One of the first great food movies. This is a Danish movie about a French woman who was taken in by two daughters of a now deceased pastor of a small religious community in Denmark. The sect is quiet and repressed, with little emotional passion expressed. Babette is a refugee from violence in Paris. The sisters take her in and she becomes their housekeeper, taking good care of them and the other aging members of the community for 14 years. Her only remaining tie to Paris is a lottery ticket that a friend renews for her each year.
One day Babette wins that lottery and decides to spend the money on creating an epicurean feast for the people who saved her. The movie has the most beautiful scenes of food preparation! She pours her love into the meal which is indeed sumptuous.
The movie is more than just meal preparation. We also get to see the past lives of the sisters, including their opportunities for love. The sisters are sure that the meal will be too sensual for their religious sensibilities, and with the other members of the community, agree to accept the meal, but not to enjoy it! Are they in for a surprise!
This is a lovely and gentle movie about love in many of its forms. Food is the metaphor. Don't watch this while you are hungry!
The movie is based on a story by Karen Blixen, who also wrote the story that
Out of Africa was based on. It was also the first Danish film to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
DIRECTOR: Gabriel Axel. CAST: Stephane Audran, Jean-Phillipe Lafont, Gudmar Wivesson, Jarl Kulle, Bibi Andersson, Birgitte Federspiel, Bodil Kjer.
AWARDS: Academy Award and another 10 wins and 6 nominations
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