a-ha the movie

    When a-ha’s breakthrough hit Take on Me shot to #1 on the Billboard charts in 1985, it turned its three young band members into global superstars overnight. This song and its groundbreaking pencil-sketch animation video has accumulated an amazing 1.4 Billion views on YouTube, and the group held the Guinness World Record (since broken) for the largest paying audience at a pop concert, having drawn a crowd of 198,000 to their 1991 show at Rio de Janeiro’s Estádio do Maracanã stadium.

   While the iconic song and music video remain ubiquitous to this day, the story of a-ha didn’t end there. Saddled with fame from their synth-pop/alt-rock launch, a-ha chose to focus on their goal of making music and their subsequent works displayed a more mature and sometimes darker style.  Although most Americans lost track of the group after the 80s, over the years a-ha has compiled a deep catalog of 15 studio albums with 55 million copies sold, and they continue to record music and play to packed arenas around the world.

   Despite controversies and disagreements, after 40 years they still believe in the importance of their music and lead singer Morten Harket still has the strong voice and incredible vocal range he displayed back in the day.  Contrary to the history of many bands of that era, a-ha managed to survive and prosper without headline-grabbing scandals, groupies and drug abuse.

   Following Mags, Morten and Pål over a period of four years, a-ha: The Movie provides unprecedented access to the inner workings of the band as well as a career-spanning look at one of the most enduring and beloved acts in pop music history.