Just to jog everyone’s memory before we begin:
At the beginning of a-ha: The Movie, the three primary and constant members of the legendary Norwegian, synth-pop band tell their likelihood of recording another album. Pål Waaktaar-Savoy says he already has the next a-ha album written; Magne Furuholmen says he’s open to going back in the studio; and Morten Harket says that he sees no point in a-ha putting out another album. It’s a telling story that shows the disparate points of view for this band that’s told through this film. And, for the record, a-ha does have a new album scheduled for release in 2022.
This movie is a linear telling of the a-ha story, going from kids in Norway whose ambition exceeded their skills to one of the most iconic bands from the 1980’s. “Take on Me” was a great song with an unforgettable music video and it propelled the band to astronomical fame, selling eleven million copies of their debut album. It’s interesting as far as telling how a-ha became famous and hearing them talk about how they were able to have a sustained career that had many ups and downs but still can draw impressive crowds.
There are a few things I found interesting about this documentary. It’s good as far as music documentaries go, but I found it curious that a-ha was on screen literally every moment, either with photos or videos or “Take on Me”-style animation throughout. A handful of others that aren’t the three founding members were interviewed, but only their voice was played over more clips and photos. This included a-ha’s producers, managers, and spouses. Another odd thing I found was that no one outside of a-ha’s inner circle was interviewed.
It is impressive that a-ha is continuing to play to enormous audiences across the world, some festivals had crowds in multiples of 100,000, and their recorded output is far more interesting than a lot of their peers over the same time, and it’s far more than enough to be called “one-hit wonders.”
a-ha: The Movie is propelled by the charisma of its stars and the music. That’s basically it. And it works.
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a-ha: The Movie plays at SIFF Cinema Egyptian as part of DocFest on Thursday, September 30 at 7pm as well as streaming on the SIFF Channel from October 4 though October 7.