The narration of feelings goes through the foodagain a metaphor for how one can love others, open oneself to others and even find a new dimension of oneself.
Even the title of the film says so Recipes of love (original title 'Bella Martha'), the debut film of the German director Sandra Nettelbeck, who in 2001 brought to the big screen a delicate, light-hearted story that combines dramatic features and shades of comedy with calibrated emphasis. Making the story extremely enjoyable are the lead characters, played by two seasoned actors such as Sergio Castellitto and Martina GedeckThey stage two well-assembled stereotypes: the ever-cheerful and singing cook, seemingly superficial with his disruptive Italian-ness, looked at through the clichés of a constructed and closed society, a man capable of restoring and arousing authentic feelings.
The counterpart is Martha, the initially rigid and commanding chef, a complex and fascinating character, built on a thousand facets that make her unexpectedly flesh and blood.
It is she, in the film, who makes the hero's journey of storytelling par excellence, forced into this evolution with the arrival of her unexpected granddaughter, Lina. We are in Hamburg, where Martha is a professional cook in a fine restaurant.
Her dishes are technically perfect and famous throughout the city. And this earns her the unconditional esteem of the owner of the place, who patiently panders to the strange character of the woman, a perfectionist, closed-minded, who does not accept criticism and is unwilling to confront or question her art.
Her extreme focus on work robs her of any human relationships, making her live in a dry, empty everyday life. This, before her routine is disturbed by the arrival of little Lina, the daughter of her sister, who is divorced and died suddenly in a car accident.
Forced to take care of the little girl while waiting to track down her father, Martha sees her life literally turned upside down, especially in her affections and feelings. She soon has to let herself be touched by the child's sweetness, thanks to which she learns about an unexplored part of herself, made up of a repressed humanity.
His professional life, with the arrival of Lina, is also put to the test.
And it is for this reason that the restaurant owner decides to place at Martha's side a Italian cookMario (Sergio Castellitto), a stranger to the dogmas of the upper class and a man of great humanity and sensitivity, is able to win over anyone with his authenticity, even Martha's niece, who much prefers the simple dishes prepared with love by Mario to the sophisticated cuisine of her shy aunt. Martha begins to understand something about herself, which soon leads her to make a U-turn from her previous life in which she had been far too closed off from the world and her affections. But just when it seems that a pleasant, almost family-like balance has been created between her, Mario and the little girl, things turn upside down again.
From Italy comes the father of the child who brings his daughter back with him. The separation for Martha is so painful that she leaves the restaurant. It will be with Mario's help that Martha decides to visit the child in Italy, finally discovering a dimension congenial to her, a welcoming and human environment. And it will be here that Martha will resume her life, with the affection of her Italian cook and her niece. In a strong characterisation of stereotypes, the film gives the food a leading role which, far from giving rise to a culinary competition or a clash of cultures (the Italian and the German), becomes a sort of deus ex machina capable of providing the algid Martha with the opportunity to leave the door of the soul open.
The director stages thecomplicated humanity with measured transport, in which the simplicity of authentic and genuine things, which give colour and warmth to everyday life, triumphs and dictates the way. Because in life as in the kitchen, the essential is what leaves its mark.
English 
Italian