Written and directed by Sandra Nettelbeck, Bella Martha (Mostly Martha) is the story of a chef whose workaholic lifestyle is forced to change when she has to work with another chef as well as care for her niece. It’s a dramatic film of sorts that play into a woman who is good at what she does as she is forced to find a balance for her life as a chef and as a woman at home. Starring Martina Gedeck, Maxime Foerste, Ulrich Thomsen, and Sergio Castellitto. Bella Martha is a charming and heartfelt film from Sandra Nettelbeck.
Following the death of her sister in a car accident, the life of a workaholic chef is changed when she finds herself having to take care of her niece where she is force to adjust to the changes in life that include having to share the workload with an Italian chef hired to help her at this restaurant. It’s a film that has a woman whose life is about control and knowing how to cook and when a certain piece of food is well-cooked as the news about her sister’s death just halts everything she knows. Sandra Nettelbeck’s screenplay opens with the titular character of Martha Klein (Martina Gedeck) talking to a therapist (August Zirner) who is asked to examine Klein from the suggestion of her boss Frida (Sybille Canonica) because Klein is a perfectionist who only seems to live for cooking and cooking alone. All of that changes upon the news about her sister’s death in a car accident leaving her to care for her niece Lina (Maxime Foerste) who is shutting herself from anything while refuses to eat the gourmet food that Klein has created.
Adding to this change as the staff at her restaurant is dealing with the pregnancy of one of the cooks, Frida brings in the Italian sous-chef in Mario (Sergio Castellitto) who is not as disciplined nor seems to care about perfection. What he brings to the kitchen is something more carefree as well as a stereo that plays music to get everyone else in the staff feel relaxed and not worry as much on the job. Mario and Klein are two different people who have different ideas about running a kitchen yet the former knows when to step aside while he would creating food that Lina would eat which would make Klein’s life easier as she struggles with taking care and getting to know Lina while also trying to find Lina’s father who is Italian.
Nettelbeck’s direction is largely straightforward as it is largely shot on location in Hamburg, Germany where it play into the world of a gourmet restaurant with rich menus and food that only a few can get regularly. While there’s some wide shots of the locations, Nettelbeck’s direction is much more intimate in its usage of close-ups and medium shots where it does play into the intimacy of the kitchen. Notably as Nettelbeck uses the camera to see how people move in the kitchen as well as pay attention to the small things that they’re creating whether it’s a soup, a side dish, or the main course. Still, Nettelbeck does keep an interesting outlook into the story that include this relationship between Klein and Lina where would start to bond through cooking with Mario’s help as he would make a dinner for all three of them as a way for Klein to relax and connect with other people. Even as Nettelbeck would have these scenes between Klein and her therapist be approached with some low-key humor with the latter becoming interested in the meals she’s created. Still, there is this search for Lina’s father who is from Italy as Klein becomes unsure if Lina should be with her father or with her as she is forced to learn about the aspects of life and not having to follow the rules all the time. Overall, Nettelbeck crafts a touching and lively film about a workaholic chef dealing with the changes in her life.
Cinematographer Michael Bertl does excellent work with the film’s cinematography from the daytime exterior wintery look of Hamburg to the usage of gorgeous lights at the restaurant to the more basic look of the kitchen in its interiors. Editor Mona Brauer does terrific work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with a few transitional fade-outs. Production designer Thomas Freudenthal and set decorator Sigrid Schroeder do fantastic work with the look of Klein’s home that includes a big kitchen as well as the kitchen at the restaurant as well as the restaurant itself.
Costume designer Bettina Helmi does nice work with the clothes as it is largely straightforward and casual with a more posh role for Klein’s boss Frida. Sound designer Martin Langenbach does superb work with the sound in creating an atmosphere of the kitchen as it play into the chaos as well as how music is presented from Mario’s stereo. The film’s music by Steven A. Reich is wonderful for its jazz-driven score with some pianos and brass while music consultant Manfred Eicher and music supervisor Michael Beckmann both create a soundtrack that features an array of jazz and pop music that Mario likes to listen to.
The casting by Heta Mantscheff is brilliant as it feature some notable small roles from Katja Studt as the pregnant sous-chef Lea, the trio of Antonio Wannek, Idil Uner, and Olivier Broumis as a trio of fellow cooks at the restaurant, Diego Ribon as an Italian man named Giuseppe Lorenzo, W.D. Sprenger as a noisy customer, and Ulrich Thomsen in a superb performance as Klein’s new neighbor Samuel Thalberg who helps Klein in dealing with Lina as well as being a friend. August Zirner is terrific as Klein’s therapist who is hired to analyze her where he becomes more concerned about her cooking recipes that makes eager to eat though he tries to maintain a sense of professionalism in his job. Sybille Canonica is fantastic as Klein’s boss and restaurant owner Frida who is concerned about Klein’s state of mind as well as trying to run a restaurant that remains popular despite some of the awful customers they get.
Maxime Foerste is excellent as Lina as an eight-year old girl who just lost her mother as she’s struggling with loss while doesn’t seem excited to eat what her aunt creates yet finds solace and comfort through the food that Mario creates which would allow her to bond with her aunt. Sergio Castellitto is amazing as Mario as an Italian sous-chef who is hired by Frida to help out where he brings a more laid-back and fun approach to cooking in the kitchen as well as help Lina cope with food as he also manages to woo Klein in a subtle way while his voice is largely dubbed by Frank Glaubrecht. Finally, there’s Martina Gedeck in an incredible performance as Martha Klein as a workaholic chef whose life has been defined by perfection and following the rule is shattered by the death of her sister forcing her to care for her niece where she copes with newfound responsibilities but also having to share duties with another chef as it would allow her to open up more as it’s a charming and heartfelt performance from Gedeck.
Bella Martha is a sensational film from Sandra Nettelbeck that features a great performance from Martina Gedeck. Along with its supporting cast, simplistic presentation, a lively music soundtrack, and its love for food and cooking. It’s a film that explores a woman’s grief and having to adjust to unexpected changes as well as learn to let go of control and share the joy of cooking with others. In the end, Bella Martha is a phenomenal film from Sandra Nettelbeck.
© thevoid99 2019
(Co-Winner of the Jury Prize w/ La Classe de neige at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival)
Written by Thomas Vinterberg and Mogens Rukov, Festen (The Celebration)/Dogme #1 is the story of a family coming together to celebrate a patriarch’s 60th birthday until someone unveils a secret that would ruin everything. The first film under the Dogme 95 movement founded by Vinterberg and Lars von Trier, the film is an exploration into a family’s life in the middle of Denmark as it all comes apart by dark secrets. The result is a gripping yet mesmerizing film under the Dogme 95 movement.
A family gathering at a posh hotel in Denmark sets the stage for an event where a birthday celebration becomes a disaster as secrets are unveiled. Notably as the eldest son of the family claims that his father had sexually abused him and his late twin sister many years ago when they were children as everything starts to come apart. It’s a film that plays into a family coming undone as dark truths are unveiled along with many accusations in the course of an entire day in this posh hotel where a patriarch’s 60th birthday celebration becomes a day in hell for him.
The film’s screenplay slowly plays into an entire day where a day which was to be about something good ends up becoming something far more terrifying. Even as things become more complicated when the eldest daughter introduces her family to her new boyfriend in an African which only roused her boorish younger brother who is wild and a known-racist. Things do intensify since the eldest son makes this announcement as if a series of time bombs start to go off where all of these secrets and such become unveiled. It’s not just in the patriarch but also in some of the members of the family as it also relates to the youngest son and his own troubled marriage in which he treats his wife very poorly.
The film’s direction is quite engaging for the fact that it is shot entirely on hand-held cameras as part of the Dogme rules while there’s a few tricks where the camera capture scenes through the aid of a few things without the use of anything mechanical and such. Instead, the director (who is not credited for this film under the Dogme rules) goes for something that is simple as there’s a lot of close-ups and medium shots along with some strange camera movements that is common with a lot of films shot in hand-held cameras. Much of it plays into the drama where things do intensify as it becomes more unsettling as it goes on. Even as the director captures everything that is happening such as moments of silence where no one feels easy about everything that had been unveiled. Overall, what the director has created is a very intense yet eerie film about a family coming apart during a patriarch’s birthday.
Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle does amazing work with the naturalistic yet low-key photography as it‘s shot on grainy film to play into something that feels very real. Editor Valdis Oskarsdottir does brilliant work in creating some unique cuts to play into the drama and action as well as some of the film‘s dark humor. Sound designer Morten Holm does superb work with the sound to capture everything that goes on in location (as part of the Dogme rules). The film’s music by Lars Bo Jensen is wonderful as it’s very low-key as it’s played on location rather than added in post-production (as part of the Dogme rules) as well as bits of classical music that is played in the background.
The casting by Rie Hedegaard and Lene Seested is phenomenal as it features notable small appearance such as the film’s director as a cab driver, John and Erna Boas as a couple of grandparents, Lars Brygmann as the hotel receptionist, Lene Laub Oksen as the dead twin sister Linda, Bjarne Henriksen as the head chef Kim who knew about what happened, Klaus Bodman as the party’s toastmaster, Therese Glahn as a maid named Michelle who had an affair with the youngest brother Michael, Helle Dolleris as Michael’s mistreated wife Mette, and Gbatokai Dakinah as the African-American boyfriend of the eldest sister Helene. Trine Dyrholm is terrific as the maid/former flame of the eldest son Christian who tries to keep everything in tact while discovering some truths about what happened to Linda.
Birthe Neumann is excellent as that family matriarch Else who tries to keep things going as she’s either in denial or doesn’t know what really happened. Paprika Steen is fantastic as the eldest child Helene who would find her sister’s suicide note as she copes with the entire day as well as her youngest brother’s behavior towards her boyfriend. Thomas Bo Larsen is brilliant as the youngest child Michael as he is a total asshole to everyone as he tries to please his father and get in his good graces. Henning Moritzen is amazing as the patriarch Helge as a man who is trying to maintain order as he is the one that is being celebrated as he copes with the accusations that are made by his eldest son. Finally, there’s Ulrich Thomsen in a phenomenal performance as Christian as the eldest son who accuses his father of molesting him and his twin sister as he tries to reveal the truth about his own family.
Festen is a remarkable film as it features great cast and amazing ideas based on the Dogme 95 rules. It’s a film that isn’t just a compelling story about a family coming apart but also a film that plays into dark secrets that marks the end of a façade that was perpetrated by its patriarch. In the end, Festen is a tremendous film.
Thomas Vinterberg Films: (The Biggest Heroes) - (It’s All About Love) - (Dear Wendy) - (Submarino) - The Hunt (2012 film) - Far from the Madding Crowd (2015 film) - (The Commune)
© thevoid99 2015
Based on the novel by Anita Shreve, The Weight of Water is the story of a newspaper photographer doing research on the murder of two immigrant women in 1873 while on a boating trip with her husband, his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and screenplay by Alice Arlen and Christopher Kyle, the film is an exploration of women dealing with the relationships they’re in with men as a woman in the modern world tries to sort out the mystery of a murder that happened more than a century ago. Starring Sean Penn, Catherine McCormack, Josh Lucas, Elizabeth Hurley, Sarah Polley, Katrin Cartlidge, and Ciaran Hinds. The Weight of Water is a messy although interesting film from Kathryn Bigelow.
The film is about the mysterious murders of two women at the Isles of Shoals in 1873 where a German immigrant named Louis Wagner (Ciaran Hinds) is accused of the murders. The film is about this investigation set in modern times where a photojournalist goes to the Isles of Shoals with her novelist husband, his brother, and his brother’s new girlfriend during a vacation. There, Jean Janes (Catherine McCormack) wonders if Wagner really did kill those women while reading the memoirs and notes about the survivor of those attacks in Maren Hontvedt (Sarah Polley) who would be the one to claim that Wagner killed her sister and sister-in-law. While Janes reads about Hontvedt, she deals with her troubled marriage as she’s convinced her husband and her brother-in-law’s girlfriend might’ve had an affair that leads to jealousy and other things.
The film’s screenplay by Alice Arlen and Christopher Kyle does have an interesting premise but one that is very uneven. The stuff about Maren and the actual murders is the most interesting portion of the story where it plays into her life as a Norwegian immigrant who arrives to the Isle of Shoals in New Hampshire with her husband John (Ulrich Thomsen). Notably as it plays into the life that Maren lead and the eventual arrival of her brother Evan (Anders W. Berthelsen) and his new wife Anethe (Vinessa Shaw). A lot of it is told from Maren’s perspective as it’s read by Jean who is fascinated by her discovery yet is dealing with her marriage. The scenes involving Jean, her husband, and the boating vacation they’re having with her brother-in-law and his girlfriend isn’t as interesting. Notably as Jean’s husband Thomas (Sean Penn) spends much of the film drunk and ogling over his brother’s girlfriend Adaline (Elizabeth Hurley) as the dramatic tension that occurs feels flat.
Another problem with the film’s screenplay that would greatly affect the film as a whole would be is lack of suspense where it does lead to a major reveal about who really killed Anethe and Maren’s sister Karen (Katrin Cartlidge). Once Jean figures out who did kill them, it does affect the suspense where it does slowly reveal many of the motivations behind why the killer did those things. It would play into Jean’s jealousy over Thomas’ infatuation with Adaline but also the sense of loneliness that is prevalent about her.
Kathryn Bigelow’s direction definitely has a lot of interesting images that sort of does makeup for much of the script’s shortcomings. Yet, it’s narrative doesn’t allow Bigelow to keep things interesting for the scenes set in the present where not much really does happen with the exception of Jean’s investigation to try and uncover the story. Bigelow does infuse a lot of style into the visuals where her best work is in the scenes set in the 19th Century as the compositions are stylized but also very engaging in the way she presents the drama and such. The way the narrative moves back and forth doesn’t give Bigelow the chance to really find ways to make things cohesive where there’s two different movies being played out. One of them is very interesting and the other is pretty flat. Overall, Bigelow creates a film that does have moments that are interesting but the result is a very troubled and in cohesive film that doesn’t do much to create any major suspense.
Cinematographer Adrian Biddle does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography from the usage of black-and-white in some of Jean‘s photographs to the use of colors and lights for much of the exterior setting in New Hampshire and places nearby in the different period settings. Editor Howard E. Smith does nice work with the editing with the use of montages and slow-motion shots to play into some of the drama and suspense that occurs in the film. Production designer Karl Juliusson, with art director Mark Laing and set decorators Laura Cuthill and Patricia Larman, does amazing work with the set pieces from the look of the 1870s home that Maren lived in as well as the bits of the town and trial she had to be part of.
Costume designer Marit Allen does fantastic work with the period costumes for the scenes set in the 1870s that include the different dresses that Maren wears. Sound mixer Mike Smith and sound editor Anne Slack do superb work with the film‘s sound from the calm atmosphere of the scenes in the sea to some of the chilling moments for the film‘s climax. The film’s music by David Hirschfelder is wonderful for its jazz-like score that mixes somber string arrangements with bits of piano and saxophones to play into the film’s lingering mood.
The casting by Mali Finn is brilliant for the ensemble that is created for the film as it includes some noteworthy performances from Ulrich Thomsen as Maren’s husband John and Anders W. Berthelsen as Maren’s brother Evan. Katrin Cartlidge is pretty good as Maren’s sister Karen while Vinessa Shaw is wonderful as Evan’s kind wife Anethe. Ciaran Hinds is terrific as Louis Wagner as this German immigrant who is proven to be a really nice man that may have not been the killer after all. Elizabeth Hurley is pretty much a waste in the film as Adaline as this very sexual being who spends her time in a bikini and topless for a bit as she doesn’t really do much except recite some literature and look hot.
Josh Lucas is excellent as Thomas’ brother Rich who tries to ensure that everyone is having a good time as he would show concern for Jean. Sean Penn is pretty fine as Thomas as this pretentious writer who deals with some demons though Penn doesn’t really do much other than drink and stare at Elizabeth Hurley. Sarah Polley is amazing as Maren as this young Norwegian woman who arrives to America trying to start a new life only to deal with Louis and the presence of her new sister-in-law. Finally, there’s Catherine McCormick in a radiant performance as Jean as this photojournalist trying to solve the mystery of the murders as she also deals with her issues with her husband as well as the demons that are lurking into that marriage.
Despite its cast and some amazing visual flair, The Weight of Water is an incomprehensible yet lackluster film from Kathryn Bigelow. Due to its messy script and two different storylines that never finds its balance. It’s a film that has a unique premise but falls flat due to its lack of suspense and emphasis on heavy drama. In the end, The Weight of Water is a very disappointing film from Kathryn Bigelow.
Kathryn Bigelow Films: The Loveless - Near Dark - Blue Steel - Point Break - Strange Days - K-19: The Widowmaker - The Hurt Locker - Zero Dark Thirty - The Auteurs #29: Kathryn Bigelow
© thevoid99 2014
