Shariq’s Département

Ok, so I agree that the film loses something in its translation from the wildly successful stage musical - specifically, the direction is overrun with close-ups, so we lose the panoramic experience of group joy in the dance scenes (and this movie is about joy and simple happiness); also, it’s more difficult to just stand up and dance in a movie theatre, especially when the music is recorded, and not live.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  What a wonderful ode to simplistic, joyful, “in the moment” fantasy living that creates new realities and new opportunities.  The music of Abba has been panned over the decades for being fluff pop with pitiful lyrics.  But, let me ask you to reconsider.  There is a reason these songs stick in your mind and don’t let go.  I just have to say “Money, money, money” and you think “it’s a rich man’s world”; I say “Voulez-vous” and you think “ain’t no big decision” and throw in an “a-ha”.  My point is that these songs are melodiously extremely inventive and have hidden harmonies that make you feel good as you hear them.  You want to bounce up and down - and that is what this movie is about.

It’s also about living in the “NOW” moment, taking risks, being spontaneous, and hence enjoying life.  And this is where the lyrics of the Abba songs come in - they might seem like fluff but that is because we are trying to over-intellectualize them.  Sometimes messages are simple.  The movie begins with Sophie on the threshold of her wedding sends out missives to three men her mother Donna (the amazing, is-there-anything-she-can’t-do Meryl Streep) slept with over one summer, any of whom could be her father.  Sophie sings to a starlit sky, “I have a dream, a fantasy…if you see the wonder of a fairty tale…you could take the future, even if it fails”.  She is setting the stage for the themes (yes, themes!) of the movie.  In the fantasy world the movie creates, you create your future by believing in a positive reality and acting from your heart at the right moment.  When Julie Walters comically sings “Take a chance on me”, she is taking a risk, putting herself out there, but without her asking and imagining this future, the man she fancies (the excellent Stellan Skarsgard) will never consider it.  The follow up lyrics to “Voulez-vous” are “ain’t no big decision” because indeed we shouldn’t over-think our positions but act spontaneously to generate happiness.  Without revealing plot details, let me just say that because of spontaneous (and surprising) decisions both Sophie and Donna make about marriage in the final scenes of the movie, they set the stage for their own happiness.

I now have to talk about the amazing turn I witnessed by Meryl Streep that had goosebumps flowing through my body.  Some critics just don’t get it, wondering why an actress famous for her flawless character studies and accents would take on such a frivolous role.  Well, because to play Donna like Streep does is pretty damn hard.  Her accents come through in her beautiful singing voice - she actually uses the different pitches and keys in her voice as she sings Abba to suggest depths of character and waves of emotion.  Her body and physicality expresss as much as her face.  And she looks beautiful and radiant at 59.  Streep makes the movie work - the audience is transfixed on her (although the director does try and upstage her by giving her goofy sight directions to mimic some of the lyrics). 

At the movie’s closing credits, Streep, in platform shoes and an Abba 70’s costume leads the cast in two final concert songs - she is having the time of her life and so should we!  Her courage to let herself go and dramatically reinvent the Abba musical should be an inspiration to us to live our lives in the “NOW” and take risks; to have fun and enjoy ourselves!