27-06-2008

Sun, surf,
ABBA
‘Mamma Mia!’ opens at
theaters this Thursday
BY CHRISTINE STURMEY
You don’t have to be an ABBA fan to get a
kick out of “Mamma Mia!” – the big-screen
adaptation of the smash-hit musical,
which opens at Greek cinemas on Thursday.
The star-studded cast is more than
enough to seduce: Meryl Streep as the
mother, Donna; Pierce Brosnan, Colin
Firth and Stellan Skarsgard as the prospective
fathers of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried);
and Julie Waters as the no-nonsense
Rosie give this summer flick all the oomph
it needs to do well at the box office.
What’s more is that there are no voiceovers
here, they sing all the songs themselves.
When Streep was asked whether she
would like to appear in the movie, her reply
was, according to the official ABBA website:
“Are you kidding? I AM Mamma Mia!”
Brosnan, it is rumored, exercised his vocal
chords by singing to the waves at his
Hawaii retreat, too nervous to face the cast
and crew before having had a good workout.
“I went to New York for the first rehearsals,
and I sounded dreadful. I quietly
freaked out... and I made a pig’s ear of
it,” he told the World Entertainment
News Network. He went back to Hawaii
and got back to work.
“In the end they liked it so much they
added a verse to my big song,” he said to
WENN.
Behind the camera, director Phyllida
Lloyd, producer Judy Craymer and writer
Catherine Johnson are also responsible for
the stage hit. ABBA’s Benny Andersson and
Bjorn Ulvaeus were also involved in the
creation of the movie, one of their tasks
being to go through songs with the actors.
Andersson – who with Ulvaeus wrote
and produced all of ABBA’s recordings way
back when – was in charge of the soundtrack
recording. To get that authentic feel,
they invited some of the musicians from
their original recordings: bassist Rutger
Gunnarsson, guitarist Lasse Wellander and
drummer Per Lindvall, with Andersson
himself on keyboards.
Inspired by the storytelling songs of the
iconic 1970-80s pop band, “Mamma Mia!”
tells the story of Donna, a single mother
running a hotel on an idyllic Greek island,
and the impending wedding of her 18-yearold
daughter Sophie. Sophie is not about
to walk down the aisle alone, so she secretly
invites three men, each of whom
may be her father, to the island to learn
the truth about the past.
The frantic built-up to the ceremony leads
to all sorts of misunderstandings, bursts of
passion, heartfelt confessions and trips
down memory lane.
From smash hit in London to global sensation,
the stage production of “Mamma
Mia!” has already been seen by more than
ATHENSPLUS • FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2008
CINEMA
Young Sophie, played by Amanda Seyfried, is led to the altar on a donkey in ‘Mamma
Mia!’ – the big-screen adaptation of the hit musical.
30 million people in over 170 cities in eight
languages around the world. The musical
came to Greece last spring at the Badminton
Theater for an extended run of
shows that were sold out most nights.
Now the feel-good, all-ages movie is also
expected to draw in the crowds here,
especially as many of the scenes were shot
in Greek locations: the Church of Aghios
Ioannis on Corfu, Damouchari in Pelion,
and the islands of Skopelos and Skiathos.
“Mamma Mia!” was produced by Playtone
partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman,
who were also responsible for the
hits “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “My
Life in Ruins,” the latter of which was also
shot in Greece and is set for release this
August.
Note: In some theaters, the opening
and closing songs will be sung in Greek
by Natalia Germanou.
Something French
for every taste
There is a French air in theaters
this week, with a number
of very different films and
an award-winning documentary
featuring on the
program.
The 1982 documentary
“Mourir a 30 ans” by Romain
Goupil received the
Youth Award in Cannes and
a Cesar for Best First Work.
In this profound political
analysis, the filmmaker revisits
the May 1968 riots in
Paris in an effort to understand
why his best friend, a
militant leader at the time,
took his own life.
“Paris,” a romantic comedy
drama directed by Cedric
Klapisch – of “Les Poupees
russes,” “Ni pour, ni contre
(bien au contraire)” and
“L’auberge espagnole” fame
– stars Juliette Binoche and
Romain Duris as a sister and
brother who are brought together
by tragic news.
It’s all about the music in
“Les chansons d’amour,” a
drama that was awarded a
Cesar for Alex Beaupain’s
original soundtrack. Starring
Louis Garrel, Ludivine
Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni,
Clotilde Hesme and Gregoire
Leprince-Ringuet, Christophe
Honores’s film is separated
into three chapters representing
the three sides of a
fraught love triangle.
Another social drama, “Il
y a longtemps que je t’aime,”
is directed by Philippe
Claudel and stars Kristin
Scott Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein.
The film, about two
sisters trying to put the past
behind them, was awarded
the Ecumenical Jury Award
in Berlin.
Claude Chabrol could not
be absent from a run of
French movies, and he’s here
with “La fille coupee en
deux,” a black comedy about
a TV weather girl and the two
very different men who pursue
her, starring Ludivine
Sagnier, Francois Berleand,
Benoit Magimel and Mathilda
May.
Another award-winning
film, “Ensemble, c’est tout”
is directed by actor-turned-director
Claude Berri and stars
Audrey Tautou and Guillaume
Canet in a story about
a struggling artist and a
short-tempered chef who offers
to look after her when
she falls ill.
‘Il y a longtemps que je t’aime’ is about reconciliation.
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