Help, having big arguements here...
1. Did Lina go with Martha and Mario or stay with her father?
2. Where did M&M set up the new restaurant, Italy or Hamburg?
Thanks
My interpretation was that Lina and Mario established a restaurant in Italy close to where Lina was living, (they probably bought a house down the road) and they all lived happily ever after.
shareI also believe that Martha and Mario set up a new restaurant in Italy, therefore closer to Lina. But, I guess we'll have to end it our own way ;-).
shareMy opinion is that they relocated to Italy and opened a restaurant there. The very last scene of Martha and her psychiatrist discussing a tort he had made based on one of her recipes was actually a very poorly placed "Easter Egg" that would have been less confusing had it been placed somewhere within the final credit roll.
share[deleted]
It's not really an easter egg though, since the whole point of easter eggs is that they're hidden content.
shareMy guess based on the scenes after the "Italy road trip" such as where Lina jumps in a puddle and the visit with the psychologist is that they stayed in Germany and opened a restaraunt. Soon Mario and Martha decided to get married. The party scene around the table (likely Italy) was either a wedding banquet held soon or immediately after the wedding, or at least a scene to demonstrate that Lina did not have to completely leave her father (but there was a harminous relationship between Father and Martha as well). In the outdoor party scene, sitting next to Martha were two of her friends from the restaraunt where she was the head chef. I suspect they came to the wedding or on an extended visit with Martha, Mario and Lina.
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Agreed.
Had trouble with the father showing up to take the child. If he didn't care enough about her to be anywhere in the picture at all the child's whole life, where does this sudden sense of responsibility come from? Is this kind of inconsistency more common i Europe?
And why would an absentee father be a more likey parental candidate to begin with? when Lina had a close relative like Martha who was involved in her life?
I'll be home late ... but I'll be home
I had the same feeling about the father. In reality, wouldn't a child welfare agency or social worker be arranging this, anyway? I had the feeling the father had never met the child and never married her mother, that he didn't even know he had a daughter until he learned that her mother had died. And couldn't he have called first instead of just knocking on the door?
shareYes, the ending is confusing. I even went back once on the DVD to make sure I hadn't missed something. It seemed like Martha and Mario got married??? in Italy, because she was dressed in white and he was in a suit. I don't think they returned to Germany. I believe Martha and Mario opened a restaurant in Italy so Lina could be close to her biological father. For as clear as the movie is, I was surprised the ending was so muddled. It's almost like the director couldn't decide "how" to end the story, so he just threw in a bunch of ideas.
I thought the actress that played Martha was brilliant. SUCH a good actress.
Wish I knew German so I could see the film in its native language.
It's been a few years since I've seen this, but I think Martha and Mario did indeed get married. It is a rather muddled ending after such a strong buildup.
And Martina Gedeck is amazing as Martha. This film feels like a documentary at times. I'd also love to be able to understand German so I could grasp some of the nuances of the dialogue. You can tell that much of what they say is omitted or simplified in the subtitles.
I too got the feeling Martha and Mario moved to Italy to be closer to Lina. They opened a restaurant. Likely, Lina stayed with her biological father, because they portrayed her new life as being idyllic. It was a wonderful movie. The part with the psychologist at the end was not needed, but interesting. I don't know where else it could've been placed, but I enjoyed it. It just didn't belong.
shareI thought I caught hints throughout the movie that Martha's sister had left Lina's father before telling him she was pregnant; therefore, he was unaware he had a daughter before being contacted by Martha. I'll have to watch it again to verify, but that was the impression I got.
As far as the last scene with the psychiatrist, it gave me one extra laugh at the neurotic Martha, showing what she had been. I wasn't bothered by its placement, and I really enjoyed hearing Paolo Conte's "Via Con Mi" in the film.
Also have the feeling the restaurant was opened in Italy. We'll never know for sure.
Even though it is a little bit complicated ending, I think Martha and Mario go back to Germany with Lina. I don't think that they move to Italy, and the trip was made to take Lina back, and after that they all seem happy, so they take her back.
After they go to Italy almost all the scenes with the music include Martha, Mario and Lina. The puddle scene with Lina and Martha seems like Germany to me, and the scene with Martha and Mario with the wedding clothes is in Mario's flat in Hamburg... the director might want the people to decide whether they live in Italy or Germany, but it seems more normal the Germany choice, also having at the end the scene with the psychiatrist. I think Lina, Martha and Mario live in Hamburg together, at least that's what I would want.
I believe, like many other poster seem to here, that Martha and Mario moved to Italy, started a restaurant there, and included Lina's father in their lives. The last scene with the psychiatrist was confusing.....I mean, why keep seeing him at all? The reason Martha was seeing him anyway was because of her old boss. No more boss, no more therapy. But I did love that scene, where she critiqued the dessert he made from her recipe. I like that scene, but I wish it had been better placed or explained, like the last meeting before she moved to Italy.
I think, though, I'm just intent on her moving, I like that idea better, but I can't be too far off the mark if so many other people saw what I saw too!
I don't mind the open ending because it leaves interpretation up to the viewers and creates lively discussions. There are so many possibilities.
Martha's last visit to her shrink is a great closure with a funny twist. The guy baked for their meeting. Not long ago he used to tell her to stop cooking for him. I think it's a sign of admiration and respect for Martha finding balance in her life.
I think they opened the restaurant in Hamburg (the puddle scene was definitely shot in Germany), but go to Italy for holidays on a regular basis, so that Lena can still spend her summers with her father.
shareThe ending was indeed confusing for me. I interpreted the ending this way. . . Martha and Mario go to Italy to take back Lena, although I did think it was rather strange that Lena's father gave her back so easily. But then he was not in Lena's life at all until the mother died. I thought the rest of the ending was in Germany and I opted for this because Martha was still seeing her psychiatrist in Germany. I think that was specifically why that scene was included -to show that Martha and Mario still lived in Germany.
shareI think that the ending didn't really elaborate on who got custody and for which days of the year or in which country, etc. because the point was that now they are one big happy family and Lena would have 'everyone' in her life as they showed in the dinner scene in Italy outdoors around the long table towards the end of the film.