Babette's Feast Details

This Danish film with a French star, directed by Gabriel Axel, deservedly won the best foreign film Oscar and transcended the barriers of subtitles to capture the imagination of cinema-goers everywhere. Set in the 1870s, the story unfolds against the background of the grim Jutland peninsula, where two spinster sisters (Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel), daughters of the former pastor, continue his work in leading the religious sect he founded. Into their lives comes Babette (Stéphane Audran), seeking refuge from war-torn Paris, who becomes their housekeeper. Her presence gradually effects changes in the austere community, culminating in a magnificent feast that she cooks 14 years later, which serves as a profoundly cathartic event in the lives of all. Faithfully and brilliantly adapted by Axel from the story by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), this highly original and deeply poignant tale, leavened with well-judged humour is that rare thing — a perfect work. It is exquisitely acted, with Audran — no stranger to dinner tables in the films of her husband Claude Chabrol — glowing at the centre. The film began something of a vogue for food as an emblem of love in the cinema, but nothing has equalled it. Resist it if you can.

Why, in the 1870s, would a Parisienne (Audran), an acclaimed chef, be working for a pittance for two elderly sisters... read more on Time Out