Mostly Martha
Monday, April 30th, 2007
Mostly Martha (AKA Bella Martha) is an absolute gem of a movie. This movie is not a blockbuster, it’s a small, nuanced character study but, what characters to study!
Martha is an obsessive compulsive German master chef who cooks, lives, worries and tries desperately to control everything and eventually loses control and loves. Martha is played by the German actress Martina Gedeck and she is outstanding. I’ve never seen her in another movie, maybe never will, but no matter, she nailed this part. I would say her performance is one of the best I’ve seen in any movie, ever. If you see this movie, make note of how Martha puts on her apron. It’s incredible how Martina Gedeck gets physical nuance. Her face, her gestures, everything.
For me, a dyslexic, to call a German movie with subtitles one of my favorites means something, believe me.
There is an American version of this movie coming out soon with Katherine Zeta-Jones in the lead. I’m sure I’ll see it but I can’t believe I’ll like it better than this original version.
My good friend David Darling did the some of the soundtrack for the German version along with Keith Jarrett.
