Rating: NR | Runtime: 109 minutes
Release Date: September 3rd, 2021 (Norway) / April 8th, 2022 (USA)
Studio: TV2 Norge / Lightyear Entertainment
Director(s): Thomas Robsahm / Aslaug Holm (co-director)
Writer(s): Thomas Robsahm

a-ha was never based on friendship. We have a bond through music.

It’s insane to think that “Take On Me” was a-ha’s very first single. The song was so big that most people consider the band a one-hit wonder despite eleven studio albums—the latest from last October despite Thomas Robsahm and Aslaug Holm’s documentary a-ha: The Movie all but making it seem like they’d never record again. Talk about impossible expectations regardless of the usual artistic desire to break free of molds dictated by money, media, and personal aspiration.

The fact they made a second album at all is a testament to a few lines spoken towards the end of the film that admit they didn’t originally come together as friends. Whether or not they became such, it was always about the music. So, despite feelings and grudges pulling them apart multiple times throughout the past four decades, that respect in each other’s talents can’t help bringing them back together.

This movie is therefore an intriguing one because of how different their story progresses from the usual rock-n-roll tales of drugs, sex, and ego. Their trajectory was never about fame and fortune. Both Pål Waaktaar and Magne Furuholmen admit that they aren’t sure things would have continued if lead singer Morten Harket didn’t embrace and absorb the brunt of the attention so they could focus on the songwriting behind the scenes.

It’s honest soundbites like that which makes the trio an utterly captivating subject since they aren’t ever playing to the camera or wondering how to diplomatically admit some unspeakable truth. They know who each other is. They know they can each be difficult and when it’s not worth fighting about it. And they deal with it because the end result is worth the pain.

It’s a refreshing bit of self-awareness and self-reflection that the industry could use more of even if there’s a couple mentions of the band needing a therapist to work through their deeper-seeded issues. Part of it probably comes from the maturity of understanding the music mattered most. Part of it is probably the emotional maturity that comes from two of the band members already being in relationships with the women they’d marry when signing their first contract. They’re grounded.

It’s surely no coincidence that they also hail from Norway and hold different cultural and societal imperatives than American kids using the music to gain celebrity. Add numerous conversations about image, evolution, and mistakes and the film provides an informative portrait that excels despite its lack of stereotypical Drama. As they say, no one cares about the arguments but them. The songs are what get remembered.

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a-ha: Magne Furuholmen, Morten Harket & Paul Waaktaar-Savoy; courtesy of Lightyear Entertainment.