Barnes & Noble

An entrancingly bittersweet and comedic blend of austerity and opulence, Babette's Feast -- which won the 1987 Oscar for Best Foreign Film -- is a delightful combination of the talents of Danish director Gabriel Axel and the luminous French actress Stéphane Audran. Set on the bleak Jutland Peninsula in the 1870s, the film revolves around two spinster sisters (Bodil Kjer and Brigitte Federspiel) who maintain the strict religious philosophy of their late father, and Babette (Audran), a Parisian refugee who turns up on their doorstep seeking refuge and becomes their cook and housekeeper. Fourteen years elapse before it is revealed that Babette is a cordon bleu cook -- a fact that leads to a cathartic event for her, her employers, and the community. This superb adaptation of an Isak Dinesen novella remains true to its literary source, and Axel's cinematic flourishes (particularly the deftly deployed flashbacks) are as exquisitely delicious as the titular repast itself. Subtle, warm, and altogether engaging, Babette's Feast is a film about missed chances that is not to be missed. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

The Danish/French Babette's Feast is based on a story by Isak Dinesen, also the source of the very different Out of Africa (1985). Stephane Audran plays Babette, a 19th century Parisian political refugee who seeks shelter in a rough Danish coastal town. Philippa (Bodil Kjer) and Martina (Birgitte Federspiel), the elderly daughters of the town's long-dead minister, take Babette in. As revealed in flashback, Philippa and Martina were once beautiful young women (played by Hanne Stensgaard and Vibeke Hastrup), who'd forsaken their chances at romance and fame, taking hollow refuge in religion. Babette holds a secret that may very well allow the older ladies to have a second chance at life. This is one of the great movies about food, but there are way too many surprises in Babette's Feast to allow us to reveal anything else at this point (except that Ingmar Bergman "regulars" Bibi Andersson and Jarl Kulle have significant cameo roles).. Hal Erickson

All Movie Guide

The sophisticated and subtle screenplay for Babette's Feast, adapted by director Gabriel Axel, is based on a story written by Isak Dinesen, the writer memorably played by Meryl Streep in the biopic Out of Africa. In the film's first half, the emotional detachment of the pious characters is mirrored in the directorial approach, which allows the narrator to explain the matters before us, keeping us at a distance. When the feast begins, the narrator steps aside, Axel's direction becomes more evocative, and our participation becomes more active. Axel plays things low-key: his camera doesn't swoop or dance, but lingers lovingly over every aspect of the meal. The soundtrack includes some beautiful period music, but Axel mostly allows the sounds of the meal to become the symphony of the feast. Made out of humility and love, the feast is Babette's supreme artistic expression, and her hedonistic present encourages the feasters to look a little more closely at their own lives, as the magical and voluptuous feast dramatically counterpoints their puritanical existence. Babette's offering is a ritual sacrifice, intended to encourage the austere characters with the possibility that their material nourishment may provide spiritual sustenance as well. The film also contains a cultural context, as the political revolutions in 19th century Europe lead to Babette's displacement and the resultant cultural blending of Babette's southern European Catholic sensuality with sober northern European Protestantism. Their pact, to say nothing about the magnificence of the feast, ironically reveals the ineffable truth that Babette's artistic expression of love cannot be properly praised with words. Like the guests' spiritual values, it exists on a higher plane, where simple acts of generosity can erase personal prejudices. The film leaves us with a haunting echo of the roads not taken, as the characters must ponder the paths they have chosen and ask themselves: have they made the most of their gifts? Babette's Feast won several major awards, including the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and the British BAFTA Award for Best Film of 1987 Dan Jardine

Product Details

• UPC: 027616857958
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Vistavision (1.66:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: monaural
• Language: Français, English, Español
• Subtitles: English, Français, Español
• Time: 1:43:00
• Sales Rank: 2,346

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