Mostly Martha (film)
Encyclopedia
Bella Martha is a 2001 German
romantic comedy
drama film
directed by Sandra Nettelbeck. The American movie No Reservations
is heavily based on this. It is about a skilled chef
in Hamburg
, Germany. When her sister dies, she is left taking care of her niece, who gives her problems. She then has to face choices about the best solution to solve the problems set forth by her niece.
The film follows the events as they occur, but has occasional interludes where Martha is speaking with her therapist about cooking.
) is a workaholic chef, single-mindedly obsessed with the perfection of her culinary creations. After her boss, restaurant-owner Frida, catches her arguing with a pair of customers over the quality of her cooking, Martha is ordered to see a therapist (August Zirner
) to try to work out her control issues and poor interpersonal relationships. (Martha usually faces the stress she encounters at work by locking herself in the meatlocker until she calms down.) Meanwhile, Martha's sister, perhaps her only connection to a world outside of her job, dies in a car accident, leaving Martha in charge of her niece, the sullen and broody Lina (Maxime Foerste
).
While trying to deal with her sister's death and the difficulty of raising her niece (who initially wants nothing more than to find her estranged Italian father), Martha's world is further turned upside down when Frida hires funloving and unorthodox Mario (Sergio Castellitto
) as a sous-chef to replace the heavily pregnant Lea. Mario challenges Martha's defenses and bonds with Lina, who begins to accompany Martha to work. Martha begins to relax and open up to the possibility of a romantic relationship with Mario. Her progress is seemingly cut short when she forgets to pick Lina up from school while helping Lea get to the hospital to deliver her baby. While she reconciles with her niece after a heated argument, Lina's father arrives to take his daughter to Italy to live with his new wife and family. Martha is distraught and conflicted and cuts off her relationship with Mario and quits her job because she is tired of Frida's criticism.
She eventually reconciles with Mario and the two of them drive to Italy to get Lina. The closing scenes of the movie suggest that they marry, adopt Lina, and are opening up a restaurant of their own. Martha, who is still seeing her therapist, is apparently giving him cooking lessons, where he is amazed that she could tell the difference between the type of sugar he used and the type of sugar the recipe called for.
, Steve Reich
, David Darling
and Arvo Pärt
, with most compositions dating from the 1990s. Manfred Eicher
, founder of ECM Records is credited as music consultant.
, was released in the United States
in 2007 starring Catherine Zeta-Jones
in the role corresponding to Martha. Aaron Eckhart takes on the role corresponding to Mario in Mostly Martha with an Americanised attitude.
The film inspired a Bollywood interpretation, Cheeni Kum
, starring Amitabh Bachchan
and a Spanish remake: Chef's Special
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
drama film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Sandra Nettelbeck. The American movie No Reservations
No Reservations (film)
No Reservations is a 2007 American romantic drama film directed by Scott Hicks. The screenplay by Carol Fuchs is an adaptation of an original script by Sandra Nettelbeck, which served as the basis for the 2001 German film Mostly Martha.-Plot:...
is heavily based on this. It is about a skilled chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany. When her sister dies, she is left taking care of her niece, who gives her problems. She then has to face choices about the best solution to solve the problems set forth by her niece.
The film follows the events as they occur, but has occasional interludes where Martha is speaking with her therapist about cooking.
Plot
Martha Klein (Martina GedeckMartina Gedeck
Martina Gedeck is a German actress. She came to broader, international attention due to her roles in films such as Mostly Martha, The Lives of Others, and The Baader Meinhof Complex...
) is a workaholic chef, single-mindedly obsessed with the perfection of her culinary creations. After her boss, restaurant-owner Frida, catches her arguing with a pair of customers over the quality of her cooking, Martha is ordered to see a therapist (August Zirner
August Zirner
August Zirner is an American-Austrian actor, who starred in over 60 film productions. He is one of the most popular actors in Germany.-Biography:...
) to try to work out her control issues and poor interpersonal relationships. (Martha usually faces the stress she encounters at work by locking herself in the meatlocker until she calms down.) Meanwhile, Martha's sister, perhaps her only connection to a world outside of her job, dies in a car accident, leaving Martha in charge of her niece, the sullen and broody Lina (Maxime Foerste
Maxime Foerste
Maxime Foerste is a German actress. She has been in several movies including Mostly Martha .-Filmography:Foerste has been in films including:* Liebe kommt selten allein, Die Alessa Köster....
).
While trying to deal with her sister's death and the difficulty of raising her niece (who initially wants nothing more than to find her estranged Italian father), Martha's world is further turned upside down when Frida hires funloving and unorthodox Mario (Sergio Castellitto
Sergio Castellitto
Sergio Castellitto is an Italian actor and director.Castellitto attended the academy of dramatic art and dedicated himself to theatre soon after, working with many famous actors such as Luigi Squarzina, Aldo Trionfo and Enzo Muzii...
) as a sous-chef to replace the heavily pregnant Lea. Mario challenges Martha's defenses and bonds with Lina, who begins to accompany Martha to work. Martha begins to relax and open up to the possibility of a romantic relationship with Mario. Her progress is seemingly cut short when she forgets to pick Lina up from school while helping Lea get to the hospital to deliver her baby. While she reconciles with her niece after a heated argument, Lina's father arrives to take his daughter to Italy to live with his new wife and family. Martha is distraught and conflicted and cuts off her relationship with Mario and quits her job because she is tired of Frida's criticism.
She eventually reconciles with Mario and the two of them drive to Italy to get Lina. The closing scenes of the movie suggest that they marry, adopt Lina, and are opening up a restaurant of their own. Martha, who is still seeing her therapist, is apparently giving him cooking lessons, where he is amazed that she could tell the difference between the type of sugar he used and the type of sugar the recipe called for.
Cast
- Martina GedeckMartina GedeckMartina Gedeck is a German actress. She came to broader, international attention due to her roles in films such as Mostly Martha, The Lives of Others, and The Baader Meinhof Complex...
- Martha Klein - Maxime FoersteMaxime FoersteMaxime Foerste is a German actress. She has been in several movies including Mostly Martha .-Filmography:Foerste has been in films including:* Liebe kommt selten allein, Die Alessa Köster....
- Lina Klein (Martha's niece) - Sergio CastellittoSergio CastellittoSergio Castellitto is an Italian actor and director.Castellitto attended the academy of dramatic art and dedicated himself to theatre soon after, working with many famous actors such as Luigi Squarzina, Aldo Trionfo and Enzo Muzii...
- Mario - August ZirnerAugust ZirnerAugust Zirner is an American-Austrian actor, who starred in over 60 film productions. He is one of the most popular actors in Germany.-Biography:...
- Martha's Therapist - Sibylle Canonica - Frida
- Katja Studt - Lea
- Antonio Wannek - Carlos
- İdil ÜnerIdil Ünerİdil Üner is a German-Turkish actress.Üner studied at the Berlin University of the Arts. She received piano lessons for 17 years—starting from the age of 6—and formal opera training for two years. She joined the youth chapters of the Turkish-speaking theater Tiyatrom in Berlin of which her father...
- Bernadette - Oliver BroumisOliver BroumisOliver Broumis is a German actor. He was born in Hannover, Germany at July 31, 1965 where he grew up.Right after College he went to the Hamburg University of Music and Dramatic arts for a 4 years education in acting. Since then, he also did a lot of training in Los Angeles with M. K. Lewis ,...
- Jan - Ulrich ThomsenUlrich ThomsenUlrich Thomsen is a Danish actor.Thomsen was born in Fyn, Denmark and graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1993, after which playing on several theatres in Copenhagen, such as Dr. Dantes Aveny, Mungo Park and Østre Gasværks Teater.His film debut was in...
- Samuel 'Sam' Thalberg - Gerhard Garbers - Herr Steinberg
- Angela Schmidt - Frau Steinberg
- Diego Ribon - Giuseppe Lorezo
- W.D. Sprenger - Noisy customer
Soundtrack
The soundtrack is comprised substantially of music by artists from the ECM Records stable, including Keith JarrettKeith Jarrett
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who performs both jazz and classical music.Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey, moving on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s he has enjoyed a great deal of success in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music; as...
, Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
, David Darling
David Darling (musician)
David Darling is an American cellist and composer. He won the Grammy award for Best New Age Album in 2010. He has performed and recorded with artists such as Bobby McFerrin and Spyro Gyra in addition to putting out several solo and small ensemble albums as well as albums of his...
and Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
, with most compositions dating from the 1990s. Manfred Eicher
Manfred Eicher
Manfred Eicher is a German record producer and the founder of ECM Records and its subsidiaries.Eicher studied music at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He is a record producer and a double-bass player. In 1969 he founded a record label in Munich called ECM - Edition of Contemporary Music...
, founder of ECM Records is credited as music consultant.
Remakes
A feature film based on Mostly Martha, retitled No ReservationsNo Reservations (film)
No Reservations is a 2007 American romantic drama film directed by Scott Hicks. The screenplay by Carol Fuchs is an adaptation of an original script by Sandra Nettelbeck, which served as the basis for the 2001 German film Mostly Martha.-Plot:...
, was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 2007 starring Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Catherine Zeta-Jones, CBE, is a British actress. She began her career on stage at an early age. After starring in a number of United Kingdom and United States television films and small roles in films, she came to prominence with roles in Hollywood movies such as the 1998 action film The Mask of...
in the role corresponding to Martha. Aaron Eckhart takes on the role corresponding to Mario in Mostly Martha with an Americanised attitude.
The film inspired a Bollywood interpretation, Cheeni Kum
Cheeni Kum
Cheeni Kum is an 2007 Bollywood romance film directed by R. Balki, starring Amitabh Bachchan as an 64 year-old man, opposite Tabu, who plays an 34-year old who falls in love with Bachchan. Produced by Sunil Manchanda, the film releasd on 25 May 2007.-Plot:Cheeni Kum focuses on Buddhadev Gupta...
, starring Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
and a Spanish remake: Chef's Special
Chef's Special
Chef's Special is a Spanish film directed by Nacho García Velilla that centers on homosexuality and the decision to come out. It focuses on men who have had relationships with women to hide their own sexuality, to the point of even having kids. The film also deals with the theme of single parents....
.