Martha's Bakery (2003) User Reviews

The sensation of falling in love, neatly concentrated.

[arty0125 · 10/10 · 22 December 2003]

It's in the eyes of the two main characters where I am being reminded of the sweet but bitter sensation of falling in love. William's eyes tell the excitement of being in love as a youth, whereas in Martha's represents the pain that love could bring to us. It is not foreign for our own lives either, that no matter how much two people are in love, there are times when the same love can be so painful. But in time, only the bitter sweet feeling remains in our souls, and the rest tends to fade away, but often brought back in amazing detail at a flick of a switch. Nobuhiro Hayashi has successfully echoed the sentiments of this fragile entity which may lie in all of our hearts. He certainly did well with mine.

Touching look at impossible love

[ttnagoya · 6 November 2003]

Martha's Bakery is a touching look at a young man's love for an older woman. Mr. Hayashi tells his story with the careful sensitivity of a grandmother stitching a quilt. I enjoyed the plot and found the acting to be generally good. Barbara Passolt plays the older woman with maternal warmth that leaves you wondering if she loved the young man as a lover or a son.