Stephen O'Brien ponders on his own formative friendships as he watches the members of a-ha deal with their own in their new film, True North.
A new album from legendary Norwegian pop band a-ha is always an event in my book – but even more so when that new album is accompanied by a film.
So it was that my girlfriend and I went to Showcase Cinemas in Liverpool on Thursday 15 September 2022 to watch a-ha: True North.
Named after the band’s forthcoming album, True North showcases a-ha performing 10 of the album’s 10 tracks live, backed by additional musicians and the Arctic Philharmonic. These performances are interspersed with scenes from the lives of the people who live in the Arctic, forming a narrative across the film’s 72 minute running time.
We are also treated to some stunning footage of the beautiful Arctic – mountains, ocean and land – which makes the majestic swoop and heft of the music resonate on a deeper level.
In between the tracks, we are treated to short segments where the three members of a-ha – Morten Market, Magne Furuholmen and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy – separately talk about their approaches to the new songs and also on how a-ha operates as a unit; let’s not forget, Morten, Magne and Paul have what could be charitably described as a very complicated friendship.
These segments – and what they suggested about the nature of friendship – really resonated with me that night as I arrived at Showcase Cinemas after many, many years of absence, and I was immediately reminded of two important friendships of my own, both played out at this cinema over 30 years before.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I hung out a lot with two particular friends, John & Jim. We were – and still are – really pop culture buffs; music, TV and film. So when Showcase Cinemas opened in Liverpool in 1988, it was a big deal for us. It was the first American-style multi-screen complex in the city. The building was huge and the car park was massive. The screens were big, and the popcorn was even bigger.
Over a 3 year period, John, Jim & I would go to “the Showcase" most Thursday nights. We saw some great films – Back to the Future II & III, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Die Hard – and some not so great – Moon 44, anyone?
In many ways, the film didn’t matter. It was always a privilege to spend time with John & Jim. They were both bright, funny and interesting. John was a force of nature, his unerring self-confidence equally matched by his compassion, and his charisma was unmatched. He also remains the funniest person I have ever known, and I am lucky enough to know a lot of funny people. Jim was easy-going but bursting with ideas and creativity, with a knack of disarming people with his effortless charm. He was also a people magnet, and everyone wanted to be his friend within 30 seconds of meeting him.
There is a saying that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. I was blessed, in my teenage years, to have John & Jim as 2 of those 5. Their intelligence, their wit and their kindness has had a long-lasting influence on me. To be even 1% of who they are is a real privilege.
As is often the case with friendships in our formative years, I don’t really see John or Jim these days. You know how it is – life gets in the way and takes each of us in different directions – but being reminded of those friendships at that cinema on that night brings me back to the three members of a-ha and the bond that still holds them together.
Morten, Magne & Paul formed their friendship – and their musical partnership – in their formative years. Following their first wave of success, the relationship between the three has become strained – to the point where they periodically split and say a-ha is over forever. Yet they still find a way back.
The optimist in me thinks – and hopes – it’s not just the money that brings them back together. And I also like to think it’s also not just about the creative lure of a-ha either. They may often reach the point where they can’t bear to be in the same room at the same time, but that friendship – or at least the memory imprint of their early friendship – still endures. Let’s face it, the only people who know what it’s like to have been in this world-famous band and can understand all that comes with it are Morten, Magne and Paul. Whether that friendship has been superseded by mutual understanding, who knows? But there must be something there, some emotional glue, that holds them together. And I think that comes across in this film and its music.
a-ha have never been a band to display their friendship (unless you count the video to Touchy!). They have always cut an aloof, slightly-distant-from-each-other image. Some of this could be representative of the natural temperament of the Scandinavians, rather than simply a long-held dislike of each other.
That said, given their previous 2015 album Cast In Steel was largely written and recorded separately by three separate factions, it is a joy to see the three of them together performing this new material (as opposed to touring the back catalogue). This looks like a rejuvenated a-ha; that might not last much beyond the 72 minutes of this film, but I’ll take it!
Magne has written and produced 6 of the 12 tracks, with Paul writing and producing the other 6. It does seem like the three have made a real attempt to come together as a three-piece, and the material (as well as the film) seems much more cohesive as a result.
Much of the album takes us down slower, more contemplative roads, with the impressive I’m In starting proceedings. The listener has to patiently wait for some more upbeat tracks, but when these – Bluest of Blue & Make Me Understand – kick in towards the end of the film, they are a welcome treat. Elsewhere, songs like Between the Halo and the Horn & True North are achingly beautiful, both melodically and lyrically. Much of a-ha’s material has the ability to bring various emotions to the surface, and this is amplified by the wonderful backing of the Arctic Philharmonic; I sat in that cinema, with its huge screen and surround sound, and I truly felt the music, rather than just hearing it. My girlfriend, who likes a-ha but is not a huge fan like me, loved the film and the music – and she singled out the orchestral arrangements as making the music all the more beautiful and moving.
So I left the screen a very happy man. Not just because of the wonderful music and visuals I had just experienced, but also because it was good to be reminded of the power of friendship and the impact those friendships can have on the rest of your life. It’s funny to note that I had just watched three friends who sometimes can’t bear each other yet are still in each other’s lives, yet I hardly see two fondly-remembered friends who I never fell out with.
And as I walked out of the cinema, I thought back to the three young friends who would have been walking in 30-odd years earlier to watch the first of many films in that shiny new cinema. And part of me envied them. What great times they have ahead. What great friends they were.
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