Martha is one of the best chefs in Germany, but she is business-like and strict in her approach to her craft. When it comes to food, she is a font of knowledge, but she cooks with determination, not passion. For her, running a kitchen is not about creativity, but about precision, timing and mastering logistics. Her personal life is empty. Someone mentions that the only thing lonelier than sleeping alone is eating alone, and Martha realizes she does both. Then, as a result of one tragic accident, her life changes. Her sister is killed in a car crash, and her niece comes to live with her. Lina is quiet, withdrawn, and angry. She rarely speaks to Martha and often glares at her, as if silently blaming her for the loss of her mother. Her father is an Italian, but Martha doesn't know how to locate him. And, to complicate matters, her boss at the resteraunt hires another chef, the bubbly, irrepressible Mario (Sergio Castellitto), to help in the kitchen. While Mario loves working with Martha, Martha is unhappy with the situation. Then, when she can't find a babysitter, she is forced to bring Lina with her to work.
Martha is a delightfully complex character - a successful, respected chef whose personal life is as blank as the plates upon which she creates her culinary craft. LIna adds a dimension to her existence that she never foresaw, and, even though Martha's relationship with Lina takes a long time to develop, it transforms her as a person. Mario is the "X" factor, and he eventually influences both Lina and Martha.
The file has a lighthearted edge. There are many slyly comedic moments, many of which center around Martha's regular visits to her therapist. She spends hours on his couch, regaling him with the descriptions of kitchen creations. These moments of levity, sprinkled throughout the movie, provide a relief from the otherwise intense tale.
The acting is top-notch. Martina Gedeck is glorious as Martha. She able handles all the challengs inherent in playing Martha - the harsh, unyielding chef who icy facade crumbles when she's alone in the freezer, seeking a moment's reprise; the fumbling would-be-mother-figure who desperatley wants to reach her niece; and the woman in search of some sort of human warmth. As Lina, Maxime Foerste gives a natural, unforced performance. We never once sense that she's an actor playing a part. And Sergio Castellitto is delightful as Mario, the man with a big heart and a bigger personality.
There's plenty of food to be seen in Mostly Martha, and, as one would suspect , there's a symbolic significance to all of it. When the film begins, Martha has no life outside of her cooking. It is what she does well, but, while she guards it jealously, she does not love it. By the end, however, she has found pleasure in life as well as in food. She enjoys eating as much as she does making the meal. As much as other motion pictures that employ perpartion and consumption of food as a key element. Mostly Martha provides the perfect blend of cinematic nourishment and gratification.
Porculus