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Greetings again from the darkness. Nothing (well very few things) irritates me more than a marketing campaign that misrepresents the movie. The trailer I saw 2 months ago, led me to believe that this was a comedy, in fact, almost a slapstick comedy. PLEASE don't go to this movie expecting a comedy. There are a few laughs, but mostly just a few smiles and chuckles. This wonderful film offers so much other than comedy. Veteran German actress Martina Gedeck is just outstanding as Martha - a beautiful woman comfortable only while cooking ... and then just barely. Most of the movie deals with Martha's struggle at being a mom to her 8 year old niece AND having to share her kitchen with a talented "Italian" chef. Watching these 3 grow is painful, yet fulfilling. Watch for the changes in Martha's approach to food and life as Mario shows her the warmth and emotions of both. This is a coming of age film for an older woman. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" had been my favorite little movie of the year. Now it is not so little, and "Mostly Martha" may be every bit as good. Just don't expect a laugh out loud comedy.

"Mostly Martha" is a thoroughly delightful tale of a comely, self contained, socially unassured, and occasionally gauche German master chef, Martha (Gedeck), in need of a recipe for living who finds love through tragedy and romance through cooking. In thinking about these comments I concluded that there is nothing I would change about this film except the language (I don't speak German). A perfect little gem, "Mostly Martha" is the kind of flick which makes you feel sorry for those who won't watch foreign films because of subtitles and wonder why audiences dine voraciously on cinematic junk food when such palate pleasers as this are not only delicious but nutritious. (A-)

The charms outweigh the clichés in "Mostly Martha (Bella Martha)." Of course it's right away different in that the phrase "German romantic comedy" isn't common and can be applied here.

I loved that "Martha" herself is a competent, self-possessed professional and that's what attracts the guy to her. While we first meet her in therapy, her problems are those of work and personal life I could certainly relate to.

While this will remind others of food prep movies like "Wedding Banquet," "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman," and "Tortilla Soup" or restaurant movies like "Dinner Rush" and "Big Night," (which all had male chefs), or "Babette's Feast," I have zero interest in cooking so cared only that "Martha" is very good at her job and at managing the restaurant kitchen.

The restaurant characters seem like real co-workers, and amazingly the niece is not some adorable child actor but seems like a real kid whose surliness is legit.

The Italian sous chef who comes on board brings the sensuality of the Mediterranean --in music (with a generous use of Paolo Conte songs), movement and language much like in the Danish "Italian for Beginners."

And of course in romance, which is still delightful even as the clichés start appearing, her happiness is indicated by her loosened hair like Jane Fonda's in "Electric Horseman."

But I enjoyed the build-up to their relationship in ever longer, longing glances and their mutual professional respect and concluding compromises.

(originally written 9/2/2002)

A strange thing about the food: some of it, like the bird-cooked-in-pig's-bladder which Martha describes in loving detail in order to have something to talk about while she's with her therapist, sounds good, and perhaps even looks good, without being in the least bit appetising. You'd have to be mad to actually eat anything that's been cooked in a pig's bladder. But Martha is probably right aesthetically, if not in any other way: if she says the best way to cook the bird is in a pig's bladder, then you'd better believe it.

Martha is a superb creation. She's a good chef. (She may be the best chef of any film ever made.) When her boss sends her to a therapist, she talks about food and cooking, which interest her, rather than about herself, which doesn't interest her. She goes to therapy because her boss orders her to, and when her therapist (who's no fool either) asks her why she thinks her boss orders her to, she says, as though considering the question for the first time, that she doesn't know – and she clearly doesn't care, either.

When various people (her orphaned niece, an Italian cook) come along to disrupt her life, we're on her side in wanting her to retain control; and although these likable people DO successfully disrupt her life, she does successfully retain control; so everyone wins. And it's hard not to admire someone who can not only insult the philistines who eat at the restaurant where she works but who know how to do so properly. These people don't know how good they have it. I'd rather be insulted by her than flattered by some spineless flunky.

The script, word for word, and moment for moment, is as perfectly judged as one of Martha's dishes. The IMDb user who says of Lina: "She didn't cry when her mother died, but she was really upset when Martha forgot to pick her up. It wasn't her fault, it was the script's" merely shows how much his sensibilities have been coarsened by Hollywood cliché. In fact, the film shows genuine insight into the way people naturally react, not the way lazy screenwriters would like to train them to react. Lina reacts to her mother's death not with the usual screen histrionics but by not eating. Tears are reserved (as they are in life) for less important misfortunes.

This is an assured, intelligent, charming film. Even the use of music shows an unerring touch. I'm eager to see what Sandra Nettelbeck does next.

A German film that tells the story of chef Martha and the changes in her life and job after her orphan niece moves to her place and a new Italian chef joins the team in her restaurant. Love will be a catalyst in Martha's personal life, and also in the way she approaches food and her job as a chef.

The movie is a nice mix of drama, romance, and "foodies" movie, with stereotypical characters: the flourish flirtatious Italian, the hard resilient cold German, and the rebellious troubled kid.

The believability of the movie is heavily indebted to Martina Gedeck's performance as Martha and to child Maxime Foerste as her nice Lina. They both play with great conviction their respective hard characters. Sergio Castellitto is very charming as the Italian chef Mario, and plays his character with a mix of downgraded Italianism and Flourish Germanism, so to speak. The three of them have a great chemistry on camera and carry on the story well.

Said this, I found that the romance story, although charming, was underdeveloped, while the struggling relationship with the kid was completely predictable and unoriginal. In fact this is just a traditional film recipe well carried on and well acted. However, the movie received an accolade of local and European awards and lead Hollywood to adapt the movie in No Reservations, adapting the plot to American tastes and turning it into a straight comedy.

An enjoyable film with stereotypical characters and situations, and very good performances. Perfect for foodies!

This German film is one of the happiest surprises of the year. Not only is it a well paced, acted, and directed, but it involves the viewer like no other film in recent memory. Director/writer Sandra Nettelbeck deserves praise for bringing this joyous piece to the screen.

Martina Gedleck, as Martha, is perfect as the control freak of the upscale restaurant. Obviously, she can cook, judging by the full houses and the good vibes she generates among the diners. What she has in smarts, she lacks in social graces. Obviously, she doesn't have a life.

Her world is shattered by the arrival of a niece that comes to her under tragic circumstances, and from Mario, the new Italian cook. One can see the new man in her kitchen is too much of a free spirit, who ultimately will be her downfall.

Mario, very nicely played by Sergio Castelletto, is the opposite of his German colleague. It doesn't take long for him to charm the daylights out of Martha. Sparks fly whenever they are on screen together. Both principals have the right chemistry and that's why this film works so well. It will surely disarm anyone in the right state of mind. The only thing is that one must leave the theatre craving for a great meal.

It is a very poetic movie about sentiments, human relationships, love and being able to love.

There is an interesting and amusing way to symbolize food: cold and technical in the attitude of Martha at the beginning and, at the opposite,warm and 'affective' in Mario's style. It is a bit schematic, but very effective. The same opposition is between Mario's Italian character and Martha's....

Very pleasant movie, worth to be seen.

You have it now. Buy, don't rent this film. It's a keeper. Most notable and with great kudos to the director, the films stays true to itself almost all the way through. Far enough to beat out most other films. There are a few quibbles toward the end of the film, but not enough to shake off the aura it imparts just giving yourself over to its story.

The camera moves efficiently and cleanly throughout the film, and the actors respond with clean understated action and dialog.

The story is spare, and I found what I think is a clue to the writer's intention, as the protagonist describes the menu purpose of "Fish in Butter and Basil sauce." Listen for it and see if you don't agree, she is speaking to us about her story/film.

To own this is, like Nurse Betty, to own something you just have to pull out and watch a couple of times a year. just because they're so darn good.

No wonder the folks in H'wood are busy at making an American version for 2007.

Not exactly a comedy as billed, though amusing in places, never the less a good film. Excellent for those who like food and food films. Well acted, great little film. Doesn't top 'Eat, Drink, Man, Woman' by Ang Lee, though.

This film is an excellent psychological study of a VERY controlled and emotionally constricted woman who uses food, believe it or not, as a way of avoiding intimacy. She is a superb chef who is incredibly precise and demanding concerning her cooking because she is so uncomfortable with people. However, into her tightly controlled world comes chaos in the form of her niece--whose mother was just killed in an auto accident. Not surprisingly, she has a hard time relating to this child and I was thrilled that her transformation to a whole person took time and wasn't achieved in a Hollywood-style way. Instead, this little girl (who was not overly cute or fake--thank goodness) and a new chef at her restaurant (who was completely unlike her) influence Martha in a way that is believable and satisfying.

By the way, while not quite as good as The Big Night (which came out the same year) or Babette's feast, this movie is VERY reminiscent of them--elevating food to a true work of art.

I'd liked a lot of this German comedy. Sincerely, I wasn't expect much of this picture, because I didn't known the director Sandra Nettelbeck. It's a kind of pop movie of high human and dramatic level. The characters are well designed and well acted by an unknown and professional cast. Well, Castellitto was knowed for some Italian films, but the German cast, I think, are not known in Brazil. People, intellectual or not, love people like us, who suffers, try to grow up, changing for better. Every viewer, man or female, identifies with Martha, her difficulties with feelings and general relationship. The story aren't much original, but the way that the director treated yes, with a charming and tender humour. The contrast between German and Italian cultures gives the fundamental basis for our pleasure in to watch this delicious and delicate movie,that I recommend for everybody who loves good and selected pictures.Welcome,Sandra, to the field of the good female German directors, like Doris Dorrie, for example.

It's almost as if Nettelbeck had been given a recipe for a perfect film - start with the tried-and-tested, take a character living alone, set in his/her ways then saddle him/her with a young kid and simmer the love-hate on a low flame; add a culture clash and vamp til ready -and discarded it in favor of her own ingredients. The culinery metaphor is self-explanatory but it IS fun to see the heavy, lard-based German cuisine slugging it out with the lighter, oil-based Italian style. Up front we have two cold teutonic hearts, aunt and neice and with the introduction of the Italian extrovert chef we know it is only a matter of time til the warm Italian sun thaws the cold aryan hearts. That's pretty much what happens but it is a DELIGHT to go along for the ride and surrender your emotional taste-buds to Nettelbeck's expertise for the entire running time. I've just seen this movie for the second time in about 8 months and I was just as captivated this time around. 9/10

I rated Mostly Martha (2001) 6/10. I'm a bit confused why this makes so many best of "foodie" lists since the cooking is very secondary to the plot and exists solely to be a place where stuff sometimes happens, but it is a decent family drama and it is obviously an influence on Chef.

A few rhetorical questions:

a. Why are there no great English-language food/romance movies? Whenever you see a movie that truly ravishes you with food preparation and recipes as part of the atmosphere of the movie, it comes from France or Mexico or Hong Kong - or, if it is in English, it's borrowed culturally from another country (e.g. Chocolat, or the Mexican-American adaptation of Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman). I think it's because the English speaking societies of the world have a relatively unsophisticated approach to food preparation and dining, manifest in our great contributions to world culinary arts - fast food and industrial agriculture, plus cooking technologies that take art out of the equation. You can't have a sexy drama set amidst a world of force-fed veal or microwave dinners.

b. Why do we never talk about German comedy? The Germans do have a comedic tradition, but the movies that are released in the US tend to be solemn dramas, violent or shocking action pieces or grim experimental works. On the rare instances that I see a German comedy, I'm always pleasantly surprised, and I have the feeling I'm missing out.

c. Why are European movies so much better than American films at showing sexiness and desirability in 30- or 40-something year-old women? I have a pet theory, that European sensibilities about marriage and commitment are sufficiently different from American norms that there is the expectation that a 35-year old woman may yet be actively and happily single, or perhaps a single mom who isn't stigmatized to feel that she had best find some sucker to marry her and get out of the dating pool.

d. Why isn't jazz used in American soundtracks anymore? In this film set in Germany, the score is assembled by Manfred Eicher (founder of ECM, the acclaimed modern-jazz label), and it's all good. Some nice German lieder, classic vocal jazz, and instrumental pieces by Keith Jarrett and others. We Americans appear to have forgotten jazz as soundtrack music.

In any case, Mostly Martha is a fine little movie set in contemporary Köln, starring Martina Gedeck as the title character. Martha is a neurotic, workaholic chef at a high-end restaurant, whose control freak tendencies keep her at a distance from everyone. When her boss insists that she go to therapy, she replies by preparing recipes for the hapless shrink. Both lonely and a loner (a tricky combination), she throws herself into her work to the point of exhaustion.

Martha's single-minded life is thrown upside down when she suddenly becomes the guardian to her niece Lina (Maxime Foerste). As she struggles to take on this new role, the arrival of a competitor in the form of a brash Italian chef (Sergio Castellitto) threatens her supremacy in the kitchen.

Any viewer of romantic comedies knows where this is going, but I have no complaints about the plot line. The performances were all good; the dialogue is thoughtful; the food looks delicious. It's not a great movie, but it's a good one and would be an admirable effort by any studio.

I admit that the film may be predictable, but the acting and the way it was made makes it worth watching it. It may not change your life but it may allow you to enjoy a movie made with good taste that you can watch with your whole family. I found Martha and the Italian cook charming. 7 out of 10

Obviously, I liked this film more than most. I found it touching and

well acted. And it had a realistic character who is quite frustrating

to watch, even with her therapist. I also felt her insecurity when the

charming Italian shows up. A chick flick? Believe it or not, men

sometimes feel insecure and threatened, too. Moreover, the

actors had a chance to really journey through an "arc", ending up at

a place different from where they began. That doesn't happen in

most films. Finally, if you see "Martha" and don't love it, I suggest

you watch it a second time, with your eyes closed. Listen to Paulo

Conti. He's incredible! If nothing else, the film introduced me to

his music, and that alone would be enough.

A little diamond,sensitive, delicately done piece of art,director's work. Sandra Nettelbeck has the talent that only few newcommers have. Great performances,especially by Martina Gedeck as Chef. Must be one of 10 best films for 2001

The film opens with Martha (Martina Gedeck, who looks like a younger and thinner Kirstie Alley) on a psychologist's couch. But instead of talking about normal counseling things, she is talking about what flavors go together and other food-oriented things. The psychologist asks why she bothers coming, and she says that she only comes because her boss insists.

It seems that Martha is an outstanding cook, but is a little temperamental. Okay, maybe more than a little. If a customer has a complaint, her response is to attack the customer's lack of taste rather than to smooth the situation over. One is reminded of the film "Big Night" in these scenes. Needless to say, this doesn't work well. Oh, and Martha also has a tendency to "hide" in the restaurant's walk-in freezer when she gets overwhelmed by what's going on around her in the kitchen.

The second main character is another chef named Mario (Sergio Castellitto, who looks a bit like Barry Manilow). Martha assumes that he is intended to replace her when her boss hires him, and in fact he is very talented. I won't say much more, although this axis of the film is not exactly surprising.

The third main character is actually introduced before Mario, but because this character is not on the film poster and there is more surprise involved, I won't say more, except that this character's introduction makes a very large difference in Martha's life.

It's very hard to pin this film down. It is often funny, but it's also a drama, and a cooking demonstration, and more. The performances are all good, the story moves clearly but not overly predictably, and the film looks good. It is surprising to learn that it was made by a first-time feature film director.

You won't finish the film as hungry as you would after seeing "Big Night," but you will want something good to eat. As this film is now essentially gone from theaters, you will probably be seeing it at home, but do seek it out if the normal formula films are getting stale. Just make sure to stock your kitchen well first.

Seen on 10/23/2002.