Film watchdog changes rating of 1970s mockumentary Abba: The Movie ­ (2024)

By Chris Hastings

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It was the super trouper ­Seventies film about one of the world's ­biggest bands.

But film classifiers are taking no chances on Abba: The Movie ­nowadays over references to Agnetha ­Faltskog's backside.

The singer was described as having the 'sexiest bottom in pop' when the film was made in 1977.

But the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has now changed the film's rating from a U to a PG because of its 'mild sex references' and 'language.'

It has also produced new parental guidance for the film – 47 years after its release.

Film classifiers are taking no chances on Abba : The Movie ­nowadays over references to Agnetha ­Faltskog's backside

The film, which was directed by acclaimed Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom is a comedy drama 'mockumentary' about the band's sellout tour of Australia.

It follows a fictional radio DJ as he tries to get an interview with the quartet – which also includes Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

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Among the scenes highlighted by the BBFC are two sequences when members of the band express 'rueful amusement' about the Press's preoccupation with Ms Faltskog's 'bottom' – just two years after she won the 'Rear of the Year' award. The board said some people might find the language 'discriminatory.'

It has also drawn attention to the use of the words 'bloody,' 'God' and 'Hell' as well as an excerpt from the Swedish band's song When I Kissed The Teacher. The board also highlighted a ­conversation between band ­members when they refer to press reports about them ordering a 'kinky velvet bed'.

When one of them asks what 'kinky' means, another replies it relates to 'sexual perversion'.

Parents are also alerted to cigarette smoking in the film and a conversation when band members tell a reporter they don't use drugs.

­Australian novelist Kathy Lette, who has vivid memories of the band's tour Down Under, said last night she was nervous about anything which might discourage children from seeing the film.

She said: 'Young girls need all the positive role models they can get, so I also don't want to make the film harder for them to see.'

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has now changed the film's rating from a U to a PG because of its 'mild sex references' and 'language'

Among the scenes highlighted by the BBFC are two sequences when members of the band express 'rueful amusement' about the Press's preoccupation with Ms Faltskog's 'bottom'

The move to reclassify the film from a U to PG was taken last year when it was resubmitted to the BBFC ahead of a cinema release to mark the band's 50th anniversary

Joking that Ms Faltskog's bottom was bigger than the iconic Uluru monolith in the media at the time, she added: 'This kind of sexism is way past its amuse-by date, but let's not censor or sanitise it.'

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'[It] could be a better launch pad to talk to our kids about why that kind of sexism is ­inappropriate and to illustrate that the world is gradually getting better for women.'

The move to reclassify the film from a U to PG was taken last year when it was resubmitted to the BBFC ahead of a cinema release to mark the band's 50th anniversary.

The BBFC said: 'The film was classified PG for mild sex references, language, and our extended content advice.

'Under 2023 standards, this material exceeds allowances at U, but is within the framework of a PG which allows for a certain amount of innuendo and rude humour.

'We know from our research that some parents are concerned about introducing sexual material or concepts to children at too early an age, and our rating and content advice therefore provides guidance to help them make an informed decision.'

The movie was previously ­resubmitted to the board in 2008 but the decision then was to keep the U certificate.

Film watchdog changes rating of 1970s mockumentary Abba: The Movie ­ (2024)

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