A-ha: The Movie (2021)

Directed by: Thomas Robsahm, Aslaug Holm | 108 minutes | documentary, biography, music | Starring: Morten Harket, Pål Waaktaar, Magne Furuholmen, Andy Whittle, Sebastian Pitzer, Heidi Rydjord, Jan Omdahl, Lauren Savoy, John Ratcliff, Terry Slater, Alan Tarney, Jeff Ayeroff, Just Loomis, Steve Barron, Inez Andersson, Lars Horntveth, Harald Wiik

A young girl reads a comic book in a London cafe over a cup of coffee. The story is about a handsome motorcyclist who is chased by two shadowy types. When he turns out to be too quick for them, he suddenly turns to the reader. He winks at her, but she thinks she’s imagining it. Then suddenly a drawn hand sticks out of the book; the mysterious motorcyclist invites the girl into his black and white world full of mirror-like portals where they can be seen from one side in sketch form and from the other side as real people. If all goes well, you immediately know to which song from the eighties this image fragment belongs. The groundbreaking music video directed by Steve Barron marked the worldwide breakthrough of the Norwegian synthpop band in 1985 in one fell swoop. a-ha and immediately sealed their fate. Because of the handsome appearance of lead singer Morten Harkett, and perhaps also because of his enormous vocal range of no less than five octaves, it was mainly young girls who a-ha embraced.

But the band members certainly didn’t see themselves as a boy band, but wanted to make music with a big M. Once together on stage, the talent and the mutual synergy burst through – it is not for nothing that they have built up an excellent live reputation and sell them decades later. still playing major concert halls worldwide – but behind the scenes it regularly wanted to crackle because the noses were rarely in the same direction and the personalities of the gentlemen differ too much. Despite several periods when the band was ‘on hold’ and band members embarked on solo adventures and other musical collaborations, a-ha also made several comebacks. Not because they miss their place in the spotlight or because the bank account is starting to empty, but because they still want to make music so much and when they do that together something magical happens.

The documentary is about the struggles behind the scenes at the best-selling Norwegian band of all time ‘a-ha: The Movie’ (2021) by directors Thomas Robsahm and Aslaug Holm. The characters of Harkett, Paul (or actually Pål) Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen are so far apart that they say it would be impossible to spend as much time together as they used to without killing each other. A joke of course, but with a grain of truth. Paul was terrified on stage, but was the driving force in the studio. At a certain point in the film he philosophizes that he would have fit better in a goth band: staring at the floor in your own world on stage, without having to feel that way. Paul is in many ways the polar opposite of Morten, who firmly believes in himself and everything he does. Magne doesn’t necessarily have to be known and is mainly busy pushing herself to the limit musically. While Morten is the band’s banner to the outside world, Paul and Magne together form the musical and creative brain, although they don’t always want to go in the same direction.

Music has been in the genes of the trio from an early age. Morten discovered at the age of three that his voice is versatile and that he has an impressive range (the leading music magazine NME once labeled him ‘the best falsetto in the history of pop music of all time’). As a child, Paul already made drums from packaging materials such as cardboard boxes and tubes. His neighbor Magne, in turn, was crazy about playing the guitar. They had been busy for years before ‘the world’ finally discovered them with that memorable video clip of ‘Take on Me’. They always adapted their looks, style, management and video clips to force that big break. But once the time had come and they were forced into a straitjacket in which they did not feel at home, there was no turning back. Despite the frustrations that are clearly still there, they still recognize each other’s talents and that is what always brings them back together. Sometimes it becomes confrontingly clear that time has overtaken them in a number of areas. For example, Morten can still sing beautifully, but he can’t get that high falsetto anymore. In a telling scene in the studio, he suggests changing the arrangements because it now sounds like he’s whining through it, to which Magne counters that the song has been the same for thirty years. They both ignore the fact that Mortens sten has changed.

†a-ha: The Movie’ is full of such fascinating observations, but also shows the usual ‘talking heads’ and fragments of concert registrations and also gives an insight into the creative excesses and musical side projects of Paul and Magne in particular. For example, Paul plays in the band Savoy with his American wife Lauren and Magne has devoted himself to composing film scores. The film does not shy away from addressing the major quarrels that the members have fought among themselves, which Magne in particular has had a hard time with. Whether the heart problems he is dealing with are a direct result of that remains unclear, but whether his health problems have prompted the three men to reconsider their relationship and finally bury the hatchet. beyond dispute.

It’s refreshing that there’s no alcohol or drug abuse or sex scandal involved, which so often predominates in band documentaries, but music with a-ha has always come first. Their unexpected breakthrough, when they were completely financially grounded, was a godsend, but at the same time became a burden due to the way in which they were marketed, which has haunted three musicians at heart for years. The boy band label has also ensured that their music has always been underestimated, but who a-ha Ever seen it live, know what happens when Morten, Paul and Magne are on stage together. It is special that the gentlemen dare to be so vulnerable in this film, it makes them human and relates the fame that so many (young) people desperately pursue. †a-ha: The Movie’ is a must for all music lovers, not just for the fans.