Abba - The Movie DVD 1977 Limited Special edition / Directed by Lasse Hallström / Starring: Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Fältskog / Bonus - Exclusive 40 Minute Interview

UPC 602498716991

REGION 0 PAL DVD

MADE IN THE EU

AUDIO: English 5.1, English 2.0

SUBTITLES: Swedish, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese

Total Runtime: 95 + 45 minutes (2 DISCS)

English Summary:

ABBA: The Movie is a 1977 drama-documentary about the Swedish 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.

The film concerns the adventures of Ashley Wallace, 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. Ashley, who has never done an interview before, fails, mainly because he has forgotten to pack his press card, although the fact that he is unable to buy a concert ticket doesn't help matters. 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.

Cast

• Benny Andersson as himself
• Björn Ulvaeus as himself
• Agnetha Fältskog as herself
• Anni-Frid Lyngstad as herself
• Stig Anderson as himself
• Richard Norton as himself, bodyguard and fitness trainer (uncredited)
• Bruce Barry as radio station manager
• Tom Oliver as bodyguard/bartender/taxi driver

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" (Johan Snippen) and "Polkan går" (Polka goes), both Swedish traditional songs being played by Benny Andersson on piano accordion, 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 1970s 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.