Cheap Mostly Martha (DVD) (Martina Gedeck, Maxime Foerste, Sergio Castellitto) (Sandra Nettelbeck) Price

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Customer Reviews of Mostly Martha

In this case, Martha is Martha Klein (Martina Gedeck), a supremely talented chef, who lords over the kitchen of the Lido, an upscale Hamburg restaurant. Martha is so obsessed with food preparation and presentation that she'll confront any customer that sends her creations back to the kitchen. Because Martha is "the second best" chef in the city, the Lido's owner, Frida (Sibylle Canonica), refrains from firing Klein, but has demanded that she see a therapist. On the shrink's couch, Martha talks only of recipes. Over his objections, she even prepares meals for him to eat at his desk.

Martha's regimented life is disrupted when her sister, a single mother, perishes in an auto accident. Martha is left to care for Lina (Maxine Foerste), her 8-year old niece, while attempting to contact Giuseppe, the girl's father living somewhere in Italy. In the meantime, Frida hires another chef, Mario (Sergio Castellitto), to augment her kitchen staff. Mario's free and easy personality is the antithesis of Martha the Control Freak. Martha finds her life spinning into chaos, especially when it becomes apparent that she's failing miserably as a surrogate Mom to Lina, who remains depressed over her mother's death and so passively hostile that she won't even eat the perfectly prepared and arranged dishes that Martha sets before her.

Had MOSTLY MARTHA been made in Tinseltown, it would've inevitably starred Meg Ryan as Martha, Tom Hanks as Mario, and some adorable child star as the incorrigible Lina. The characters of this German production are all eminently likeable and credible, and they concoct a just-right mix of comedy and drama that perhaps wouldn't have been achieved in an American version. While the ending is also eminently predictable, the filmscript, which assigns Martha a (cinematically) unusual profession and places much of the action inside the choreographed frenzy of the Lido's kitchen, is clever enough to elevate the movie, in my opinion, above three stars.

I heartily recommend this charmer if you like to cook, frequently eat in high-end restaurants, and/or enjoy films with a cosmopolitan, European ambience.

A food movie about people.
Bella Martha is a remarkable food movie in an uncommon way. While you're not going to come away from it quite as hungry as many others, because it doesn't focus visually on the food, it's remarkable in its characterization of restaurant people. Martha is neurotic in many ways that overlap with chefs I've worked under: the OCD, the not eating, the awkward people skills. So if what you're looking for in a 'food movie' is mouth-watering shots of the food, this isn't it, but the characters are remarkable, and it's a great story as well. Unfortunately, as a German-speaking friend I watched it with told me, the subtitles are kinda crap. But it's not the minutiae of the plot that makes this movie good, though the overall writing is excellent.

Mostly Martha is Mostly Magnificent
I thought that "Mostly Martha" (other titles include: "Drei Sterne", and "Bella Martha") was outstanding. It showed well rounded characters, an interesting plot, a happy (though not suprising) end, and was an all around successful endeavor in film-making. I give this movie two thumbs up and suggest that everyone interested in seeing a really good film should see "Mostly Martha". Bono Appetite!