Babette's Feast

Directed by: Gabriel Axel
Screenplat by: Gabriel Axel
Based on: Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen
Produced by: Just Betzer, Bo Christensen, Benni Korzen, Pernille Siesbye
Starring: Stephane Audran, Birgitte Federspiel, Bodil Kjer
Narated by: Ghita Nørby
Production Company: Nordisk Film
Release date: 28 August 1987
Content: General

Plot: The elderly and pious Protestant sisters Martine (Birgitte Federspiel) and Filippa (Bodil Kjer) live in a small village on the remote western coast of Jutland in 19th-century Denmark. Their late father was a pastor who founded his own Pietistic conventicle. Lacking new converts, the aging sisters preside over a dwindling, but faithful, elderly congregation.

The story flashes back 49 years, showing the sisters in their youthful loveliness. They have many suitors, but their father rejects them, as he selfishly wishes to retain the assistance of the young women to further his pastoral mission. Martine is courted by an impassioned young Swedish cavalry officer, Lorens Löwenhielm, who is visiting Jutland. Filippa is courted by a famous baritone, Achille Papin, from the Paris opera, on hiatus to enjoy the silence of the coast. Both sisters decide to stay with their father and spurn their suitors.

Thirty-five years later, Babette Hersant (Stéphane Audran) appears at their door. She carries a letter from Papin, who explains that she is a refugee from counter-revolutionary bloodshed in Paris and recommends her as a housekeeper. The sisters cannot afford to employ Babette, but she begs to work for free. Babette serves as their cook for the next 14 years, producing an improved version of the bland meals typical of the abstemious nature of the congregation and slowly gaining their respect, and that of the other local inhabitants. As the years go by, the sisters are deeply distressed by the increasing number of querulous arguments between the congregants. Babette is also troubled, and at one point, interrupts the arguments with a stern rebuke.

End of Spoilers

Review: This is a visually scrumptious film. I would challenge anyone to watch it and not feel hungry by the end of it. We follow the journey of a highly gifted and talented chef as she learns to adapt. To a frugal and provincial lifestyle that is the opposite of everything she once knew. How just one amazing meal can change the world for so many. Be sure to be ready to be entertained and enlightened at how food can be so much more than what we eat,