Siftings
That "Mamma Mia"/ ABBA Feeling; A Film Review and The Iloilo Sarswela For All Seasons
"Mamma Mia" is a rarity, somewhat a kick-ass treat for the geriatric crowd. I caught the film on its last two days at Robinson's Cinemas. Sadly, there were exactly a dozen people in the whole house - I counted them when the house lights came on. And you know what? They all belonged to the female senior citizens society which includes me, all of us sporting white, gray or hennaed hair. All belonging to the generation that loved the music of the ABBA.
Ahh, those songs. The upbeat lilt of the female voices, the downbeat of bass guitars, and whatever else that went into the inimitable instrumentation which once made bodies walk or sit up straighter, or run to the dance floor with hearts beating faster and louder, with an added glow in the eyes and luster on the lips, the roses blooming brighter on the cheeks – oh yes, the film did these again if only for the duration of the screening. I sat there and wondered how the filmmakers could make the great drama queen Meryl Streep sing and cavort on camera as Donna, once singing and dancing diva of a female band, and obtain passing marks for it! And how they could make Pierce Brosnan, one of the most exciting cinematic reincarnations of James Bond ever, sing and look so absolutely devastating to the senior female crowd, despite (or because of?) the hint of a paunch on his once lean muscled frame.
The older members of the cast, esp. the bosom singing buddies of Donna, are a treat. Here, the movie makes a few swipes at the conservative standards of moral/ethical behavior. Tanya (played by Christine Baranski), is the object of pursuit by a much younger and good-looking black young man, and seems to enjoy it while putting arguments against it. The other pal Rosie (played by Julie Walters) delivers a lubricious (deliciously lubricating!) punch while singing "Take A Chance On Me" to one of the suspected fathers (played by Stellan Skarsgard), whom she is "persuading" to get into a relationship with her. As he tries to get away, muttering concerns about family responsibilities, Rosie nonchalantly goes on, implying that the joys of love and sex should not be canceled, by virtue of such boring concerns, for the senior citizen waiting for the final take-off in the so-called pre-departure area.
And this is not just for the older generations. At movie's end, the young bride-to-be is launching her new life as Seeker of Life, Identity,Experience, Truth. etc., against the lambent glow of a twilight dreaming to the hushed call of "I Have A Dream" - not as a bride but free to explore the world with her love, not bound to the duties and onus of a limiting domestic life on that little Greek island.
Here, the film (and the play, I suppose) clearly sounds the clarion call of today: See the world, Explore your possibilities, Achieve your goals, Be the person you are meant to be! All these, to the music of the ABBA. Can anything be more rousing, whether you are 17 or 70?
But what really impressed me is the way the plot – once taboo and earmarked for high tragedy – has been whittled down to find a place that is acceptable to a postmodern society. The quandary of a young bride-to-be wanting to know who her real father is - because she was conceived at a time when her mother, hurt by the apparent abandonment of her lover, tried to ease her pain by having relationships with two other men in succession, within the period of conception – may not be so shockingly unacceptable today. After all, we have reports of babies being dumped into or picked out of garbage cans, dead or alive, almost every week. Being alive and having the possibility of 3 fathers is decidedly more acceptable!
Despite the morbidity of realities such as these, there is joy in life: in the limpid blue waters of the once-fabled Isles of Greece, in the glow of sunset reflected in hope-filled young eyes. Most of all, in the upbeat of feet stomping and hands clapping to the sounds of love, unrequited or fulfilled, that the ABBA sung – so long ago, it now seems, when bodies and hearts and souls were so vigorously invincible in that everlasting time we call YOUTH.
Meanwhile, allow me to plug a show, Please catch the ILOILO SARSWELA at the UPV Auditorium this coming Monday, August 18, with performances at 3pm and 6pm, as part of the UP CENTENNIAL Celebrations this 2008.
Be entertained by this old cultural form that once held sway as the no. 1 entertainment form in the 1930's, and get to know why. Culled from the Spanish zarzuela of the late 19thcentury, the sarswela has survived in an indigenized form – and spelling – to project past and present mores, customs and lifeways of the Ilonggos. You will enjoy the talents at acting, singing and dancing of UPV faculty, alumni, and students who will bring to life the characters and plots devised by the region's most prominent sarswela writers of the past like Valente Cristobal, Jose Ma.Ingalla, Salvador Magno, etc.
Come and celebrate with us and be, not only entertained, but more so, be enlightened and enriched for the rest of your life!
My column SIFTINGS has now found a new home. If you have news, ideas and experiences about life, cultural doings, academic concerns, etc., please feel free to share them with us and we will find space here for them. Thank you and happy reading!