Archive for June, 2021

Good reviews for a-ha: The Movie at Tribeca

The official poster, from the film’s Facebook page

a-ha: The Movie received lots of positive feedback from both the audience and critics after its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival earlier this month, eventually earning second place in the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Film Festival Today calls the movie “a delight for casual and diehard fans alike” and highlights how the three members of a-ha “deliver extremely thoughtful meditations on celebrity, authenticity, art and life over the course of a-ha: The Movie’s engaging 109 minutes”.

Cineuropa feels the movie is an “entertaining, captivating piece” which will “prove a joyful experience for the band’s fans, and a pleasant surprise for all lovers of 1980s new wave, alt rock and synth pop genres, especially for those not boasting in-depth knowledge of A-HA’s discography and who might want to “shazam” some hidden gems throughout the film.”

Berkreviews describes a-ha: The Movie as being “a celebration of their musical catalog” and that it’s “definitely one to watch if you are a fan of music or music docs. I found it to be extremely compelling and informative while fostering a love of a band I knew very little about. It’s quite possible that a band you currently love was inspired or influenced by a-ha. Thus, a-ha: The Movie earns the Must See rating.”

Indie producer Travis Stevens writes that “a-ha: The Movie creates a melody from the self-confidence, determination, beauty, competitiveness and insecurity required to create something as fleeting as a #1 pop hit and to remain a band with artistic ambition for 35 years after. They fucking rule.”

Writer Annie Zaleski describes it as “a fascinating + intimate documentary that’s often brutally honest about intra-band strain (and the inherent conflict between solitude, introspection & fame), but also makes a case for a-ha’s towering musical greatness.”

Coming up, a-ha: The Movie will be screened at the Munich International Film Festival in Germany on 8-9 July and at the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund on 25 August. The regular Norwegian premiere follows on 3 September.

Concert added in Hannover

A new date in Germany has now been added to next year’s a-ha tour:

02 May 2022: ZAG Arena, Hannover, Germany

A total of 39 concerts are currently planned for 2022, taking place in Japan, USA, Sweden, Denmark, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Norway, UK, Portugal, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Peru.

The updated list of all dates can be found here.

Morten: “We have a deep respect for each other”

Morten, February 2021

a-ha: The Movie had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York this weekend. The first review (4 out of 5 stars) has been posted on the website Josh at the Movies:

“The fact that I instantly opened my Spotify and downloaded most of A-Ha’s discography as soon as A-Ha: The Movie ended should speak volumes about its overall quality”, Josh Batchelder writes in his review.

“Following their dream from struggling below the poverty line, A-Ha: The Movie is an endearing story of realizing your dreams and believing in them. The documentary feels deep-reaching, a truly honest portrayal of personalities and musical insight. (…) I look forward to exploring more of A-Ha’s incredible body of work, as the ripples of their impact on the music industry can still be felt today.”

Morten himself has been interviewed by Salon.com in connection with the premiere. When asked about his own favorite a-ha songs, he says:

“There could be many. I don’t have a favorite song. I can lean to one song for a period, then to another. But all the songs we’ve done, we’ve had some sort of soft spot for at some point in time, or they wouldn’t be there. And there are a lot of songs in the making that have never gotten through to the point of being recorded and released. There are some cornerstones. On “Memorial Beach” there is a song that most people don’t know, “Cold as Stone,” which I like. A lot of others that are more the darker side of the band. A-ha is a dark band, really. That is where we are coming from. None of us listened to pop music growing up. We would not have listened to A-ha ourselves if we were on the street, because of the image of the band. Because of a number of things. Because of me, for one. [Laughs]”

In the interview, Morten points out how the band in many ways has been more successful since the 2000 comeback than in the first period:

“I feel the documentary fails us a little in the second half, which [chronicles] when we got back together through to today. That is the longest period that we’ve been together, I believe. And it’s our time when we’ve done our best business and touring. We played to many more people in the second half than in the first, and success-wise, that’s a bigger achievement than making it in the first place, I would argue.”

Early reports about the film also suggests that it spends quite some time on the often-reported creative frictions within the band:

“What I do feel is that the focus in the second half of the film is the disagreements and problems. But one has to bear in mind that we’ve been together for all this time and we’ve chosen to get together and get back together over and over again. We have a deep respect for each other and I’m always proud and honored to be associated with them. And we all feel the same. But we are not the same, and that is part of the package. All three of us are completely necessary for the band to become A-ha”, Morten says.

Director Thomas Robsahm has also done several interviews to promote the film recently, including conversations with Cineuropa and Screen Daily, while a video clip from the film, detailing the evolution of “Take On Me”, was published by Rolling Stone.

Next month a-ha: The Movie will be screened in Germany, as part of the Munich International Film Festival on 8 and 9 July. Information in English is available here.

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