When the Dutchman Gert van der Graaf sees the Swedish group ABBA perform for the first time in 1974, he is immediately sold. But his love for the group, and especially for singer Agnetha Fältskog, turns into a morbid obsession. From Friday, Van der Graaf’s story can be seen in the documentary Take a Chance.
It is April 1974. Gert van der Graaf from Steenwijksmoer is eight years old and is watching the Eurovision Song Contest in front of the television. It is the year that ABBA participates and wins with Waterloo. Van der Graaf is immediately impressed by the group, especially by the blonde singer Agnetha Fältskog.
The story begins as an innocent crush, but quickly turns grittier. Van der Graaf has only one goal: to be with the Swedish singer forever.
He does everything he can to achieve his goal. For example, he learns the Swedish language so that he can communicate with the Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!-singer. He also travels to Sweden more than thirty times to see Fältskog perform. In the meantime, he writes her hundreds of letters.
Fältskog has been in a relationship with her stalker for two years
The love does not fade over the years, because in 1997 the Dutchman goes one step further to get closer to his dream woman. He buys a house in Ekerö, Sweden, just 800 meters from Fältskog’s home.
This way he can run into her – accidentally or not. That indeed happens, and Van der Graaf’s biggest dream comes true: the two get into a relationship. The fact that the forklift truck driver from Drenthe and the glamorous world star find each other is surprising to say the least.
Later, the ABBA singer would have said that there was more of a friendly relationship than a romantic one. Not in the eyes of Van der Graaf: he is convinced that there is love. It is therefore difficult for him to accept that Fältskog ends contact in 1999.
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Van der Graaf is convicted of stalking
Van der Graaf turns into a stalker who follows the Swedish continuously and bombards him with letters and telephone calls. Fältskog is seriously concerned about the behavior of the Drent and decides to press charges.
The police search Van der Graaf’s house. Agents find a room that is completely covered with posters of the ABBA singer.
The forklift truck driver receives a restraining order and in 2000 the court in Solna, Sweden, condemns him for stalking. Van der Graaf, who is 34 years old at the time, is not allowed to enter Sweden for two years. In the following years he again makes several attempts to get in touch with his great idol.
Agnetha Fältskog werd in 1950 geboren in de Zweedse stad Jönköping. Al in haar tienerjaren scoorde de zangeres verschillende hits als soloartiest. Vanaf 1972 was ze lid van de groep ABBA, samen met Björn Ulvaeus (gitaar en zang), Benny Andersson (piano en zang) en Anni-Frid Lyngstad (zang). Ze scoorden grote hits met onder meer Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, The Winner Takes It All en Money, Money, Money.
Toen de groep in 1982 stopte, begon Fältskog opnieuw aan een solocarrière. Dat resulteerde in vijf soloalbums. Haar laatste album, A, kwam in 2013 uit. Bijna veertig jaar nadat ABBA was gestopt, kondigden de leden een nieuw album en een concertreeks aan, getiteld Voyage. De bandleden, die allen in de zeventig zijn, traden niet zelf op. Voor de optredens maakten ze gebruik van hologrammen.
Fältskog tried to stop docu
The director of Take a ChanceMaria Thulin, became fascinated with the story after learning about it at a dinner party.
“I wanted to know who’s behind the headlines. Gert knows he’s considered a stalker, but he doesn’t think that’s the whole story. That’s why he wants to share his version with the public,” says Thulin. In the documentary, she shows that Van der Graaf is still obsessed with the ABBA singer to this day.
Fältskog has refused to participate in the shooting. If it had been up to the singer, there would be no documentary about her past with Van der Graaf Swedish media.
She made an unsuccessful attempt to stop the production of the film. “It’s a pity that Agnetha can’t be seen in the film with her side of the story,” says Thulin. “But various experts speak in the documentary, who ensure that the perspective of victims of stalking is discussed.”
Take a Chance can be seen on Amazon Prime Video from May 19.
2023-05-19 03:05:00
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