Mostly Martha (original German title: Bella Martha) is a 2001 German romantic comedy drama film written and directed by Sandra Nettelbeck and starring Martina Gedeck, Maxime Foerste, and Sergio Castellitto. Filmed in Hamburg, Germany, and Italy, the film is about a workaholic chef who is forced to adjust to major changes in her personal and professional life that are beyond her control. The film won the Créteil International Women's Film Festival Grand Prix Award, and was nominated for the Goya Award for Best European Film in 2002. It was also nominated for the German Film Awards Outstanding Feature Film.
Plot
Martha Klein (Martina Gedeck) is a chef at Lido, a gourmet restaurant in Hamburg, Germany. A perfectionist who lives only for her work, Martha has difficulty relating to the world other than through food. Her single-minded obsession with her culinary craft occasionally leads to unpleasant confrontations with customers. Consequently, the restaurant owner, Frida (Sibylle Canonica), requires her to see a therapist (August Zirner) to improve her interpersonal skills. Martha's therapy sessions, however, turn into monologues on food, and her approach to stress management usually involves briefly retreating to the restaurant's walk-in refrigerator.
Martha's life takes a dramatic turn when her sister is killed in a car accident, leaving behind an eight-year-old daughter, Lina (Maxime Foerste). Martha must now look after her niece, who is understandably depressed, withdrawn, and refuses to eat. The girl's Italian father, Giuseppe Lorenzo, has been out of the picture for years, living somewhere in Italy. While coping with her sister's death and raising the young girl, Martha's world is further complicated when Frida hires fun-loving and unorthodox Mario (Sergio Castellitto) as a sous-chef to replace Lea (Katja Studt), who is expecting a child any day. Martha looks on in horror as Mario transforms her kitchen of precision and logistics with his relaxed banter and up-beat music.
Unable to find an acceptable babysitter, Martha brings Lina to the restaurant with her. Lina begins to emerge from her depression in the presence of Mario's playfulness, and even begins to eat when Mario leaves her unattended with a plate of spaghetti he's prepared. Touched by Mario's kindness and concern for the child, Martha becomes more accepting of Mario. She even asks for his help in locating Lina's father in Italy and translating a letter she's written to him.
Just as Martha's strained relationship with Lina seems to be improving, she forgets to collect the girl from school while helping Lea, her very-pregnant sous chef, get to the hospital to deliver her baby. Lina is angry at being forgotten at school, and the incident causes a serious setback in their relationship. To make amends, Martha offers to grant Lina any wish: Lina wants Mario to cook for them. Mario agrees, and prepares a picnic-style dinner in Martha's living room. Despite the mess left behind in the kitchen, the evening of food, stories, and games brings the three closer together.
The renewed warmth between Martha and Lina is immediately tested when Martha is told by the school principal that Lina has not been attending school regularly, and that when she does come to school, she falls asleep. The principal also tells Martha that when he asked the girl why she was always so tired, she told him that she was forced to work in a kitchen to earn her room and board. Angered by Lina's behavior, and also having been warned by the restaurant owner, Martha tells Lina that she can no longer come to the restaurant. Lina storms off, nearly getting hit by a car, and later attempts to run away to Italy. Mario continues to support Martha emotionally as their relationship becomes romantic.
Lina's father, in answer to Martha's letter, arrives to take his daughter to Italy to live with his wife and family. Distraught and conflicted by the separation, Martha rejects Mario's loving support, and after another confrontation with a customer, quits her job. Soon after, Martha asks Mario to accompany her to Italy to retrieve Lina. After reuniting with the girl, Martha and Mario marry, and the three begin their lives together as a loving family.