Babette's Feast
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Movie Reviews of Babette's Feast
Movie Review: A DIVINELY DELICIOUS TALE
Summary: 5 Stars
Babette's Feast is by Danish director Gabriel Axel, and tells the story of a French woman named Babette (played by Stephane Audran) who shows up one night on the doorstep of two spinster sisters living in far away Jutland toward the end of the 19th century. Since the passing of their revered pastor father, it is all the two women can do to keep his bickering flock together. They agree to take in Babette and make her their housekeeper, and for twenty years she serves them faithfully. Then one day she surprises the sisters by announcing that she has won the French national lottery: 10,000 francs. To show her gratitude to them, and to celebrate the upcoming anniversary of their father's passing, Babette asks to be allowed to prepare a real French meal for the sisters and their guests. They agree, and she sends away to France for the ingredients.
When Babette's nephew returns with all the preparations for the meal, the plain people of the town, who have never seen such things as sea turtles and quails, suspect that she's a witch, and decide they will make no comments about the food during the meal, lest they enjoy it and become bewitched. The night of the feast is spectacular. Never have any of them tasted such divinity. One of the guests, a General who once courted one of the sisters and is still in love with her, comments about how the food tastes just like the delicacies he once enjoyed at a very famous Parisian restaurant which boasted a lady chef. Miraculously, Babette's feast heals all wounds among the pastor's congregation, and confirms the love the General has always harbored for the sister, and she for him. A very beautiful scene is the congregation outside after the feast with hands joined in a circle, singing under the stars.
Afterwards, the two sisters comment that they suppose Babette will now return to France. "I have no one there anymore," she tells them. "Besides, I have no money to return." "But the 10,000 francs you won!" they contend. Then Babette confesses that she was the famous female chef to which the General eluded, and that a meal at her restaurant for that number of people would have cost exactly 10,000 francs. This is a wonderful, beautiful film that is an allegory of the Lord's Supper, and an example of God's grace and love. If you like food, you will love every delicious detail of the feast. The film is subtitled for English, but also includes a dubbed version which I would not recommend because I think the film loses much through it. Endure the subtitles - it will be worth it. Babette's Feast, which is based on a novel by Karen Blixen, won a well-deserved Oscar for Best Foreign Film, plus ten other awards.
Movie Review: But this really *is* Caille en Sarcophage!
Summary: 5 Stars
For years I had heard that this was a good movie, but I resisted seeing it. How could a Danish movie about a dinner be all that compelling? I finally broke down and rented it - and watched it, stunned. This is truly a great film.The story is simple. Two pious Danish sisters hire a French maid, Babette, out of a sense of charity. Fourteen years later, Babette wins the lottery. Out of her winnings, she proposes to serve the sisters and their fellow religionists a meal.
The film is simple. And like all things that are truly simple, it is a very, very rich feast.
The film can be enjoyed on many levels, but it is an overtly Christian film; and the feast is the Lord's Supper. Babette's gift to the sisters and their community is the gift of grace. Unasked for, unearned, and of inestimable value.
The sisters were daughters of a stern Protestant who had formed a devout community. When the sisters were young and beautiful, they were each tempted by the chance to have great love and success outside their community. But they remained loyal to their father and their faith. After their father died, they carried on with their faith community. But as the years passed by, bickering and dissension set in.
One rainy day, there is a knock on the door and Babette appears in their doorway. She has a letter of introduction from one of the sister's old love, and they decide to take her in. Babette quietly makes herself indispensable to the sisters and the entire village. One day, she wins the lottery, and the sisters assume that she will now leave them. Before leaving them, however, she insists on serving them a proper French meal.
The meal itself is the center of the film, and during that meal all the threads of the film are richly woven together. The pious sisters and their community finally learn the true depths of faith - something which is more than just what we believe, but rather also reflects what we do and the love with which we do it. They are twelve to supper, and that number is no accident. Nor is the grace that flows through that meal. Any Christian can appreciate its significance. And anyone who loves the Eucharist can only smile in joy, when one of the guests identifies the main dish as "Caille en Sarcophage" (Quail in a sarcophagus.) He retails a story of the time he ate this extraordinary meal in a fine Parisian restaurant. The other guests smile, but miss his drift. And he exclaims, "But this really *is* Caille en Sarcophage!" They still do not understand, but the meal works its magic nonetheless.
This is a film of the sacramental vision - God's rich love reaching out to us body and soul.
Movie Review: About Grace, Glory and Goodness
Summary: 5 Stars
Some might say "Babette's Feast" symbolically begins when Babette plans to make a meal only princes have enjoyed before.
The story, and its subsequent message of grace and glory, truly begins when Babette is received by two middle-aged women with nothing to offer but their home. Babette has nothing to give that they want, and so the relationship grows from this tiny movement of mutual grace.
Babette, an acclaimed chef, needs to hide for political reasons. She is introduced to sisters Martine and Filippa by way of a letter from a mutual friend. As they hire her with no promise of payment, Babette offers to cook for the sisters who know nothing of Babette's reputation in the kitchen. More than a "Stone Soup" chicanerist, she has the ability to do much with little. Humbly, she lets the sisters teach her to make potato soup. Esculent in every way a potato soup could be, the meal convinces the sisters they have made the right move.
Based on a story by Isak Dinesen (author of "Out of Africa") found in her collection, "Anecdotes of Destiny," it is not a story about the clichéd sensual delights of food, as found in lesser films such as "Chocolat." It is about the grace of being humble, of serving, and of enjoying both the simple and grand things of God. Whether making potato soup or quail in vol-au-vents, Babette always is thankful and diligent to do her best.
When Babette wins the lottery, she decides to make a meal as thanks to the town. She orders delicacies unheard of, and asks the community to help prepare the feast. Skepticism dies down as her neighbors sample morsels, and a new life comes to the village. This is where the comparisons to "Chocolat" begin and end, as Babette's only desire is to lift the spirits of the town she has been so much blessed by.
The long table of near-gluttonous dining is memorable. It far exceeds any American Thanksgiving dinner cornucopia overflow, yet is as thankful. So much of the movie culminates then, and the movie satisfies the deepest hunger for a tasty conclusion.
Finding a layer by which to appreciate "Babette's Feast" is just a matter of watching. For Christians, you will find a subtext of understanding simplicity vs displaying gifts from God. For foodies, you will watch a dream meal presented as Julia Child herself never imagined. For cinematography buffs, you will see a French village shot in intimate detail, so as if you could smell the door frame wood after the rain.
Attend to your senses and sensibilities and order up a copy of "Babette's Feast."
Movie Review: How could a Danish film about a dinner be any good?
Summary: 5 Stars
I apologize for stealing my review title from another reviewer. But that reviewer really put it well: how could a movie about a MEAL be interesting, in any way, shape, or form? More than that: how could it be a masterpiece?
I can only offer my own insight that masterpieces are almost always complete surprises. A good example is "The Little Prince," which is "only" a silly short book about some imaginary prince-boy living way off in outer space, with clumsy illustrations by the author to boot. But it's a masterpiece: it has been translated into umpteen languages, and has sold more millions of copies than I would ever be able to count.
Why? I would guess it's because the characters, through the magic of fiction, reach out and grab you and make you care about them.
"Strangely enough," the same is true of "Babette's Feast." It takes place in a tiny fishing community, and has what must be the most vivid characters I have seen in years. No, not Fellini's gross exaggerations: we are looking at Real People here, and the values which shape their actions and their lives. There are important themes in the movie, very important ones: is being "morally good" enough to guarantee happiness? Or is there a role for simple pleasure in the grand scheme of things? The film does not really answer these questions, but it does ask them, and it suggests that a radical religious Puritanism, which turns all pleasure aside at the door, may not be the complete definition of the good life. (In this context, you might to look at Henry James's movel, "The Europeans." Did Isak Dineson read that novel, I wonder?)
The movie is, on one level, a comic delight --- a wonderful light comedy. But it probes some of the deepest questions we ever have to ask ourselves. We may all admit that a life spent giddily pursuing pleasure is bound to be superficial, but is there really any point to denying ourselves the pleasures that life offers?
A world-famous writer used to fry (!) Oscar Mayer bologna, and eat it with Campbell's soup. One wonders what he would have thought of Babette's feast.
HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!
Movie Review: Sheer delight
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this movie. One of my culinary school instructors recommended it, so I ordered it and within two days it was in my hands. Some people can't keep up with the slow start to the story, but when telling a good story it's not always necessary to jump right to the exciting part. You draw it out. Like cooking, storytelling is a craft that's quickly losing it's place in public eye. Both have been replaced by getting spoon-fed homogenous crap from a can.
At the end of the movie, when the sisters realize that Babette had given all of her money to prepare the meal, I identified with her, I felt a solidarity with her. She did it to feel like a human being again. There's such love. I only hope that someday I might perform like that. I've always looked at cooking as performance-art. My older sister is a singer, and I have a love for music, but my medium has always been in food, in feeding people and making it special. When I prepare meals for my family and friends, or as of late the students at school, I can sometimes hear an orchestra tuning up in my head. A feeling of "yes, now, begin". I got a sense of that from the movie, too. The spiritual experience of getting ready to prepare a wonderful meal, the care and patience that it takes.
I especially liked that the carriage-driver got to take part in the feast, too :-) In my current place in life as a lowly kitchen-rat, I appreciate that everyone gets fed.
There is unexpected comedy throughout the movie as well, that often goes overlooked. The villagers' shocked reactions, fearing for their very souls at the "witches' sabbath", futilly determined not to enjoy the meal. The dream sequence is nicely shot, and funny. Then to see one of the old ladies take a sip of water and then switch back to the wine. It brings a smile to my face every time.
Magic happens in the kitchen, I've always believed in that. When worked properly, at the dinner table, all quarrels are forgotten, harmony and jovality rule.