mamma mia!

I often attribute my love for singing to my beloved Mother , who'd passed away many years ago. All through her relatively brief life, whether in times of happiness or strife, she never failed to sing her heart out. And her favourite songs were those by ABBA , The Carpenters , Cliff Richard , Barry Manilow , and many others of that era. So of course, those became MY favourite songs too...

I remember Mother used to sing " Slipping Through My Fingers ", " I Have A Dream ", " Chiquitita " and " Thank You For The Music " a lot, (and of course, " Money Money Money "! LOL), and now I think I can understand why...

Watching the movie adaptation of one of my favourite musicals, " Mamma Mia! ", I could almost visualise Mother singing along somewhere in Heaven !

Starring Meryl Streep , Christine Baranski , Julie Walters , Pierce Brosnan , Colin Firth , Stellan Skarsgard as well as the lovely Amanda Seyfried , and featuring so many wonderful ABBA songs, the icing on this cake is that it was shot entirely in MY personal heaven: Greece !!!

I love Greece so much, I could go on and on about it!!!

So let me digress just a little, to put everything in context. In 2004, I was on my first ever Europe trip, and my favourite moments were spent at a tiny Greek island called Corfu . I promised myself I would return and explore this magical part of the world again. And at the end of the trip, in London , I had spent over S$120 on a ticket to watch the musical version of " Mamma Mia! ", but had to forgo it at the last minute to make a rare trip to enter Stonehenge ...

I kinda made up for it when the musical came to Singapore a couple of years back. Watching the beautiful rotating Greek island-inspired set made me resolve that my future home will be something like that too!

Having reiterated and established just how much I love Greece and the show " Mamma Mia! " and ABBA songs, let's go back to the movie... It was really as much fun and laughter and tears as I expected it to be, and perhaps a bit more!!!

From the beginning when Sophie ( Amanda Seyfried ) sang " I Have A Dream ", all the way to " Thank You For The Music " when the end credits were rolling, it was many funny, lovely and touching moments after another. This young bride-to-be yearned to find her actual father, and her hippie mother Donna ( Meryl Streep in an Oscar -worthy performance) couldn't figure out just which of her three summer flings it was: Sam ( Pierce Brosnan ), Harry ( Colin Firth ), or Bill ( Stellan Skarsgard ). Throw in a couple more quirky old gal pals in the mix, Tanya ( Christine Baranski ) and Rosie ( Julie Walters ), and plenty of singing and dancing extras frolicking at the gorgeous Greek island settings, and you get a wonderfully entertaining yet emotional summer ride...

By the way, it didn't matter to me if these actors could sing well or not. The singing was just an extension of their acting capabilities, and they all did a marvellous job, IMHO...

It's a pretty simple and straightforward plot, apparently based on another old movie " Buona Sera, Mrs Campbell ", but the strong acting and passionate singing made this movie a great experience...

And I am still amazed at how the writers could piece so many of ABBA 's pop hits into a totally cohesive story! I think people who dislike ABBA songs (shame on you!), must not have read their insightful lyrics. The stories were all in them from the get-go!

My favourite moments in the movie were almost side by side: " Slipping Through My Fingers ", about a mother who's watching her child grow up and about to lead her own life, and " The Winner Takes It All ", about a woman who sings to her ex-lover about the hurt he'd caused when he left her for another woman. I don't think there was a dry eye in the entire theatre hall at that point...

Throughout the show, like so many others, I was trying hard not to "sing it out loud", but it certainly took restraint. Especially with all the lyrics in full display! I prefer to hear the characters sing mah. But I can SO imagine myself getting the DVD of the movie and singing to my heart's content at home! LOL

Like I mentioned in the comments of another blog, those who have problems loving this movie, have problems, period!

And I really wish to fulfil my promise to explore Greece properly, hopefully next year!!! Anyone wanna come along for the ride? ;-)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzhxHsqQvsI