No Reservations about Mostly Martha
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
Six months ago a friend loaned us a DVD of the German movie Mostly Martha. Being dyslexic I’m not a huge fan of foreign films with English subtitles, I just can’t keep up and that can wreck the movie for me. There are exceptions, the most notable being Cinema Paradiso which I’ve watched many times over the years, never tiring of it.
. Being dyslexic I’m not a huge fan of foreign films with English subtitles, I just can’t keep up and that can wreck the movie for me. There are exceptions, the most notable being So, we put in Mostly Martha with reservations and within a few minutes of starting the movie, the subtitles faded into the background, Martina Gedeck’s Martha character took off and we were hooked. Martha is a chef in a high-end restaurant in a coastal city in Germany who happens to be a control freak and a perfectionist. The kitchen, the characters, the restaurant, her apartment, it’s all incredibly well developed, of a piece. Even the detail of the way she puts on her apron is beautifully captured in the film. The music by Keith Jarret and my friend David Darling is also a plus. This movie is first rate and like Cinema Paradiso we’ve watched it numerous times.
When we heard that there was going to be an American remake of Mostly Martha we were curious but skeptical. Why make another version? Yes, Mostly Martha might have been a sleeper (a good movie few see) but to make another version of it means that someone thought the screenplay was good, maybe the acting, but possibly there was a buck to be made with a non-subtitled version. Ugh.
When I found the American remake, No Reservations on Amazon, I ordered it with mixed feelings.
Last night we gave it a try and we really did try to like it on its own terms but watching it, especially knowing the quality of the original film, made me cringe. Here is Catherine Zeta-Jones saying Martina Gedeck’s lines verbatum and it’s not working. There is nothing behind the characters in this movie. In the original, Martha is an obsessive compulsive chef in a high end German Restaurant where the pressure is obvious, both external and internal. In the copy, Kate (the Martha chacter) is just angry but who knows about what?
The only character worth watching in the remake is Bob Balaban who plays Kate’s psychiatrist but in fact, in the remake Kate doesn’t seem to need to be going to a psychiatrist at all so the character has no purpose.
We didn’t finish the movie, I just couldn’t take it and I immediately sold it on Amazon and wrote a less than positive review of it.
Part of me is delighted that the remake hasn’t done well, the original Mostly Martha is a gem and anyone reading this who hasn’t seen it really should.
We have our own little Six Degrees of Separation going on here. You know David, who wrote the music for Mostly Martha. Star of the film, Martina Gedeck acted opposite my friend, Hubert, in a TV film called Hölleisengretl in 1995.
Wow Sarah, small world it is. I think Martina Gedeck is a spectacular actress and her Martha should have won her an academy award. This US remake is such an embarrassment, like many things US these days.
Richard, Mostly Martha was a terrific movie in every way: great story and acting, and I can’t think of a good reason it should be made into an American remake. Some wise movie executives no doubt thought it would make a pile of money.
And, I doubt it made any money, it went to DVD almost immediately after coming out. No theater run at all. Seems like a flop to me. Of course, I’m one of the suckers who bought it.
I just wanted to correct you that you first watched Mostly Martha about a year ago since it was when I last lived in DC that I took your advice and rented it on Netflix. I adored it of course and have absolute no interest in seeing the new version. Watching Akeelah and the Bee right now - I think you recommended that to me too :). Go see Juno.
Thanks Michaela, it probably was a year ago. Yes, Juno is on our list, it looks great.
I am embarrassed to say that I did not realize that Mostly Martha and No Reservations were the same movie. I have had Mostly Martha on my Netflix list for quite some time because I saw a trailer and thought it looked really interesting. I watched No Reservations on a flight to Europe and thought it was mildly entertaining. However now having seen Mostly Martha it is very sad that the remake was so word to word verbatim with the exception of a few details. The original is so much better.
Robin: Amen. No comparison. The question I ask is, why make the new version when the original was so good? Just to get rid of the subtitles? Seems odd to me.
In my kitchen today, I started thinking about the comparison of Mostly Martha to No Reservations. I wondered what others thought … and here I am.
When I first saw Mostly Martha, I loved it. My daughter was only 7 at the time but I thought, when she gets older I want to watch it with her. When No Reservations came out, her and her friends (all 13 years old) wanted to see it. They liked it. I told my daughter, I wanted her to see the original movie. Of course, when I said subtitles, she said no.
A few weeks ago I rented Mostly Martha and coaxed her to watch it. She really liked it. I don’t think I could have had her sit through it if she had not seen No Reservations.
Lisa, I’m glad you found me.
No Reservation followed the original so closely that one could compare them line by line. This both irked me and no doubt made the original more accessible to your daughter.
However, when I think about what the folks who made No Reservations did, it really pisses me off. And, the reason they did it, no doubt, is that they thought Mostly Martha was a great movie but inaccessible to Americans who don’t like movies with subtitles.
As a dyslexic I don’t blame people for not liking to read movies but I must say, the performances of the actors in the original, mostly Martina Gedeck are so good that the copy falls flat on its face. I’d have liked a dubbed copy more. I felt like I was watching a rip off, a theft.
Anyway, I’m delighted you enjoyed Mostly Martha. My good friend David Darling did part of the soundtrack so I also have a connection and enjoyment of the movie for that reason.
I agree. Watching No Reservations really was like watching a theft. It was unnerving.
Thanks.
i love it! i’m a little late to the party but i had to comment. my granddaughter who is 10 came to stay over night. i started making dinner and she said she wanted to help. she watched “no reservations” with her mom last night and she liked it and wanted to learn more about cooking. i was happy about that but bummed that i hadn’t recommended “mostly martha” to her mom a long time ago. but hopefully as the woman above with her dtr., she can watch it now with subtitles. it was such a gloriously beautiful movie. martina is a pleasure to watch and when i saw her in “the lives of others”, another wonderful movie, i was so happy to be able to see this incredible actress again.
to say the americanized version paled in comparison is an understatement. czj is no martina! she was boring.
i was also upset that my g’dtr commented on the actor on the dvd cover. she said he wasn’t handsome and i told her to watch the movie and see if she didn’t fall in love with him the way martha and i did. once again our american culture in action.
thanks.
paulette: it is so nice to hear others who feel as I do about these two movies. The original is such a great gem that the fact that anyone would think of “Americanizing” it is a terrible insult to both the movie and to American movies.
As you say, Martina in The Lives of Others is fantastic (the movie is fantastic period).
Aaron Eckhart is in the role Sergio Castellitto played in the original (Mario, the Italian chef) and while he’s an excellent actor, it just doesn’t work for me.
Thanks for commenting, I think I’ll pull out Mostly Martha and watch it again later tonight.