rating:
(out of
4 stars)Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland; 2001
Directed by Sandra Nettelbeck; produced by Karl Baumgartner, Christoph Friedel; written by Sandra Nettelbeck
Starring Martina Gedeck, Maxime Foerste, Sergio Castellitto, August Zirner, Sibylle Canonica, Katja Studt
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
'Bella Martha' is a nice film about a chef named Martha (Martina Gedeck) who
is obsessed with food. Her cousin dies and Martha has to take care of her
8-year old niece Lina (Maxime Foerste). This is a lot harder than she
thought it would be, since the kid is very stubborn. Lina wants to meet her
father. She has never met him since her mother was not a big fan of him.
Apparently he is living in Italy. Things change for Martha when an Italian
sous-chef named Mario (Sergio Castellitto) comes to work at her restaurant.
At first she does not like him very much, but when she sees his influence on
Lina who occasionally joins Martha in the kitchen, she slowly changes her
mind.
Director Sandra Nettelbeck has written a nice story, as easy to take as a
nice dish. She throws in all the ingredients to make a perfect light-hearted
film. Except for the ending, that probably plays too easy even though it is
the ending we wish, 'Bella Martha' does not step wrong. It is entertaining
the entire time, funny and emotionally involved with its characters.
Nettelbeck does not push things for the wanted effects and reactions and
that is the right approach for a film like this. It seems natural, a human
story about a woman who slowly turns into a much happier person.