AMD 1

Hallo!

I decided I would watch the rest of Bella Martha for my first AMD of the semester. The thing that intrigued me most about this film was that it was an actual German movie, rather than an American television show or cartoon dubbed over with Deutsch. It provided a real authenticity that the previous subjects for my AMDs had lacked.

Apart from practicing listening comprehension, I thought it was very valuable to get a glimpse into everyday German culture. It doesn't seem much different from American culture, but there were a few subtleties that I did pick up on. Another interesting aspect was the German stereotypes of Italians that aligned with American stereotypes of Italians: unconcerned with punctuality, care-free (sometimes too much so), spontaneously romantic and a little crazy. This Italian stereotype complemented the typical German stereotype (serious, uptight, etc.) perfectly from a movie script standpoint, as the main plot involved an uptight German chef  who can't relax (Martha) and a care-free Italian chef who has a passionate yet lighthearted approach to life (Mario).

I always think that another great thing about watching German movies or television shows (not just in German) is that you get a good feel how Germans speak in everyday conversational language. It's much easier to pick up on the idiomatic expressions, sayings and different uses of words and phrases when you hear them used in this kind of native context.

I really enjoyed Bella Martha; I thought it was an all-around good film and very well-written.
Also, I loved the main jazzy piano theme. Toe-tapper fo' sho'.

Matt Riemland