview that was so spookily similar! We kept him in, and then on the same day I had my first meeting with Micke Syd. Then I met Phoenix and noticed that as a person he was a copy of Micke – he is Per’s opposite, outgoing and super social. He was right on target. The question was: could he learn to play the drums? He did, and it turned out amazingly well.
Then we met our guitarist, Ville Löfgren, who plays Mats “MP” Persson. It was just the jackpot. And Lancelot Hedman Graaf, who plays Anders Herrlin, is a musician himself. After all, Anders was twice voted Sweden’s most handsome pop star, so we had to find a real hottie… It was probably the most difficult casting process I’ve been part of, many boxes to tick. The dialect, the musicality… and they must work together as a band.
Alexander states that none of the guys had acted before and he wants to know how the director dealt with it.
It’s a challenge! It’s so much fun, because they’re malleable, young, and come in with so much energy. That’s why it was also one of my funniest shootings!
It is clearly stated at the beginning that this is an “almost true” story, among other things, Felix Sandman’s character Tobbe is made up for the film. Alexander is eager to know how much is true and what is false in this “almost” true story.
The film is loosely based on the band’s history. A lot of it is true, the rest is fiction. We didn’t want to make a documentary, of course. And it was absolutely not meant to be a Wikipedia article. I had to take a lot of creative liberties. Some characters are completely fictitious, others are a composite of several people. An obvious example is Annie, who is quite important in the film. She is a combination of all the girls that Per dreamed of at school, but with whom he never dared to take the plunge. Instead, he wrote the song “Sista gången jag såg Annie”, which is on the first record.
In order for the truth to be assembled into a sensible film, I had to use the Gyllene Tider universe, i.e. the lyrics, as a bridge. For example, we have to have a fictional record company manager who is a little tougher than the real one, to create some resistance, and so on.
Some scenes are completely constructed, some are completely true. Like the scene with the coma patient, it actually happened! I don’t want to reveal more before you’ve seen the film… The sickest things are actually the ones that have happened. But in between, I’ve had to take some liberties as a creator.
Alexander thinks there are many good songs in the film, but also many good songs didn’t get a place. He is curious how Per Simonsson chose the music in “Sommartider”.
The story takes place during the time the first three records are made. We decided early on that they are only going to play songs from those records. But then we will build film music from the later songs as well. Sometimes it’s very clear, like when “Gå & fiska!” comes in as a punk version without vocals, just as soundtrack. And you hardly hear it, but many of the quiet songs that are scored are Gyllene Tider songs, but in new versions. It’s very fun and nicely done by our composers.
Some songs are obvious, like “Flickorna på TV2” which was their big breakthrough. “Leva livet” and “Sommartider”, that goes without saying. Many songs have love themes and I tried to weave them into the story. It was a fun puzzle to put together. Some songs will surely come as a surprise, lesser known songs that I felt fit into the film.
Gyllene Tider’s career did not end after three records. Alexander asks Per if he can imagine making a sequel or maybe a film about Roxette, now that they have already found the actors to play Per and Marie Fredriksson.
Haha, now that we have the cast ready, one is clearly very attracted. Then you get to go from cozy little Sweden out into the big world. That would be awesome. I think it depends a bit on how this film will be received. I’m not closing the door on more. I’ve had a lot of fun with these young people and it would be great fun to do more with them.
But Roxette is so big, there should be so many discussions. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see what happens with this movie first.
The premiere is in the middle of summer. Alexander is wondering if people go to the cinema.
It’s nerve-racking. But when else should you set it up – for Christmas? Swedish film is not doing so well. It is always difficult to predict. Of course you are nervous. If it’s a nice summer, will people go to the movies? At the same time, this is a summer movie. After a nice day at the beach, you can cool off in the cinema. We hope people are curious enough about Gyllene Tider.
Per Simonsson has now received a thorough course in Gyllene Tider. Alexander is curious what he would say characterizes the band and their music and what they meant for Sweden during the ’80s.
I was a bit too young, I missed the first three records. I was too small then. But I think they captured what it was like to be young in Sweden, to come from the countryside, to dream of love and girls and community. They captured something that many people felt. Per also has a feeling for very smart lyrics. The way he works with words, the way he works with the language… You take it in easily. And the combination of him and Mats “MP” Persson – they are pop geniuses. The songs are catchy as hell. They are part of Swedish music history.
Alexander, who had not really listened to Gyllene Tider’s music before, now has a completely new appreciation for the songs and for the lyrics.
What if you give some kids the feeling that “damn, we’re starting a band!” There is an incredible sense of fellowship in it. It would be the dream, if some people see the film and become inspired.
Photo of Valdemar Wahlbeck and Per Simonsson by Nordisk Film Sverige
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