ABBA: The Movie

ABBA: The Movie

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Lasse Hallström
Produced by Stig Anderson
Reg Grundy
Written by Lasse Hallström
Robert Caswell
Starring Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Agnetha Fältskog
Robert Hughes
Tom Oliver
Music by Stig Anderson
Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Cinematography Jack Churchill
Paul Onorato
Edited by Lasse Hallström
Malou Hallström
Ulf Neidermar
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • 15 December 1977 (1977-12-15) (Australia)
  • 26 December 1977 (1977-12-26) (Sweden)
Running time
 97 minutes
Country Australia
Sweden
Language English
Swedish
Box office SEK 5,347,122

ABBA: The Movie is a 1977 documentary film about the pop group ABBA's Australian tour. It was directed by Lasse Hallström, who directed most of the group's videos. The film has become a cult film among ABBA fans. Its release coincided with the release of ABBA: The Album, the group's fifth studio album, and features many songs from that album as well as many of their earlier hits, and one, "Get on the Carousel", unavailable anywhere else.

Plot

The film has a very thin plot which is no more than a vehicle to link together the concert footage. It concerns the adventures of Ashley Wallace (Robert Hughes), a naïve DJ on Radio 2TW, who normally presents a through-the-night country and western-themed show. In spite of this, he is sent by the station's boss (Bruce Barry) to get an in-depth interview ("Not an interview, a dialogue", demands his boss) with the group, which is to be aired on the day ABBA leave Australia. Needless to say, Ashley, who has never done an interview before, singularly fails, mainly because he has forgotten to pack his press card, although the fact that he is unable to buy a ticket doesn't help matters either. Armed with his trusty reel-to-reel tape recorder, Ashley is forced to follow the group all over Australia, beginning in Sydney, and then travelling, in order, to Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne, experiencing repeated run-ins with the group's very protective bodyguard (Tom Oliver), as well as his increasingly exasperated boss. Throughout the movie, we see Ashley interviewing members of the public, asking them if and why they like ABBA. Almost all the comments are positive, but he interviews a man who is driven mad by his ABBA-obsessed twelve-year-old, and another girl who thinks ABBA are over-the-top.

Eventually, Ashley has an unbelievably lucky chance encounter with Stig Anderson, the group's manager, in the foyer of ABBA's hotel, who agrees to arrange an interview, and gives him tickets to that evening's concert. But Ashley sleeps in and misses the appointed interview time. Just as Ashley has given up hope, (by this time, he doesn't even care that his press card has finally arrived), he steps into an elevator and finds himself face-to-face with ABBA. They agree to give him an interview, and he leaves Melbourne just in time to meet the deadline for the radio show to go out on-air. He puts together the final edit in the back of a taxi on the way back from the airport, as ABBA depart Australia for Europe. With only minutes to go, Ashley makes it back to the radio station where, having set the tape up on the studio's playback machine, he relaxes at his control desk to listen as the interview is broadcast.

Cast

Production

Hallström indicated that the film's script and plot concept was "conceived on the plane on the way to Australia". Initially, 16 mm film was to be used but producers upgraded the project to 35 mm Panavision technology.[1]

Mostly filmed in Australia some additional scenes were filmed in ABBA's native Sweden (but still set in Australia) - noticeably different from Australia are the street signs and the traffic flowing on the right-hand side.[2]

Reception

Margaret Geddes of Australian newspaper The Age concluded that the film was "slick, competent and even for the non-convert entertaining."[3]

Release

ABBA: The Movie was first released in December 1977. The film was also presented in several Eastern Bloc nations, including the Soviet Union where it was screened at two movie houses in Moscow.[4]

Home media

To date four releases of the film have been made: a single-disc DVD, a two-disc special edition DVD, a single disc Blu-ray, and a now defunct single-disc HD DVD. All releases above feature a restored print with bonus material. The initial DVD, including digital restoration, was released by SBS in Australia on 2 October 2005.[5]

2008 theatrical re-release

A theatrical re-release of the film occurred across Europe during July and August 2008 in the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Germany, and Austria.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Kehr, Dave (22 March 2002). "At the Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  2. ↑ ABBA: The Movie at Abbasite
  3. ↑ Geddes, Margaret (24 December 1977). "Abba film industry is bjorn". The Age. Fairfax Media. p. 2.
  4. ↑ Krastev, Nikola (17 March 2010). "The Biggest Western Pop Stars Behind The Iron Curtain". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Archived from the original on 28 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  5. ↑ "ABBA The Movie". SBS. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  6. ↑ "'ABBA - The Movie' is back in cinemas and it's digitally remastered!". Arts Alliance Media. 24 July 2008. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2010.

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