访谈录 2008-07-22&07-24 ABBA 的 Mamma Mia（在线收听）

stuff gets more and more advanced everyday. We turn on to our collaboration with Google. The top rising search: The Dark Knight. Unless you’ve just come out of a suspended animation or something, you have doubtless heard that the latest Batman movie is out today. It is the most hyped movie of the summer. There’s even a talk about a posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger, who plays the villain Joker. Also rising: Muriel’s Wedding. It’s a 1994 movie. We couldn’t figure out for the life of it why people were searching for it on Google. And then we caught a clip from the movie. Yeah, that’s it. There’s ABBA music in it. Then that explains it, because besides Batman, there is another movie opening today, and like Muriel’s Wedding, it’s about nuptials and ABBA music. The movie version of the obscenely popular musical Mamma Mia is out. And ABC’s Nick Watt is in ABBA heaven, or some might consider it ABBA hell.

Take a chance on me. If you need me, let me know, gonna be around. If you’ve got no place to go, if you’re feeling down… Sorry, just can’t help myself. I love ABBA. So does everybody. For me, the love affair starts with the profound lyrics.

Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight.

There was something in the air that night. Fernando.

What happened to our love? It used to be so good.

And this woman is responsible for a reincarnation.

Did you think all of this was gonna happen? Did you think it could be this big?

No.

It’s called Mamma Mia, a musical based on the ABBA classics. That’s played in 19 countries.

It went from the creative process to now running a, I mean, the industry.

And now it’s on screen. I mean, Meryl Streep sings “The winner takes it all.” [ROFLMAO!!] What more do you want? The guy who played Bond is in it. So is the guy who played Darcy. And some cuddly sweet.

A fantasy, really.

So what do the critics make of ABBA on celluloid?

I know it’s Swedish, but it’s hardly Bergman, is it?

No, it isn’t great cinema. But it doesn’t have to be. It’s about the music, which is too good to butcher.

I’ve been humming ABBA all week. I’ve been humming it in bed. I wake up in the morning, thinking “gimme gimme gimme.”

A small price to pay for a musical that has grossed two billion dollars and counting.

Nick Watt, ABC News, London.