ABBA: The Movie

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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
Editing by	Lasse Hallström Malou Hallström Ulf Neidermar
Studio	Polar Music Reg Grundy Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	15 December 1977 (1977-12-15) (Australia) 16 December 1977 (1977-12-16) (Sweden)
Running time	97:00
Country	Australia Sweden
Language	English Swedish
Box office	SEK 5,347,122

ABBA: The Movie is a 1977 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 loose plot which is little 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, whose fame and stature neither he nor Ashley have the first clue about, 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.

Eventually, Ashley has an unbelievably lucky chance encounter with Stig Anderson, the group's manager, who agrees to an interview. After attending a concert, Ashley sleeps in and misses the appointed interview time. Just as Ashley is about to give up (by this time, he doesn't even care that his press card—which has also been traveling across Australia, continually forwarded by the postal service—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—which he worked so long and hard to obtain—is broadcast over the airwaves Down Under.

Cast

• Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog as ABBA
• Robert Hughes as Ashley Wallace
• Tom Oliver as Bodyguard/Bartender/Taxi driver
• Bruce Barry as Radio station manager
• Stig Anderson as Manager

Featured songs

• "Tiger"
• "S.O.S."
• "Money, Money, Money"
• "He Is Your Brother"
• "Intermezzo No.1"
• "Waterloo"
• "Mamma Mia"
• "Rock Me"
• "I've Been Waiting for You"
• "The Name of the Game"
• "Why Did It Have to Be Me?"
• "When I Kissed the Teacher"
• "Get on the Carousel"
• "I'm a Marionette"
• "Fernando"
• "Dancing Queen"
• "So Long"
• "Eagle"
• "Thank You for the Music"
• The introductory bars of "Hole in Your Soul" are heard to accompany the opening credits, but the song itself does not feature anywhere in the film.
• A brief snatch of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" as well as "Dum Dum Diddle" is also heard while Ashley is stuck in a traffic jam; they are presumably coming from the radio of another car.
• "Ring Ring" is not performed by ABBA themselves in the film, but is sung by the members of a girls' ballet class Ashley speaks to for the interview while they are practicing their routines (ABBA's version can be heard in the background, which the children are singing along to).
• Other tracks heard in the film are "Johan på Snippen" and "Polkan går", both swedish traditional songs being played by Benny Andersson on harmonica, and "Stoned" (instrumental).
• The country and western track that is heard playing when we see Ashley in the radio studio at the start of the film is an early 1970's Björn & Benny song, "Please Change Your Mind", performed by Nashville Train. This song was also recorded by this swedish country band (several of the musicians are from ABBAs own studio band) and released on their 'ABBA Our Way' in 1977.

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

External links

• ABBA: The Movie at the Internet Movie Database
• ABBA: The Movie at the Swedish Film Database
• ABBA: The Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
• Theatrical trailer at YouTube
• ABBA - The Movie at the National Film and Sound Archive

v t e ABBA Agnetha Fältskog Björn Ulvaeus Benny Andersson Anni-Frid Lyngstad Studio albums Ring Ring Waterloo ABBA Arrival ABBA: The Album Voulez-Vous Super Trouper The Visitors Compilations Greatest Hits Greatest Hits Vol. 2 Gracias Por La Música The Singles: The First Ten Years Thank You for the Music Gold: Greatest Hits More Gold: More Hits Oro: Grandes Éxitos Thank You for the Music The Definitive Collection 18 Hits The Complete Studio Recordings Number Ones The Albums Live albums ABBA Live Singles "People Need Love" "He Is Your Brother" "Ring Ring" "Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)" "Waterloo" "Honey, Honey" "Hasta Mañana" "So Long" "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" "SOS" "Mamma Mia" "Fernando" "Dancing Queen" "Money, Money, Money" "Knowing Me, Knowing You" "The Name of the Game" "Take a Chance on Me" "Eagle" "Summer Night City" "Chiquitita" "Does Your Mother Know" "Voulez-Vous" "Angeleyes" "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" "I Have a Dream" "The Winner Takes It All" "On and On and On" "Super Trouper" "Lay All Your Love on Me" "One of Us" "When All Is Said and Done" "Head Over Heels" "The Visitors" "The Day Before You Came" "Under Attack" "Thank You for the Music" Other songs "She's My Kind of Girl" "En Karusell" "Another Town, Another Train" "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" "Rock'n Roll Band" "King Kong Song" "Bang-A-Boomerang" "Rock Me" "I've Been Waiting for You" "My Love, My Life" "That's Me" "Arrival" "As Good as New" "Happy New Year" "Our Last Summer" "Slipping Through My Fingers" "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room" "Put On Your White Sombrero" Video games SingStar ABBA ABBA: You Can Dance Related articles Discography Songs Unreleased songs Dick Cavett Meets ABBA Eurovision Song Contest 1974 Mamma Mia! Mamma Mia! (film) (soundtrack) ABBA: The Movie Congratulations Music of Sweden Stig Anderson "Thank ABBA for the Music" A-Teens ABBA: The Tour Book:ABBA

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