Mamma Mia! ABBA Lives on!

Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried Bring Mamma Mia! to Life

Jul 28, 2008

Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgård make a hilarious supporting cast; also stars Dominic Cooper as Sophie's fiancé Sky

Mamma Mia! started off as a musical by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Rather than feature a predictable tribute band, Mamma Mia! showcases ABBA music compellingly through a story about an unwedded mother and a daughter in search of her father. This formula obviously works, as Mamma Mia! took two and a half million pounds in advance bookings back in April 1999 and still runs in London’s West End today as one of the best musicals to boot.1

Now Mamma Mia! appears on silverscreen, with a great cast led by Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep. Amanda Seyfried plays wide-eyed Sophie, the daughter who “has a dream”...She sends her wedding invitation to three of her mother’s former lovers, hoping that she will discover who her real father is. Meryl Streep is Donna, the cynical, done-it-all mother with a scandalous past. Together, Sophie and Donna bring ABBA’s music to life, with heaps of feeling.

Gorgeous Greek Locations

Donna’s villa rests on an island named Kalokairi, meaning ‘summer’ in Greek. Shot from several locations in Greece, including Skiathos and Tsougrias, Mamma Mia! is predominantly shot on the island called Skopelos, renamed Kalokairi for the film2. What better location for a wedding musical, where lovers serenade by sparkling waters, friends reunite on the waterfront and family climb the steps to a beautiful church on an island. The Mamma Mia! movie website even provides directions and images of these shoot locations. Such a gorgeous holiday backdrop encourages the audience to sit back, sing along and remember the nostalgia of one’s yesteryears – and its accompanying raging hormones!

Meryl Streep as Donna

Flanked by comedic performances by Rosie and Tanya, Meryl Streep is truly Donna come alive, with her worn jumpsuit, tools in her pockets and a tomboyish spirit within. Probably the best thing about Meryl’s performance is she does it so effortlessly. Just another acting job for Ms. Streep? Yet this style of performance sits so well with this film. After all, what do audiences expect from this film but feelgood fun and nostalgia? Streep goes with the flow of the film, as the very best of actors do, and when she belts ‘The Winner Takes It All’ and bursts into tears before Pierce Brosnan, the audience nearly wants to do the same.

Julie Walters as Rosie, and Christine Baranski as Tanya, are brilliant casting choices. Nothing pretentious about their performances, they each have their star turns with prospective amours, performing solo songs in the heat of the story. ‘Dancing Queen’, the song that always gets thumbs up on the dancefloor, starts off side-splittingly from Donna’s room, where Rosie and Tanya use various props to psyche Donna into reliving her colourful past. As the song goes on, more and more women join the line Bacchanalian-style till the grand finale where all the women jump into the inviting waters. Absolutely smashing.

Amanda Seyfried & Dominic Cooper

Amanda Seyfried is an inspired casting choice. Young, naive yet feisty, Amanda’s Sophie is believable, likeable and...rather scheming! So much so that when her plan to find her father backfires on her, her fiancé Sky can hardly understand her motives. Unlike the manufactured ‘Barbie dolls’ of Hollywood, Amanda Seyfried brings a certain rough edge to her character that immediately melts when in the arms of her fiancé, singing ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’. Dominic Cooper as Sky makes a believable fiancé for Sophie: young, reckless and raring to see the world.

Donna’s Lovers

Donna’s lovers make up the missing jigsaw pieces of the story. Luckily, the supporting cast of Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgård make a hilarious bunch. Colin Firth is surprisingly good at singing, and carries ‘Our Last Summer’ brilliantly. His stiff upper lip antics and revelation that he is really ‘Harry Headbanger’ send the audience into laughter fits. Pierce Brosnan comes across as the most convincing father (whereas Bill would be a disaster) even if singing is not his forte. Stellan Skarsgård is the ‘lone wolf’ who finally couples up with Rosie, and his ease of character helps the story to move along.

Dance-worthy, Sing-along Fun

Mamma Mia! is undisputedly a great summer film: for its locations, wedding ideas and tons of hormones. The film relives the theatrical scene where divers with flippers sing along with Sky, and audiences should also watch out for the end scene after the credits, when Donna and the Dynamos come ‘onstage’ for not one, but two encores! What can be more uproarious than seeing Firth, Brosnan and Skarsgård in full ABBA gear, complete with flared trousers and boots? Mamma Mia! is a scream.

Sources

The copyright of the article Mamma Mia! ABBA Lives on! in Film Musicals is owned by Lynette S.K. Webster. Permission to republish Mamma Mia! ABBA Lives on! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Aug 22, 2008 6:46 AM

Guest :

Loved the Movie!!!
Such a Light hearted feel good film ,I had no problem seeing it a 2nd time.
I am amazed how the ABBA songs fit. It is as if the songs came from the movie, but as we all know, the movie came out of stringing the songs together.
I loved the twist at the end!!!