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Bella Martha
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Bella Martha (2001) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   3,756 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 19% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
Sandra Nettelbeck
Writer:
Sandra Nettelbeck (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Mostly Martha on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
18 April 2002 (Germany) more
Genre:
Comedy | Romance | Drama more
Tagline:
In Martha's enchanted kitchen, more than the food is starting to simmer. With some special ingredients they just might discover a recipe for passion. more
Plot:
When a headstrong chef takes charge of her equally stubborn 8-year-old niece, the tensions between them mount... until an Italian sous-chef arrives to lighten the mood. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
14 wins & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Penélope Cruz in talks to star in Castellitto's 'Mondo'
 (From screeninglog. 13 March 2009, 8:30 PM, PDT)

Almodovar Dominates European Film Awards
 (From WENN. 9 December 2002)

User Comments:
Four relationships, two fronts, an island (no woman is....) more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Martina Gedeck ... Martha Klein
Maxime Foerste ... Lina Klein (Martha's niece)
Sergio Castellitto ... Mario
August Zirner ... Martha's Therapist
Sibylle Canonica ... Frida
Katja Studt ... Lea
Antonio Wannek ... Carlos
Idil Üner ... Bernadette

Oliver Broumis ... Jan

Ulrich Thomsen ... Sam Thalberg
Gerhard Garbers ... Herr Steinberg
Angela Schmidt ... Frau Steinberg
Diego Ribon ... Giuseppe Lorenzo
W.D. Sprenger ... Noisy customer
Victoria Trauttmansdorff ... Companion (as Victoria Trauttmannsdorff)
more
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Mostly Martha (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Drei Sterne (Germany) (working title)
Martha (Germany) (working title)
Ricette d'amore (Italy)
more
MPAA:
Rated PG thematic material and mild language.
Runtime:
109 min | Japan:105 min
Language:
German | Italian
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Filming Locations:
Hamburg, Germany more
Company:
Arte more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Sergio Castellitto's German wasn't good enough so Frank Glaubrecht was brought in to dub his voice for the German version. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Mario and Lina get ready to cook dinner at Martha's apartment, Lina puts on her apron twice. more
Quotes:
Mario: [to Frida, about chef Martha] It's your restaurant, but her kitchen. Without her, it's just a pile of metal. It's for her to decide. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Film Geek (2005) more
Soundtrack:
Volare more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful:-
Four relationships, two fronts, an island (no woman is....), 23 February 2003

(spoiler regarding the general plot)

Bella Martha reminds me of About A Boy, the "no man is an island" aspect of it. In some ways, Martha is like the guy played by Hugh Grant. The difference though is that while he apparently is really happy about the state of affairs, i.e. the isolation, she is not (even if she may not be fully aware of her own unhappiness). She has to visit a therapist regularly, although she claims that this is purely on instruction of her boss. I call this visit the first of the four "relationships" just to make the number sound more interesting.

The other three relationship all start to develop quite early in the film. First, a neighbour moves in, a gentlemanly engineer called Sam. Then in her "office" i.e. the kitchen of a restaurant where she is the chef, a chap called Mario is brought in by her boss as temporary relief for her assistant on maternity leave. Finally, death of her single-parent sister in an accident left her taking care of her eight-year-old niece Lina while they search her father in Italy.

The first half of the film developed these three relationships along the two fronts: home and office. Soon, it is clear that Sam's role is not really significant, serving just as a dependable friend and emergency-baby-sitter. On the other hand, rocky starts of the other two relationships smooth out as the two fronts merge. Lina comes to the restaurant kitchen in the evenings, becoming a darling there, while Mario becomes a family friend and Lina's buddy, and the three look just like a family. We begin to see smiles on Martha's face.

As in similar movies, just after the mid-point, when characters are well developed and things go nicely, conflicts occur. What I found is that the hostility of Lina towards Martha is less than convincing, even if we take into account her possible rejection of Martha as a mother-substitution. The eventual reconciliation also comes a little too easily. The other conflicts, on which I won't go into details, are not that well developed.

But that is exactly the main point. This is not a Hollywood movie with the standard formula of powerful dramatic conflicts and climatic tear-jerking conclusions. This point is well made when we see the ending of the story given to us quite casually as part of the credit roll. Oh yes, there's a concluding scene with the therapist, reminding us of the sense of humour that comes as part of the film.

Smooth jazz (not sure if that's the right terminology) has been used throughout the film, at the right times, enhancing it rather than distracting from it.

Finally, I really love the scenes in the kitchen which is Martha's entire universe at the beginning of the film, as well as where her reconciliation with both Mario and Lina first takes place. The story aside, I really enjoy the operation in the kitchen, which is the exact opposite to the mass production lines brought about by the industrial revolution. Here, in Martha's kitchen, things are done with what I can only describe as artistic flair.

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How did the movie end? pavane
umm...what about Sam? Fallingslowly21
everyone liked this? chinpeng
Remake with Catherine Zeta-Jones? soyarra-1
Favourite scenes? KaletzibarEC
remake or half baked...?? c-ho
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