Babette's Feast

Babette's Feast (1987)

a film by Gabriel Axel

What is it?

Babette's Feast is the story of the two daughters of a pastor of a strict Christian sect and their French maid in a small village on the remote coast of Jutland during the late XIX century. The two sisters have guides their lives according to their pious beliefs and have renounced to anything that keeps them apart from that path. But one day Babette appears on their door and with her comes a head-on collision of their strict protestant life with the concupiscence of the senses represented in the lavish French food.

Memorable scene

Once Babette starts cooking, everything about this movie becomes memorable, the soup, the salad, les cailles in sarcophage...

Favorite quote

"An artist is never poor." - Babette

Why is it worth watching this movie?

Babette's Feast is the ultimate food-movie. By the end I wanted to eat and drink and enjoy the same pleasure brought to the characters in this unforgettable feast. It is the original and brilliant portrait of cooking and the presentation of the food what make this a powerful story. This movie is composed by a first half which feels like climbing a mountain and a second half in which the story slides down-hill and the pace accelerates with every dish and every bottle of wine opened.

I could talk about the religious aspect of the community in the isolated Jutland and the life of the sisters but this is essentially a mouthwatering film, and I would like to keep it like that.