We’ve all seen ‘Mamma Mia!,’ but ABBA’s campy 1977 tour movie is a must-watch for true fans
Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time.” In this week’s column, we revisit 1977’s ABBA: The Movie, the iconic band’s lesser known “mockumentary” tour movie.For almost fifty years now, Swedish pop supergroup ABBA have remained a constant presence in popular culture.
From their millions of singles sold during the ’70s and ’80s, to their ’90s renaissance spurred on by their greatest hits album, to their introduction to new generations with a smash hit Broadway musical and two movie adaptations—not to mention a long-awaited new album and a live show that sells out every night—it seems like they’ve always been here.However, the majority of their recent success is based purely on nostalgia: their career resurgence with ABBA Gold brought people back to the songs they loved growing up.
Mamma Mia! (both the show and the movies) hinged on the audience’s familiarity with the material, and ABBA Voyage invites people to experience the group in its heyday in a way that time doesn’t allow.
For the most part, we’ve only been able to experience ABBA in the past tense, and it’s hard to envision how it was to live through the phenomenon as it happened—unless you lived through it.
