Strangely moving, moving strangely
MAMMA MIA Director: Phyllida Lloyd Cert. PG
The first ten minutes of this film might leave a viewer wondering why he/she bought a ticket. It is girls screaming and hugging and emoting and engaging in vulgar innuendo and then women, old enough to know better, doing the same.
Then the music starts and you realise that plot, characterisation and dialogue have no significance whatsoever here. It is all about the music and the dancing. Someone has concocted a ridiculous story by stringing together a series of favourites from the Abba back catalogue. Then a star-studded cast are brought on to sing and strut and have a lot of fun on a Greek island.
Meryl Streep pours her heart and soul and arms and legs into every line, extracting profundity from inanity to great effect. Julie Walters sends the whole thing up, singing ‘Chiquitita’ under a toilet door. The men are even funnier. Colin Firth has the grace to look embarrassed. Pierce Brosnan’s vocal rendering of ‘SOS’ had the whole cinema in peals of laughter. Cheesy? Certainly. Tacky? Probably. Endearing and enjoyable? Most definitely.
Against my better judgment, I could not help liking this film. In their day, Abba turned trivia into an art form, delivering it with panache and style and a lot of catchy tunes. The film likewise oozes zest for life. The scenery is captivating and the big ensemble dance routines are irresistible. As a picture of joy it would be hard to beat the sight of Meryl Streep and a collection of random Greeks cavorting around a gorgeous island, arms waving high, belting out ‘Dancing Queen’ against a backdrop of the sparkling Aegean. A strangely moving sight.
The human capacity for joy is worth noting and admiring. Even in this artificial context, it points to the longing for heaven, where joy will surely be no less exultantly expressed.
