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> Arts & Faith -> Film / Movies / Cinema -> The Top100 -> The Top100 (2004)
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Babettes Gæstebud ("Babette's Feast")
(1987)
Directed by Gabriel Axel , written by Gabriel Axel (from Isak Dinesen story)
Babette’s Feast is a feast in itself, for the heart,
the senses, and above all the spirit. At the same time, unlike many
food-themed films (cf. Like Water for Chocolate; Tortilla
Soup), it isn’t a voluptuous or sensual affair. It’s
sensitive, funny, hopeful, and ultimately joyous; but there’s
a restrained, almost ascetical quality to it, especially in the
first half. Even in the climactic feast, there is no collapse into
epicurian dissolution or “food pornography.” Elevation,
not mere gratification, is the goal of Babette’s Feast.
Behind the film’s deceptively simple story is a sort of parable
or fable of religion and life. A voice-over narrator introduces
us to a pair of aging sisters, daughters of a now-deceased Protestant
minister on the Jutland coast of Denmark, whose names are Martina
(Birgitte Federspiel) and Philippa (Bodil Kjer) — “after
Martin Luther and his friend, Philip Melanchthon.” These pious sisters lead quiet lives of touching service among
their late father’s remaining followers, a handful of older
residents of a tiny nineteenth-century coastal settlement that is
at once almost a religious community and a sect unto itself. Click here
to read the rest of this review by Steven D. Greydanus on Decent
Films. Additional
resources for this entry:
To correct, update, or contribute information about this or any other Top100 entry, please send it to top100@artsandfaith.com. This page was last updated on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 4:03 PM EST .
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