Film Fact: Sweden

Before striking Oscar gold with My Life as a Dog in 1985, Swedish director Lasse Hallström followed a band of Swedes down under to make his (and their) feature debut. ABBA: The Movie follows Bjorn, Benny, Anni-Frid and Agnetha as they tour Australia, pursued by a radio DJ desperately trying to secure an interview with the group—but really, the plot is rudimentary, simply a way of linking the various in-concert musical numbers that were Hallström's speciality, having already directed most of the band's music videos back in Sweden. For an act whose international breakthrough owes much to Eurovision (they won the contest in 1974, with 'Waterloo'), the four Swedes enjoyed extraordinary careers: Bjorn and Benny forged one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in pop, Agnetha has a new solo album out soon, and Anni-Frid is now Her Serene Highness Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen, and retired from the music industry. And that radio DJ? Well, his name was Robert Hughes, better known as 'the father from Hey Dad...'