Credible Credits
Year: 1987
Director: Gabriel Axel
Starring: Stephane Audran, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel, and Jarl Kulle
Tagline: N/A
Synopsis: Babette, a political refugee and former chef, comes to live with two spinster sisters to serve as their housekeeper and cook.
Synopsis: Babette, a political refugee and former chef, comes to live with two spinster sisters to serve as their housekeeper and cook.
Review
No, this isn't playing at a theatre near you. It isn't at the Redbox down the street. It may not even be at your local library. You've probably never even heard of Babette's Feast (or Babettes Gaestebud, its original Danish title). If I hadn't been a film student I probably would never have heard of it either. And my life would have been a little emptier.
I was introduced to Babette's Feast in a class called Transcendence: Religion and Film. In this context, "transcendence" is the ability to lift a person above their current state. It is not about whether a film is overtly religious, but whether a film is spiritual. Allow me to use some previously reviewed films as examples. The Saratov Approach is an overtly religious film that also succeeds at being spiritual. Gravity, on the other hand, is not religious, but is still spiritual. Babette's Feast, like Saratov, is both.
I fear I will not be able to do the beauty of this story justice. The power lies in the telling, not the retelling. Nor do I expect most of those of you who may read this to hunt down this film and watch it. It's a slow film, quiet and thoughtful. It is a feast to be savored, not a meal to be hurried. And it's in Danish and French with subtitles. So I recognize it isn't a film for everyone. But it is beautiful nonetheless. It didn't win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for nothing.
The basic story is that Filippa and Martine are the daughters of an austere Danish minister in a small, isolated village. In their youth, both women chose to sacrifice opportunities for very different lives in order to remain with their father and their church. Years later, after their father has passed away, the two sisters continue in their quiet lives helping the poor in the village and leading what's left of their father's congregation. Then one storm-tossed day Babette arrives at their doorstep. She is a political refugee from France. Her husband and sons have been killed. She has nothing. But the letter of introduction she brings from a mutual acquaintance says she "can cook." So the sisters take her in as their housekeeper and cook.
For years, Babette serves the sisters humbly and faithfully. She becomes a blessing in their lives and thus allows them to bless the lives of others. Plus everybody eats a little better too. But then the unexpected occurs: Babette wins a lottery and 10,000 francs (roughly an upper middle class yearly salary). To show her appreciation for the sisters' generosity over the years, Babette offers to cook them a French dinner to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their father's birth. The puritanical sisters warily accept.
What Babette offers is not simply a meal, in part because she is not simply a cook. Babette is a chef, an artist. She prepares the meal not only with the finest ingredients, but with all her talent, her skill, her gratitude, her love, and her joy. The result is miraculous. It's not water-to-wine miraculous, more hard-hearts-become-soft miraculous. In a previous scene, the little congregation was seen bickering and quarreling and generally being anything but unified. Yet this feast brings them together, and not just around the dinner table.
If the body and spirit make up the soul of a person, then both the body and the spirit must be fed for the soul to be truly nourished. Babette's feast feeds both. It's kind of like the ultimate Thanksgiving dinner. The word "sacrament" means taking part in a sacred offering. In that limited sense, Babette's feast is a sacrament, and it reminds the little congregation of the true Sacrament. As their stomachs fill, so do their hearts. Grudges are forsaken. Grievances are forgotten. Gratitude is found and unity is reforged. The miracle is not in the feast, just as it is not in the bread and water/wine. The miracle is in the love and sacrifice the food and drink symbolize.
*** Spoiler Section ***
It is not until all the guests are gone that the full nature of Babette's gift and sacrifice is discovered. After all her hard work, Babette looks tired but satisfied. She splashes her face with ice water and enjoys a glass of wine for herself. The sisters join her to offer their compliments and their gratitude. Babette then reveals that she was once the head chef at a prestigious Parisian restaurant. She then quietly goes about collecting the dishes.
Feeling that this confirms their sad suspicions, the sisters ask when she will return to Paris. Babette answers that she is not returning to Paris ... for she has no money. She spent the entire 10,000 francs on the dinner, noting that was the cost for dinner for 12 at the restaurant where she was chef. The sisters are stunned, to say the least. Babette goes on to explain that it was not simply a gesture of gratitude; it was a chance for her to offer her utmost best as an artist. It was a chance for her to use her God-given talent to bless the lives of those she loves. She says simply that when she cooked, it made people happy. What more could an artist ask or hope for?
I was introduced to Babette's Feast in a class called Transcendence: Religion and Film. In this context, "transcendence" is the ability to lift a person above their current state. It is not about whether a film is overtly religious, but whether a film is spiritual. Allow me to use some previously reviewed films as examples. The Saratov Approach is an overtly religious film that also succeeds at being spiritual. Gravity, on the other hand, is not religious, but is still spiritual. Babette's Feast, like Saratov, is both.
I fear I will not be able to do the beauty of this story justice. The power lies in the telling, not the retelling. Nor do I expect most of those of you who may read this to hunt down this film and watch it. It's a slow film, quiet and thoughtful. It is a feast to be savored, not a meal to be hurried. And it's in Danish and French with subtitles. So I recognize it isn't a film for everyone. But it is beautiful nonetheless. It didn't win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film for nothing.
The basic story is that Filippa and Martine are the daughters of an austere Danish minister in a small, isolated village. In their youth, both women chose to sacrifice opportunities for very different lives in order to remain with their father and their church. Years later, after their father has passed away, the two sisters continue in their quiet lives helping the poor in the village and leading what's left of their father's congregation. Then one storm-tossed day Babette arrives at their doorstep. She is a political refugee from France. Her husband and sons have been killed. She has nothing. But the letter of introduction she brings from a mutual acquaintance says she "can cook." So the sisters take her in as their housekeeper and cook.
For years, Babette serves the sisters humbly and faithfully. She becomes a blessing in their lives and thus allows them to bless the lives of others. Plus everybody eats a little better too. But then the unexpected occurs: Babette wins a lottery and 10,000 francs (roughly an upper middle class yearly salary). To show her appreciation for the sisters' generosity over the years, Babette offers to cook them a French dinner to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their father's birth. The puritanical sisters warily accept.
What Babette offers is not simply a meal, in part because she is not simply a cook. Babette is a chef, an artist. She prepares the meal not only with the finest ingredients, but with all her talent, her skill, her gratitude, her love, and her joy. The result is miraculous. It's not water-to-wine miraculous, more hard-hearts-become-soft miraculous. In a previous scene, the little congregation was seen bickering and quarreling and generally being anything but unified. Yet this feast brings them together, and not just around the dinner table.
If the body and spirit make up the soul of a person, then both the body and the spirit must be fed for the soul to be truly nourished. Babette's feast feeds both. It's kind of like the ultimate Thanksgiving dinner. The word "sacrament" means taking part in a sacred offering. In that limited sense, Babette's feast is a sacrament, and it reminds the little congregation of the true Sacrament. As their stomachs fill, so do their hearts. Grudges are forsaken. Grievances are forgotten. Gratitude is found and unity is reforged. The miracle is not in the feast, just as it is not in the bread and water/wine. The miracle is in the love and sacrifice the food and drink symbolize.
*** Spoiler Section ***
It is not until all the guests are gone that the full nature of Babette's gift and sacrifice is discovered. After all her hard work, Babette looks tired but satisfied. She splashes her face with ice water and enjoys a glass of wine for herself. The sisters join her to offer their compliments and their gratitude. Babette then reveals that she was once the head chef at a prestigious Parisian restaurant. She then quietly goes about collecting the dishes.
Feeling that this confirms their sad suspicions, the sisters ask when she will return to Paris. Babette answers that she is not returning to Paris ... for she has no money. She spent the entire 10,000 francs on the dinner, noting that was the cost for dinner for 12 at the restaurant where she was chef. The sisters are stunned, to say the least. Babette goes on to explain that it was not simply a gesture of gratitude; it was a chance for her to offer her utmost best as an artist. It was a chance for her to use her God-given talent to bless the lives of those she loves. She says simply that when she cooked, it made people happy. What more could an artist ask or hope for?
Quotable Quotes
- "An artist is never poor." -- Babette
- "Throughout the world sounds one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me the chance to do my very best." -- Babette
- "In Paradise you will be the great artist that God meant you to be. Ah, how you will delight the angels!" -- Achille Papin to Filippa and later Filippa to Babette
ISFS
I was not a fan of the movie overall. But it was an absolutely visually beautiful film.
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