Newness for a New Year

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Review of Babette's Feast


Amelia and I went to International Cinema last week. We saw such a lovely movie. I hadn't heard anything about the movie, but it looked good. I was very impressed by it.

You can read about the plot here on Wikipedia or here on IMDb but trust me, this is a film worth watching. It isn't driven by plot so much as by theme. It is in Dutch and French, with English subtitles. It centers in a remote and austere Denmark coastal town and follows the life of two very pious daughters of the town's minister. They have unexpected visitors who change their lives. It is a story of deep devotion and sacrifice, and really displays the interplay between bodily wants and the deeper persuasions of the soul. Babette is a French chef who seeks asylum with the women and through her creation of a feast, the town undergoes an illumination of love and deeper devotion. The movie closes with the joy of reconciliation between lost opportunity and lost love. The role of the artist and his/her art is also motivating factor in the movie.

It is simply a beautiful film.

3 comments:

Ye Stewart Clan said...

I couldn't agree more! I watched this film in a couple different French classes at BYU and really enjoyed it. However, I once had to do a psychoanalysis of the film for a French writing class, and now that's all I can remember when I think about the film. Moral of the story: enjoy the movie, and then instead of thinking about it too hard, go to a nice French restaurant and allow yourself to continue to be inspired.

Daisy Chick said...

I found this movie at the Library the first of the month and really enjoyed watching it. I thought it was a beautiful movie. I loved the feast portion and how all of their inhabitions were let go a little and their perspectives changed. I loved how giving she was and the concept of the true artist was lovely.

Jeri said...

Seen it, loved it, still remember it--even 8 years later.