ABBA - Der Film

ABBA: The Movie was a big success around the world but barely made a ripple in the U.S. It was 12 years before I saw it. It is about a deejay named Ashley who follows ABBA around on their Australian tour in hopes of getting an interview. They lead him to Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne. Along the way, he tapes comments from fans. Mixed in with the plot are scenes from the concerts. Frida struts boldly in hot pants, prowling the stage like a female Elvis. Agnetha teases the crowd with her bottom during "Money Money Money." The group provides a cross section of what had been done up to that time: "Waterloo," "The Name of the Game" and "Ring Ring." The ladies make a real entrance for "Dancing Queen," ABBA's only number 1 record in the U.S. ABBA is a feminist group. The women are the stars. The men maintain a low profile. Benny Andersson later told of how The Movie started out as just their desire to have a personal record of their time in Australia and grew until it became a feature length film. The Movie was directed by Lasse Hallstrom, the same guy who directed ABBA's videos. They finish with their signature tune, "Thank You for the Music." I am an ABBA fan and wrote a book about the Fab Four from Sweden.

A journalist chases the Swedish supergroup Abba across Australia hoping to deliver a career saving interview to his boss.

Forget what I have just written, it isn't important. It is just an excuse to see a group about their work and learn just a little about their lives and personalities. The stress being on the word "little."

The setting of Australia is interesting because the group were about as big in Oz as any group has ever been anywhere at anytime - and I include the Beatles in that. They just had the widest fan base of any group I have seen. They closed whole cities centres down with people just wanting to see them no matter hear them play!

(For this reason alone we should be grateful that it is not just an in-concert film.)

Pop music is not known for its longevity, but lots of the material here is not only brilliant, but perfectly performed and eternal. Although I am almost fighting myself in saying it, they perfected the three minute pop song. When they burst in to Dancing Queen it sends a shiver down your spine - the girls voices just compliment each other so well that it is frightening. Agnetha and Frieda sing like a choir of angels - and yet there is only two of them!

Sadly they are not around anymore (as a group) and there is nothing to replace them. I loved everything about them from their naff 1970's satin clothes (for newcomers, they were even a joke at the time!) to their second language English which leads to bizarre grammatical errors ("for twenty years I have not seen you with a rifle in your hands(!)"). I feel for the kids today, there is nothing as good as this around. Watch this movie to see what a brilliant little pop music product they were.

I have this movie taped from when John Feuglesang (sp?) hosted it on VH1 a few years ago. He was eating from a box of cereal called ABBA Bits (A take-off on Alpha Bits).

Comments on the group: I give them all their due. Bjorn can really rock with that electric guitar and the few times he took lead vocals, the songs were good. I really wonder why these songs never seemed to make it to radio. I guess he wanted to let the gals be in the spotlight. Speaking of whom, they really sing well together. Their harmony is excellent. I'm a big fan of both these lovely ladies solo and dual performances for ABBA. I have more of a thing for Agnetha and all blonds with foreign accents. Both of these ladies contributed a lot to the group. Benny is great on the piano as well (loved his solo performance in the movie)

Comments on the movie: Definitely for ABBA fans only. All other viewers would probably be bored out of their skulls. There's not much of a plot, but it's humorous to see how the Australian DJ always fails to get an interview with the group. It's nice how after the reporter asks Agnetha about getting the title of female performer with the "sexiest bottom", we get a few opportunities throughout the movie to see what he was talking about. I must say, she would certainly be in the running. The actor who played the Australian DJ was as good as the writing probably allowed him to be. The rest of the actors were a little bland.

Final note: If you've only heard a few songs from this group and you liked what you heard, DEFINITELY watch this movie. You probably only heard the songs that are the most commonly played on the radio and TV stations like VH1. When I first saw this movie, I only had ABBA Gold Vol 1 on cassette, but the film made me want ABBA Gold Vol 2, which I've seen in the stores, but never got to buy yet. Vols 1&2 are very good to get if you're just starting out with this group.

ABBA are my favourite group and I rented the movie from the library. It is mainly showing their 1977 tour in Australia. They perform most of their popular hits such as Waterloo and Fernando. You will find it quite interesting as it just shows how popular ABBA were in the 1970's. The film is made into a story. Be entertained by this great documentary. I didn't know that you could still get it anyway, but I was really happy to ind it. I had always wanted to see it and I was very amazed when I saw it. If people like ABBA, they will enjoy the movie. Scenes include the press conference, concerts, the Radio DJ searching for them and also his dream.

I saw this movie on Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Network (thanks Oprah!). I had heard of it. I'm an ABBA fan. I love their music. I think Agnetha and Frida are two of the best singers I've ever heard. They're also very beautiful. Watching this movie is like being in a time machine. It brings back all of the memories of that time, you know, when music was still worth listening to. I wish someone would put this movie on DVD. The disc jockey stuff isn't bad. As a matter of fact it's kind of cool. He has a dream sequence that's interesting with Agnetha and Frida. Well anyway, I never got to see ABBA in concert so I'll really enjoyed this movie! I give it the highest rating possible. But then again, I'm a music nut!