An accurate translation of the original title is 'Not Nothing Without You' but, for whatever reason, the subtitled English print I saw at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley (in January of 1987) was renamed 'Noisy Martha'. The title character may be a trifle neurotic (or, in her own words, superficial), but there's certainly nothing even remotely loud in her voice or behavior. Martha's problem, shared with the world in general, is one of miscommunication; every character in the film seems to be out of sync with everyone else. Fortunately, writer director Pia Frankenberg isn't half as bewildered as her protagonist, who she portrays in the film (and who, incidentally, is also a filmmaker). It's a difficult movie to categorize: humorous without being distinctly funny, vague without being meaningless, and seemingly slapped together with spontaneous ease.
