I'm really interested to hear what all of you thought of
Mostly Martha. I personally had mixed feelings. It was a fun movie but I really didn't buy that the two main characters would end up together. I was far more interested in the relationship between Martha and Lina than I was the relationship between Martha and Mario. I did find it interesting that the actress who plays Martha (Martina Gedeck) seems to be Julia Robert's German dopplegänger (which BTW, is a German word).
So, go ahead and check out
this little meme that I found amusing and then answer one of the questions below or respond to something someone else said:
- Do you agree or disagree with my assessments of the film above? Explain.
- What did you like about the film? What did you dislike?
- What impressions did you get about modern German life from the film?
I would have liked this movie... If not for the silly love scene... Or the cheesy 80's family fun movie music... Or the last 10-15 minutes.
ReplyDeleteThere was so much wrong with the ending portion of it that I don't even know where to begin. The "father" taking Lina away -- Mario staying at the apartment through all of that. Them finding her completely happy in Italy with people who were essentially STRANGERS. The lame fairytale ending where everything magically works out. The message I got from that was "blah blah blah".
However, I did like the very last scene between her and her therapist... Even though it made absolutely no sense for her to have continued seeing him when it was shown that she moved to Italy. It's not as if he helped her have a major breakthrough or anything, if a connection was formed it should have been shown better. That's also the same for her neighbor. He served no real purpose. He could have, but it all became redundant when Mario ending up the love interest. Mario was creepy. In the scene where he confronts Martha in the freezer I felt uncomfortable for her -- It felt as if the filmmakers were trying to show that there was sexual tension, but it didn't work because it was only coming from him.
I totally see the Julia Roberts type appeal that she has... Though dopplegänger is kind of pushing it.
Mario *ended* up the love interest
DeleteMaybe "dopplegänger" is a bit of a stretch. More like she's channeling Julia Roberts.
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ReplyDeleteThere's a lot to love in this film. The characters are so rich and deep. The story is captivating. And it's in German. It;s perfect. "No Reservations" doesn't work for me, because American life isn't as reflective of this story as it is in Germany. Germans have a certain tase palette that clashes harmoniously with their neighbors to the south. It's a great setup. And I constantly felt the emotional tension and sorrow between Lina and Martha.
ReplyDeleteWell, there's a lot of clouds in Modern German life. They love their foods. People frequently die from car accidents? (on The Autobahn?) There's a lot of Italians in Germany. I dunno. It's just cloudy. That's what I saw the most.
Yeah .... clouds.
DeleteThanks for sharing the insight about the clash between German taste palettes and the Italian taste palettes. That does add an extra dimension to the film.
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DeleteAshton Bowers:
ReplyDeleteI realy liked this movie, i liked how it showed that one of the best cooks in germany can have some major problems and fall in love with a crazy italian man, what i didnt like was how martha took in the girl and helped her, cooked for her, just tried everything to make her happy while work a long job, but the girl calls her mean when all she makes her do is go to school.
i think it represents modern germany in that it shows that germany is pretty dull and grey today, not a realy happy place to be, but people still try to make something out of it.
Is your opinion of Germany as a dull and grey place based just on this class or other experiences you've had?
DeleteTayia Groesbeck-
ReplyDeleteI really liked this movie a lot, I loved how at the begining they showed all the food being made and it interested me and i'm always usually into shows or movies involving food or food being made. I was happy at the end when Martha and Lina ended up together. In the one scene when Martha and Mario were kissing and stuff it made me really uncomfortable for some reason, I think it was because they were old or something but other than that I relly liked this movie.
Yeah, old people kissing is gross ;)
DeleteAnd by "gross", I mean "grose". ;)
DeleteI also had mixed feelings on this movie. I know that I did in fact like it. but...... there were a lot of problems with it. As you said it was weird that movie started out focusing on her and her niece but later in the movie It seemed to switch to her feeling for Mario. Which was a little odd.... Another really really annoying thing I found was that you knew what was going to happen well at least I knew. From like half way through. It just didn't happen fast enough!!! I kept think okay it'll end soon. Just I thought they could cut out al lot of pointless things and end it faster.
ReplyDeleteBut I did think I had a theme.... I thought that everything in life can't just be solved by cooking but I thought for a second.. But wait..... All her problems were solved by cooking haha Its just an odd movie I really don't know what else to say about it......
Yeah ... you can tell what's going to happen during movies that follow formulas. This movie follows the Hollywood formula for romantic comedies to a tee.
DeleteC.J. Barrett:
ReplyDeleteI do agree about the relationship scaling between Martha and Lina, and Martha and Mario to be very heavily balanced to Lina and Martha's relationship. If they were to delve deeper into a relationship with Mario, I would have much rather seen it go with Lina. There weren't many scenes where the two characters had any sort of extended dialogue or development together, aside from early on when Mario finally convinces her to eat through some sneaky reverse psychology. I feel like Lina, as a character, could use a mediator between herself and Martha, which honestly Mario seemed suited to perfectly. I get the feeling something like that may have been an original plan, but had to be cut out or was simply put aside in favour of another element.
Modern German life doesn't seem all that different from that of the U.S., from what this film has exhibited. I'm starting to get more and more disappointed in the world; it turns out a lot of other country's lifestyle's are lame and boring like us in the U.S. Someone restart the universe so there can be all sorts of diversity again!
Aslo; I see your meme, Josh, and raise you a Workaholics reference. http://youtu.be/gZaFIDxT1J4
Sorry the movies are causing you to lose faith in the world. I think that a more globalized economy has resulted in more and more of the world being the same, sadly.
Deletei liked this film. i thought it was good and i loved the main character. she was very pretty and expressed her love for cooking through the hole movie. i loved how when Mario came over to cook for them and she walked into the kitchen after eating and she freaked out over the mess he left. i also thought it was a little slow in some parts. i was a little confused weather or not her and her neighbor would get together but when she got with Mario i was happy. i thought he was cuter anyway. i also though it couldve gone more into detail with her and the little girl but even though i didnt get to see the ending, from what i heard it had a happy ending. which was nice because allot of movies we watched didnt have happy endings.
ReplyDeleteGood point. It is good to get a breath of fresh air with a happy ending.
DeleteI really enjoyed watching this movie, I thought it was so beautiful. It really shows you that even though something horrible might have happened, doesn't mean you have to be depressed all the time, I felt like the little girl felt very misunderstood, and I know it would be extremely hard to lose a parent, and I know it would be difficult to have to earn a responsibility without even being able to prepare for it. I loved how the little girl found her happiness in cooking, and getting a real passion for it, even being a young age. This movie shows you that, even though times can be rough, you can pull through and be happy again.
ReplyDeleteYay for liking the movie!
DeleteUmm, I'm not sure if I can agree with you Josh. I don't see Martha as the German Julia Roberts.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I didn't pay that much attention to this movie. I just kept trying to figure out what movie was based off Mostly Martha. Which is No Reservations by the way.
I liked the style of the film and the story of conflit between Lina and Martha. But this film never really caught my attention to the point where I analyzed it.
I think modern life in Germany seems kinda laid back. Honestly, a school wouldn't have waited to tell a guardian that a child hasn't been going to school and telling all her friends she works for room and board. And you wouldn't let your niece go to live with a man you don't know. But the food in this movie looked really good!
Cool. The movie was kind of "meh".
Delete-Randi Michelle :3
ReplyDeleteI honestly really liked this movie. I used to watch the American remake No Reservations all the time when I was younger, so while I was watching this I was kind of freaking out because I predicted everything that was going to happen correctly. Like when Martha got that call about her sister dying? I CALLED it. When Lina ran into the rode and she told Martha she wanted her mom and not her, I CALLED it. When Mario came over and they all had that camping feast in the living room, I CALLED it. I knew I wasn't crazy thinking that this movie had something to do with No Reservations. If if didn't...I would've been like, "COPYRIGHT ABUSE!!!!" When I was younger though, it made me want to be a chef like Martha, and I got really into cooking. I made dinner literally every night, but it was mostly just spaghetti. I kind of got over it though, and I would really rather not be a chef anymore. Though, I still do really like making and eating spaghetti, because it's delicious and the most amazing food on this planet.
I liked the story line, and how even though it had a theme based off of something completely irrelevant to food, it still somehow revolved itself around food and actually made it work. However, I didn't like how the dad just randomly appeared out of nowhere and was like, "Oh hey! Even though I've never even met my daughter and have refused to be in her life at all until her mom died, I'm her dad! So I'm going to take her home to Italy with me now!" And Lina just leaves with him. It was a what the crap situation for me. And then how emotional Martha and Mario were about it like they were never going to see her again, but then not even 5 minutes into the movie later they decided, "Hey! Let's drive all the way to Italy to visit Lina for like an hour or so, then leave!" And how Lina was living with her dad's new family? No, that was just stupid. Seriously, I would feel so awkward living with a bunch of Italian's I've never met before just to be with my dad, and when Martha came I would've begged her to take me back. It just kind of irritated me, haha. Other than that, I really liked this movie, and the remake No Reservations. :)
That's so cool that you had such a fun time watching the film! Which do you like more, Mostly Martha of No Reservations? Why?
Delete-Randi
DeleteI'm not sure, I think I liked them both the same. But I can't really remember that much of No Reservations since I haven't seen it in so long, but I do remember the music to it, and I liked their soundtrack better than Mostly Martha's. I don't know, it just sounded prettier and more directed towards the theme of the movie, haha.
Those Germans and their lame soundtracks! JK.
DeleteYeah, there was that ONE part where they liked each other ... right there ... out of a vacuum.
ReplyDeletetommy kiter
ReplyDeletei enjoyed watching this movie, i agree with you josh because i really didnt think she was gonna go with the chef dude. I thought she was gonna go for the bald guy with kids. I Liked how she loved what she does which is to cook, she was so good at it.
what i liked was how she cared so much for the little girl even though it wasnt hers. I also like how her and the other chef like nit picked at each other ending up liking each other.
I think the Modern German life is alot different and similar at the same time There food is different how they live is different. i really like this film i enjoyed it i would recommend it to anyone.
We're on the same page.
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