Mamma Mia!

I went to see Mamma Mia! at the weekend. A marvelous film, both entertaining and amusing, and the only film I have ever been at when the audience (and it was packed out!) clapped at the end!

The plot is simple. The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular '70s group ABBA. It includes such hits as "Super Trouper", "Dancing Queen", "Thank You for the Music", "Money, Money, Money", "The Winner Takes It All", "Voulez Vous", "I Have A Dream" and "SOS" (see bottom for full list).

20 year old Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) has a problem. It's almost her wedding day and she doesn't know who her father is. It could be any of 3 of her mother's (Meryl Streep) past suitors. The only way to find out is to invite all three to her wedding and see what happens. American architect Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Swedish adventurer/writer Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgård) and English banker Harry Bright (Colin Firth) are all invited. Also present are her mother's friends Rosie (Julie Walters) and Tanya (Christine Baranski)

I knew I'd come across a similar plot, and of course it came to me - I remembered the 1968 comedy Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell where the title character, Carla "Campbell", is an Italian woman who -- during the American occupation of Italy -- slept with three American GI's (a Corporal (Phil Silvers), a Sergeant (Peter Lawford), and a Lieutenant(Telly Savalas)) in the course of a few weeks.

It is a good plot, when all the men come to Italy for a reunion, and revamped slightly, with the Abba songs, filmed in part on the beautiful location of Skopelos, a sleepy little island in the Aegean Sea, it is clearly destined to be a big hit. (Some of the interior and courtyard sets were filmed at Pinewood.)

Meryl Streep is wonderful, expressive in a way that an actress can be and a singer might not be, she takes the songs and makes them her own, and can also be very funny. Benny Andersson of ABBA, co-composer of the songs, called her a Meryl Streep "a miracle". Christine Baranski brings glamour and comedy, while Julie Waters brings charm, and a wonderfully physical comedy to her part. On the male lead, Pierce Brosnan has the most singing to do and manages surprisingly well. In fact, Abba's Benny Andersson has claimed that Pierce Brosnan is "great" in the new Mamma Mia! movie. The songwriter said he was annoyed by criticism of the former James Bond actor, arguing that people are judging him with too high standards. "I think he has a great voice. He couldn't sing 'Nessun Dorma' but neither could I - and I was in Abba. It's like saying Bob Dylan can't sing."

A delightful film, in which all the cast are clearly enjoying themselves, and it translates well from stage to the more difficult medium of film. The finale at the closing credits, with the cast all dancing and dressed in 70s style Abba outfits is a marvelous end to a film that just sets out to provide entertainment, nothing serious, but does so extremely well.

Song list:

"I Have a Dream" - Sophie
"Honey, Honey" - Sophie
"Money, Money, Money" - Donna
"Mamma Mia" - Donna
"Chiquitita" - Tanya and Rosie
"Dancing Queen" - Donna, Tanya, and Rosie
"Our Last Summer" - Sophie, Sam, Harry, and Bill
"Lay All Your Love on Me" - Sky and Sophie
"Super Trouper" - Donna, Tanya, and Rosie
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" - Cast
"The Name of the Game" - Sophie and Bill
"Voulez-Vous" - Cast
"SOS" - Sam and Donna
"Does Your Mother Know" - Tanya and Pepper
"Slipping Through My Fingers" - Donna and Sophie
"The Winner Takes It All" - Donna
"I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" - Cast
"When All Is Said and Done" - Sam and Company
"Take a Chance on Me" - Rosie and Bill
"Mamma Mia" - Cast
"I Have a Dream" - Sophie
"Dancing Queen" - Cast
"Waterloo" - Cast
"Thank You For The Music" - Sophie (over the closing credits)