amicus
Literotica Guru
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- Sep 28, 2003
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Something a little different from the Amicus…two delightful films of the type that one can watch several times and still find nuances to discover and enjoy.
Mostly Martha, a German film in English subtitles released in 2002 and Tortilla Soup, released in 2001.
Both concern gourmet Chef’s although it is the personal, family and romantic interplay that made the films interesting to me.
I think this post was keyed a little by Dr, Mabeuse and his post that included reference to Jazz of about a half century ago. I found myself thinking of old music and old/favorite films and these two came to mind.
I included two links for each film as each review is a little different. Or you can search by the title of the films, there are many links to each.
http://popmatters.com/film/reviews/m/mostly-martha.shtml
Perhaps the cultural homogenization so feared by anti-EU activists is becoming a reality. Where last year's Amélie was criticized for presenting an idealized France, a clichéd vision of bistros, Erik Satie, and croissants, Mostly Martha has to be one of the least German movies ever to come out of Germany. If it had been dubbed into English, and lacked its clipped German diction, it would be almost impossible to know that movie is set there. The atmosphere is generically European, with national characteristics preserved in the stereotypes of the emotional Italian and the orderly German.
http://www.german-cinema.de/archive/film_view.php?film_id=581
Martha, in her own slightly obsessive but charming way, creates sublime masterpieces in the art of cooking as a chef of a small gourmet restaurant in Hamburg. And yet, her everyday existence is rather monotonous. She is introverted, has hardly any private life, and exists only for her work. All of that changes when her sister, a single mother, dies in an accident and Martha has to take care of Lina, her sister's eight-year-old daughter. The little girl suffers badly from the loss of her mother. It is only the presence of Mario, Martha's merry Italian colleague, who brings light and pasta into the lives of the two outsiders. He turns from a rival into a loving friend. A sensitive romance starts between them, just when Lina's long-lost father appears. He wants to take Lina back with him to Italy.
And Martha? Martha has to make a decision.
http://www.kdhx.org/reviews/tortillasoup.html
Hector Elizondo plays family patriarch Martin, retired chef extraordinaire. He's loving but protective of his three adult daughters, each distinctly different from the others with her own set of problems. The eldest is Leticia, an always charming Elizabeth Pena. A shy high school teacher, Leticia finds herself attracted to the new baseball coach and believes he's sending her love letters. By contrast, the sexually active, worldly wise Carmen (Jacqueline Oradors) has achieved success as an executive and is tempted to take a job in Barcelona. The youngest, teenage Maribel (Tamara Mello) decides to show her independence by refusing to attend college and moving in with her new boyfriend. Meantime, Martin has a neighbor's mother (a game Raquel Welch) making obvious passes at him.
The tantalizing food dominates the action as the family and couples square off in the kitchen and over the dinner table. Ripoli resists the serious undercurrents that added depth to Eat Drink Man Woman. Determined to keep the tempo fast and the look bright, Tortilla Soup teases our appetite for spicy food and fulfilling relationships. It's breezy, it's inoffensive, but, truth be told, it lacks the bite of the food it celebrates. At area theaters.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/08/08/tortilla_soup_2002_review.shtml
amicus….the inedible….
edited a couple days later to add.....my what an unproductive thread this turned out to be....12 reads and no comments...sighs.....
add to the above films, 'Mary and Tim" with Candice Bergen, and while I am thinking of it, "The Sand Pebbles' wit Steve McQueen and Candice Bergen.....and The Inn of the Seventh Happiness' I think was the title...again...with Candice Bergen....
not that it matters....
Mostly Martha, a German film in English subtitles released in 2002 and Tortilla Soup, released in 2001.
Both concern gourmet Chef’s although it is the personal, family and romantic interplay that made the films interesting to me.
I think this post was keyed a little by Dr, Mabeuse and his post that included reference to Jazz of about a half century ago. I found myself thinking of old music and old/favorite films and these two came to mind.
I included two links for each film as each review is a little different. Or you can search by the title of the films, there are many links to each.
http://popmatters.com/film/reviews/m/mostly-martha.shtml
Perhaps the cultural homogenization so feared by anti-EU activists is becoming a reality. Where last year's Amélie was criticized for presenting an idealized France, a clichéd vision of bistros, Erik Satie, and croissants, Mostly Martha has to be one of the least German movies ever to come out of Germany. If it had been dubbed into English, and lacked its clipped German diction, it would be almost impossible to know that movie is set there. The atmosphere is generically European, with national characteristics preserved in the stereotypes of the emotional Italian and the orderly German.
http://www.german-cinema.de/archive/film_view.php?film_id=581
Martha, in her own slightly obsessive but charming way, creates sublime masterpieces in the art of cooking as a chef of a small gourmet restaurant in Hamburg. And yet, her everyday existence is rather monotonous. She is introverted, has hardly any private life, and exists only for her work. All of that changes when her sister, a single mother, dies in an accident and Martha has to take care of Lina, her sister's eight-year-old daughter. The little girl suffers badly from the loss of her mother. It is only the presence of Mario, Martha's merry Italian colleague, who brings light and pasta into the lives of the two outsiders. He turns from a rival into a loving friend. A sensitive romance starts between them, just when Lina's long-lost father appears. He wants to take Lina back with him to Italy.
And Martha? Martha has to make a decision.
http://www.kdhx.org/reviews/tortillasoup.html
Hector Elizondo plays family patriarch Martin, retired chef extraordinaire. He's loving but protective of his three adult daughters, each distinctly different from the others with her own set of problems. The eldest is Leticia, an always charming Elizabeth Pena. A shy high school teacher, Leticia finds herself attracted to the new baseball coach and believes he's sending her love letters. By contrast, the sexually active, worldly wise Carmen (Jacqueline Oradors) has achieved success as an executive and is tempted to take a job in Barcelona. The youngest, teenage Maribel (Tamara Mello) decides to show her independence by refusing to attend college and moving in with her new boyfriend. Meantime, Martin has a neighbor's mother (a game Raquel Welch) making obvious passes at him.
The tantalizing food dominates the action as the family and couples square off in the kitchen and over the dinner table. Ripoli resists the serious undercurrents that added depth to Eat Drink Man Woman. Determined to keep the tempo fast and the look bright, Tortilla Soup teases our appetite for spicy food and fulfilling relationships. It's breezy, it's inoffensive, but, truth be told, it lacks the bite of the food it celebrates. At area theaters.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/08/08/tortilla_soup_2002_review.shtml
amicus….the inedible….
edited a couple days later to add.....my what an unproductive thread this turned out to be....12 reads and no comments...sighs.....
add to the above films, 'Mary and Tim" with Candice Bergen, and while I am thinking of it, "The Sand Pebbles' wit Steve McQueen and Candice Bergen.....and The Inn of the Seventh Happiness' I think was the title...again...with Candice Bergen....
not that it matters....
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