So if you have not seen the original 2001 romantic comedy from writer-director Sandra Nettlebeck yet, you are in for a delicious distraction that has some meat on its bones. Ms. Nettlebeck has cleverly played Teutonic efficiency against Italian joie de vivre. The camera work is exquisite, musical selections from Manfred Eicher are delightful, and the performances from Martina Gedeck and Sergio Castellito are deliciously spot-on. (If you have not seen some of their other films – here are some you should put in your queue: Gedeck in the searing film The Life Of Others and Sergio Castellito in Don’t Move and Paris, Je T’aime). Mostly Martha should be on your list of top favorite food films. There were a couple of poignant revelations that I took away from the film: one was Martha’s niece, fearing that she would forget what her mother looked like, compulsively watching videos of her last vacation with her mom. Another was that even with a romantic ending, Martha’s neuroses still lodged quite comfortably in her mind. Oh, and her panic attack looking at a messy kitchen still resonates with me. Little frisson of self-recognition there….
After owning one of the best cooking stores in the US for 47 years, Nancy Pollard writes a blog about food in all its aspects – recipes, film, books, travel, superior sources and food related issues.
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