Babette's Feast
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Movie Reviews of Babette's Feast
Movie Review: Like I say...
Summary: 5 Stars
A little lovin' and some good food makes for a happy civilization and the French seem to undertsand that altogether. This is the story of a French woman who reluctantly finds herself on Danish soil in order to escape upheavel in France during one of it's many revolutions.
She is a 10 star chef but enters as a maidservant for these two homely sisters that basically eat puritanical food and dress the same. Not realizing who they have amongst them, they go about average every day "bla" that they call life. However, their new servant is spicing life up little by little for the people around her simply by adding flavor to little things like soup, etc.
Because of her talents everyone simply has a more tolerable life in the Danish village. Then it gets astoundingly better when Babette wins some money and opts to use it to purchase ingredients for the best feast she can imagine, just like she did at her restraunt in France.
The nervous sisters apologize beforehand to the Villagers as if they have something to be ashamed of simply because Babette asked them to organize a feast. It's amazing what religion and puritanical beliefs rob people of. Don't you agree? (Said blowing a kiss in the air and taking a drag of an imaginary cigarette).
Needless to say, the Villagers were changed in an almost spiritual way after the meal that love produced.
Great film, especially for Chefs.
Movie Review: AN EXQUISITE MOVIE THAT GREATLY BENEFITS FROM DVD!
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't think I can add any more information about the wonderful story itself in light of all the superlative reviews found here. If you've seen it, you know it's a classic that is definitely worth owning, to be viewed and enjoyed repeatedly. If you've never seen Babette's Feast, you owe it to yourself to see it and find out what people mean when they say they experience a film. Yes, it's that good and that powerful. And the best part of it all: no guns, no explosions, no sex, no vulgarity. The DVD is, without a doubt, THE format for this movie. The print has been considerably cleaned up and brightened. What a difference with my "old" fuzzy VHS copy! The widescreen format benefits this film tremendously. The sound is crisp and even, with no sudden drops or surges in volume. The DVD offers three language tracks: the original Danish/French, English, and Spanish. I personally recommend that you keep the Danish/French track with English subtitles. It's the only real way to convey the full meaning and emotions of the story. Avoid the English track at all costs: it's unbelievably bland and emotionless (thereby removing any and all subtleties and charm from this superb story) and it's muffled. I did not check out the Spanish track.
Worth much more than "just" 5 stars!
Movie Review: One of the best films ever
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're entertained by car chases, handsome actors and bosomy actresses who can't act, you might want to pass on this film. By the way, there's no violence or nudity either in this movie. That should eliminate a few more viewers. However, if you want a great story, excellent acting, an atmosphere you've never seen before, this can be considered a masterpiece. I've seen it a couple of times; I'll see it again.
The story is basically about three women, two Danish sisters who have eschewed passion for piety and obedience--and a young French woman who comes to their village, fleeing from something in her past. The newcomer has the talent of a great culinary artist, but it takes a while for the others to realize that. Then she comes into a great deal of money and prepares a feast of all feasts for the sisters who have eaten bland food, mostly local fish, all their lives. Babette's entire fortune goes into the groceries, a sum beyond the imagination of her friends. There is puzzlement on their faces as they savor something more exotic than they had ever imagined, and their lives can never quite go back to the ennui of the Danish coast.
This is simply a movie that any intelligent movie fan can never forget.
Movie Review: My favorite movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is my favorite ever. The scenery is beautiful, the acting is extraordinary, the narration is poetic. Babette's feast is not some "movie with a message" otherwise it wouldn't be any good. But it's so real and poignant that much truth can be seen in it, spiritual truth and insights which shed light onto human nature. The relationships are very natural and believable, but the style of narration keeps the story from any kind of overly-subjective viewpoint which infects many movies which delve into human relationships. The actions and conversations arise very naturally and advance the plot superbly.Another thing which I love about the movie is that it reveals something about the nature of good, evil, grace and redemption. None of the acting characters in the movie are "evil"; however many are infected with smaller sins of pettiness, lack of generosity, glorying in the defeat of others, scrupulosity, jealousy, etc. This movie shows how these defects - small but many - have taken all the joy and pleasure out of life for those suffering under them and that to forgive and be forgiven is necessary to restore the joy of life. Grace, in this case the gift of Babette, is necessary to occasion the redemptive action.
Movie Review: A Feast of Grace
Summary: 5 Stars
I first encountered Babette's Feast as a short story many years ago when I taught it at the US Naval Academy as part of a collection of Isak Dinesen's stories. Twice I've visited Dinesen's home north of Copenhagen. I have recommended Gabriel Axel's film version of Babette's Feast many times over the years and treasure it as one of my all-time favorite films, alongside the John Huston film of Joyce's "The Dead." For me, "Babette's Feast" is a story and a film about grace. It is about learning to accept that one cannot control the operations of grace; one can only accept the feast of grace in whatever befuddling form it comes. The sisters and their fellow sectarians are unexpectedly seduced and struck dumb by an embracing warmth, of which their sacrificial devotion to their father and his austere religion had long deprived them. The general, who had unrequitedly wooed one of the sisters so many years before and whose successful military career had been a rigid bulwark against the pain of that renunciation, is touched by grace and wonder and acceptance. And Babette, the angel of the story, is also the refugee soul whose losses in life are transfigured by the grace of giving, of voluntary servanthood.