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Summary: A beautiful story of spiritual love
Review: This is truly a spiritually uplifting film. The woman, Babette, becomes maid and cook for two older women in a Danish village. By the time she comes into the tale, you know the story of the two women. She becomes one of the family, and then a miracle happens and she wins the lottery. Her thought then is to cook a feast in honor of their deceased minister father, a feast which these people have never dreamed of, something completely different from the plain simple cooking they're used to. There is much more than that in the film. The two women are such that it seems sinful to have a lavish gourmet dinner. The feast sequence is a long, lovingly developed treat for the eyes. And of course, we realize that Babette is up to a bit more than just providing a sumptious feast. Underneath, the film is telling of a joyous spirit who responds to good fortune by using it to show her love, to do something that will actually endure long after the food is gone. Much has been said by others about this film, so I content myself with pointing out the deep spiritual feel here, the contrast of the love that Babette shows with the piety of the village, and the example she is of the love for others and for life. This is a film not just to see, but to experience. And you will find it a glorious experience.
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Summary: Wonderful film. A delight!
Review: I first saw this wonderful film with my college Christian fellwship a few years ago. I won't write much, but I will say that this is a wonderful film with a lot to say. I loved its message of what true fellowship and love is. This is a must see.
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Summary: Absolute Beauty!!
Review: This is an amazingly great film. I could watch it a million times and never get tired of it. One day, a stranger, Babette, arrives in a small village and stays with two sisters. She helps the sisters feed the elderly villagers with very stark and meager food. What none of us know, is that she is a magnificent chef. One day, Babette comes into some money, so she offers to serve up a great dinner to the villagers. It's magnificent. Again, if you don't like sappy films, don't waste your time. Subtitles.
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Summary: This film rocks!
Review: This film is a true work of art. It says beautiful things about the human experience and hints at the divinity in all of us. This film was particularly interesting to me as I was raised in the home of a fundamentalist protestant minister, not unlike the two sisters in this film. After running from such belief systems in my 20s, studying buddhism in my early 30s and then watching this film -- well...just watch it. I would encourage those of us in the West(ern hemisphere) who were raised in Christian homes and later found Zen to watch this film as it illustrates the beauty of both systems and how they are somehow married...
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Summary: So what is foreign about this film?
Review: This Story is told on so many levels that any one interview is sure to miss a major point. So I am not going to rehash the story or the point that it was trying to make. It was great on a cinematic level as well as the story. However the thing that I found interesting was that the people, missing the mark, thought that Babette was doing something weird. Some thought it was sacrilegious. Others thought she was showing off. Still others thought that with all of her winnings she was cheap to just give them a meal. The decision not to eat the stuff is played out in other movies as "Theodora Goes Wild" where they are not going to meet a train. Again in "Chocolat" they suspected an ulterior motive. But this movie is more moving when you find out the truth behind the gesture and the cost.
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Summary: Theology of food and communion
Review: This movie changed my life! It gave me a totally different perspective of Communion and coming together as brothers and sisters in Christ at the Lord's table. Babette acted as a priest in her service and sacrifice to the twelve. (Notice her costume.) The theology of food is often overlooked in modern liturgy; food is an integral part of our relationship with God. He provides for our emotional, spiritual and physical needs. Babette's Feast is the most simplistic and relevant church service I have ever seen. This movie gave me a totally different perspective on so many aspects of Theology. The symbolism in this film is amazing! The selection from Don Giovanni completely fits with the scene. The hymn about coming home points to the deep roots of Communion in the twelve. Babette's decision is equally related. If you notice carefully, you'll see a connection between Babette's original costume and the figurine of Jesus in a cloak. There is symbolism in the food, music, costumes, and setting in addition to the multilayerd dynamics of the character's relationships with each other.
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Summary: Food for body and soul
Review: Flawlessly directed, written, performed, and filmed, this quiet and unpretentious Danish film is an example of cinema at its best, and if a person exists who can watch BABETTE'S FEAST without being touched at a very fundamental level, they are a person I do not care to know. The story is quite simple. In the 1800s, two elderly maiden ladies (Birgitte Federspiel and Bodil Kjer) reside in remote Jutland, where they have sacrificed their lives, romantic possibilities, and personal happiness in order to continue their long-dead father's religious ministry to the small flock he served. One of the women's youthful admirers sends to them a Frenchwoman, Babette (Stéphane Audran), whose husband and son have been killed in France and who has fled her homeland lest she meet the same fate. Although they do not really require her services, the sisters engage her as maid and cook--and as the years pass her cleverness and tireless efforts on their behalf enables the aging congregation to remain together and the sisters to live in more comfort than they had imagined; indeed, the entire village admires and depends upon her. One day, however, Babette receives a letter: she has won a lottery and is now, by village standards, a wealthy woman. Knowing that her new wealth will mean her return to France, the sisters grant her wish that she be allowed to prepare a truly French meal for them and the members of their tiny congregation. The meal and the evening it is served is indeed a night to remember--but not for reasons that might be expected, for Babette's feast proves to be food for both body and soul, and is ultimately her gift of love to the women who took her in and the villagers who have been so kind to her. The film is extraordinary in every way, meticulous in detail yet not overpowering in its presentation of them. As the film progresses, we come to love the characters in both their simple devotion to God and their all-too-human frailties, and the scenes in which Babette prepares her feast and in which the meal is consumed are powerful, beautiful, and incredibly memorable. There have been several films that have used food as a metaphor for love, including WATER FOR CHOCOLATE and CHOCOLATE, but none approach the simple artistry and beauty of BABETTE'S FEAST, which reminds us of all the good things about humanity and which proves food for both body and soul. Highly, highly recommended.
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Summary: A classic.
Review: Twenty years ago nothing put terror in my heart like being invited to watch a foreign film. The deliberate pacing and low-key style annoyed the daylights out of me. But getting closer to Social Security, I find myself enjoying films like Babbette's Feast more than the typical frenetic American box office hit. The best description I can offer for this movie is "visual poetry." There are so many layers to this deceptively simple story, that each repeated viewing offers some previously unnoticed delight. This is one offering that can never be praised enough.
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Summary: 5 star+
Review: This is one of my favourite films. It's actually indescribable! It must be watched when a person is in the proper frame of mind to value and appreciate it satisfactorily.
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Summary: More Than Just a 'Physical' Feast of Food
Review: Few directors choose to take anything more than very safe chances concerning any religious themes in the films they direct nowadays, but this film makes a seeming deliberate attempt to take the topic of Christianity head-on, and with absolutely beautiful and poignant results. Whereas many who view this film might fail to understand or comprehend the elaborate allegory relating to Christianity being unfolded in this film, not knowing this ahead of time actually contributes to the eventual discovery of the beauty of the allegory and its pageantry on display in this wonderful rendering of the story of Christ's Last Supper. Babette, the main character, prepares the most delicious and elaborate meal of the highest order that one could ever hope for in a lifetime of dining, and cooks all of it behind a veil of almost no recognition by her diners, who, having savored all, give virtually no real thanks to her for her genius at culinary artistry and the personal sacrifice of money made in their behalf. The parallel to Christ's Last Supper and His sacrifice through the Atonement is unmistakeable to those who are versed in this important central doctrine of Christianity. Notwithstanding this potentially overt treatment of a sensitive subject, those who seek to see other themes in this lovely film will also not go unrewarded. It is a film to be savored, and then watched and savored again, as was the feast that Babette prepared for her loved ones.
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