ABBA: The Movie (1977)

Director:

Lasse Hallström

Writers:

Robert Caswell (written by)
Lasse Hallström (writer)

Release Date:

23 December 1977 (Finland)

Genre:

Music

Plot:

An incompetent radio DJ tries to get an interview with the Swedish pop group during their famous week-long 1977 tour of Australia.

Plot Keywords:

ABBA | Interview | Radio | Concert | Disc Jockey

Cast

Anni-Frid Lyngstad	...	Anni-Frid
Benny Andersson	...	Benny
Björn Ulvaeus	...	Björn
Agnetha Fältskog	...	Agnetha
Robert Hughes	...	Ashley Wallace, the disc Jockey
Tom Oliver	...	Bodyguard / Bartender / Taxi Driver
Bruce Barry	...	Radio Station Manager
Stig Anderson	...	ABBA Manager
Calvin Cross	...	Featured Fan
Ivar Dahlbom	...	Featured Fan
Harry Lawrence	...	Featured Fan
Michael Mansson	...	Hotel receptionist (as Michael Manson)
Sandy Mansson	...	Girl in box office (as Sandy Manson)
Ray Marshall	...	Featured Fan
Frances Matthews	...	Featured Fan

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Australia | Sweden

Language:

English | Swedish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-3 (2005) | Finland:S (1977) | Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:PG (Ontario) | France:U | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Québec)

Filming Locations:

Adelaide Airport, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Company:

Polar Music International

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Lasse Hallström]sitting in the background on a park bench when the DJ is interviewing a man about Abba. Being in the far left part of the screen, he can only be seen in the letterbox version.

Quotes:

[Ashley is causing trouble in the hotel hallway. The Bodyguard runs out and drags him along by his tape recorder microphone]
Bodyguard: [frustrated; into the microphone] Haven't I seen enough of you today?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ebba the Movie (1982)

Soundtrack:

Get On The Carousel

Who can't say thank you enough for the music?

Welcome to the movies. Elvis had done it, The Beatles had done it and now the nineteen-seventies super group ABBA have done it. Welcome to ABBA: The Movie. This semi documentary movie footage of the pop sensation that stormed the world with its simple melodies, gentle harmonies and infectious lyrics is taken while on tour of the Southern Hemisphere during 1977.

It's a basic concept and the formula is unsurprisingly straightforward ABBA are on tour in Australia and the group are being filmed as they progress to each new city, to each new concert hall and to each new horde of screaming and admiring fans that this access all areas pass via this fly on the wall perspective shows us. We have the group interviews, we see them perform their multimillion best sellers such as "Dancing Queen", "The Name Of The Game", "Tiger", "Ring Ring", "Eagle", "Mamma Mia", and many others that include "Money, Money, Money" and "I'm a Marionette". They allow us to see their prepping up toward the nights shows' and we are more than privileged to have this insight into this bandwagon on the road to fame and fortune amongst the real hustle and bustle of the press and TV crews that beg their attention.

ABBA: The Movie is a gloried extension of the pop video that has them on stage rather than in a studio setting. In-between this hectic life style is the misadventures of a local D.J. Ashley Wallace, played by actor Robert Hughes who having no idea of what lies ahead and whose soul mission is to get that all so important interview. This is a man on a mission, this is a man without a clue and an even smaller chance, will his luck, wit and desperation withhold the barriers of the Rock 'n Roll giant that stand between him and his goal.

While on the hunt for his four-piece dialogue, we see him up and down and across the country talking and interviewing the real fans that have come to see this band proper. On reflection, this is now a tiny snippet of the ABBA mania that took over the world in the same vain as Elvis in the 1950's and The Beatles during the 1960's and Madonna of the last twenty years, has there ever been another to have reached international mega stardom since?

Directed by the Swedish Lasse Hallström, who directed some of ABBA's pop videos while at their peak, he has Johnny Depp and a very young Leonardo DiCaprio in his repertoire in his movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Chocolat (2000) and along with The Shipping News (2001) and An Unfinished Life (2005).

ABBA: The Movie is a gentle reminder of this phenomenon of way back then, and that over the years even today has its admiration and respect of the easy beat and more than charming lyrics. This four-piece band had tapped into the imaginations of lovers of music and its players alike. The movie Muriel's Wedding (1994) and the stage play Mamma Mia can be seen as fitting tributes to this influential group, its cultural significance is beyond comprehension. The writing talents of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus are truly on a similar par as Lennon and McCartney, drug free of course, a writing duo who for a short while conquered the world and who set the standard, as did too Lennon and McCartney, for the pop world for decades to come.

ABBA: The Movie is a fan's movie without a doubt, but to an outsiders viewpoint it is an insight into a different avenue of the Rock 'n Roll machine that is so fickle and delicate. ABBA have stood their ground and in the halls of fame and stardom their music have become an integral part of modern pop culture and society, and that is why talent like this has to be tapped, exploited, far reaching and timeless: Welcome to the movies? Welcome to ABBA.