This has to be the most romantic movie about celibate asceticism ever made, actually daring to state the value in a lifestyle that few of us consider, and that may no longer be possible anyway. Savant had to be dragged to Babette's Feast the first time out, only to find it positively enchanting. and then the handsome soldier from years ago, now a retired general, becomes one of the invitees. Ascetic and god-fearing, the sisters and their flock of now-aged villagers are apprehensive about the decadence of it all. The elaborate meal would be an extravagance in a four star Paris restaurant. When Babette wins a small fortune in a lottery, the sisters think they are going to lose her, but instead their servant insists on preparing a celebratory dinner for their father's birthday.

She serves them for free for fifteen years, enabling them to better take care of the elderly and infirm. The baritone sends them a French woman, Babette Hersant (Stéphane Audran) whose entire family has been killed in street rioting in Paris. Many years later, the father is dead but the sisters carry on his work. Their dedication to him included turning down suitors in their youth who would have taken them away - one, a handsome soldier the other, a famous opera baritone, Achille Papin (Jean-Phillipe Lafont). Elderly sisters Phillipa and Martina (Bodil Kjer and Birgitte Federspiel) are the center of a bible group that still reveres the teachings of their late father, a devout and loving minister known throughout Denmark despite his poverty. The sweetness and humanity brought out from this austere setting make Babette's Feast a special and rewarding foreign film.Ī tiny hamlet in Jutland. Its pace is the pace ofĪ provincial seaside town where nothing much ever happens, and its subject is the lives of characters who have dedicated themselves to very non-21st century lifestyles. A charming tale set in the mid 1800's, it steadfastly refuses to be modern in any way. Judging from the Danish sequences in Out of Africa, you'd think Karen Blixen had nothing positive to say about her nordic homeland, so Babette's Feast comes as a very pleasant surprise. MGM's 'World Cinema' VHS 'branded line' category jumps to DVD with this handsome release, one of many excellent foreign films that company will be offering up to disc in the coming months. Produced by Just Betzer and Bo Christensen

Writing credits Gabriel Axel, from the novel by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) Production Designers Jan Petersen, Sven Wichmann Starring Stéphane Audran, Birgitte Federspiel, Bodil Kjer, Bibi Andersson, Jarle Kulle, Jean-Phillipe LaFont, Ebbie Rode 1987 / Color / 1:37 / original title, Babettes gaestebud

Babette's feast karen blixen