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Babette's Feast (1988)

Stéphane Audran , Bodil Kjer , Gabriel Axel  |  G |  DVD
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (231 customer reviews)

Price: $52.40 & FREE Shipping. Details
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Product Details

  • Actors: Stéphane Audran, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel, Jarl Kulle, Jean-Philippe Lafont
  • Directors: Gabriel Axel
  • Writers: Gabriel Axel, Karen Blixen
  • Producers: Benni Korzen, Bo Christensen, Just Betzer, Pernille Siesbye
  • Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language: Danish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 1.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
  • Dubbed: English, Spanish
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: G (General Audience)
  • Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
  • DVD Release Date: January 23, 2001
  • Run Time: 102 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (231 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000053VBK
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,467 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • Learn more about "Babette's Feast" on IMDb

Special Features

None.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Some movies can only be described as delicious. In Babette's Feast, a woman flees the French civil war and lands in a small seacoast village in Denmark, where she comes to work for two spinsters, devout daughters of a puritan minister. After many years, Babette unexpectedly wins a lottery, and decides to create a real French dinner--which leads the sisters to fear for their souls. Joining them for the meal will be a Danish general who, as a young soldier, courted one of the sisters, but she turned him away because of her religion. The village elders all resolve not to enjoy the meal, but can their moral fiber resist the sensual pleasure of Babette's cooking? Babette's Feast deservedly won the 1987 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This lovely movie is impeccably simple, yet its slender narrative contains a wealth of humor, melancholy, and hope. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Artistic, sensual and sacred passions unite in Babette's Feast. Written and directed by Gabriel Axel, from a short story by Out of Africa's Isak Dinesen, this Oscar(r)-winning*film offers "an irresistible mixture of dry wit and robust humanity" (Newsweek). Onthe desolate coast of Denmark live Martina and Philippa, the beautiful daughters of a devout clergyman who preaches salvation through self-denial. Both girls sacrifice youthful passion to faith and duty, and even many years after their father's death, they keep his austere teachings alive among thetownspeople. But with the arrival of Babette, a mysterious refugee from France's civil war, life for the sisters and their tiny hamlet begins to change. Soon, Babette has convinced them to try something truly outrageousa gourmet French meal! Her feast, of course, scandalizes the local elders. Just who is this strangely talented Babette, who has terrified this pious town with the prospect of losing their souls for enjoying too much earthly pleasure? *1987: Foreign Language Film

Customer Reviews

This is a film of the sacramental vision - God's rich love reaching out to us body and soul. Sammy Jo  |  66 reviewers made a similar statement
This is an achingly beautiful story filmed in a perfect manner. Michael A. Lacombe  |  45 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
341 of 347 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars 5-Star Meal, 5-Star Cinema November 17, 2001
Format:DVD
The feast of the title doesn't take place until well into the film. In fact, the majority of the film is spent telling the story of 2 godly sisters and the choices they made in life. Both sisters passed up true love and the promise of success in order to remain faithful to their religious beliefs. Instead they pass their lives assisting their minister father and carry on his work after his death. They continue their quiet lives past mid-life until one of the sisters' former suitors sends them a Parisian refugee, Babette. Babette spends 14 years with the sisters as cook, her only link to her former life being a lottery ticket that a friend in Paris renews for her every year. One day she wins the lottery and decides to use the money to prepare a sumptous dinner for the sisters and their small congregation. More than just an epicurean delight the feast is an outpouring of Babette's gratitude.

If the plot sounds thin, be assured it's anything but. The story is as rich and satisfying as the feast Babette prepares. We see the delicate romances that develop for each sister and understand their reasons for turning their suitors away. We see the lives the sisters, and their men, have led after making their decision. The feast comes at a time when the sisters are asking themselves questions that they never voice: Did they make the right decision all those years ago? Was it worth it? Reassurance comes in an unexpected and exquisitely romanitc way.

This film is such a wonderful example of what happens when filmmakers are interested in telling a good story and telling it well. It doesn't follow a 'formula' or cater to a demographic and is a perfect example of why independent and foreign films are so much more satisfying than Hollywood movies.

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107 of 107 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars AN EXQUISITE MOVIE THAT GREATLY BENEFITS FROM DVD! February 1, 2001
Format:DVD
I don't think I can add any more information about the wonderful story itself in light of all the superlative reviews found here. If you've seen it, you know it's a classic that is definitely worth owning, to be viewed and enjoyed repeatedly. If you've never seen Babette's Feast, you owe it to yourself to see it and find out what people mean when they say they experience a film. Yes, it's that good and that powerful. And the best part of it all: no guns, no explosions, no sex, no vulgarity.

The DVD is, without a doubt, THE format for this movie. The print has been considerably cleaned up and brightened. What a difference with my "old" fuzzy VHS copy! The widescreen format benefits this film tremendously. The sound is crisp and even, with no sudden drops or surges in volume. The DVD offers three language tracks: the original Danish/French, English, and Spanish. I personally recommend that you keep the Danish/French track with English subtitles. It's the only real way to convey the full meaning and emotions of the story. Avoid the English track at all costs: it's unbelievably bland and emotionless (thereby removing any and all subtleties and charm from this superb story) and it's muffled. I did not check out the Spanish track.

Worth much more than "just" 5 stars!

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231 of 243 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars But this really *is* Caille en Sarcophage! July 3, 2002
Format:DVD
For years I had heard that this was a good movie, but I resisted seeing it. How could a Danish movie about a dinner be all that compelling? I finally broke down and rented it - and watched it, stunned. This is truly a great film.

The story is simple. Two pious Danish sisters hire a French maid, Babette, out of a sense of charity. Fourteen years later, Babette wins the lottery. Out of her winnings, she proposes to serve the sisters and their fellow religionists a meal.

The film is simple. And like all things that are truly simple, it is a very, very rich feast.

The film can be enjoyed on many levels, but it is an overtly Christian film; and the feast is the Lord's Supper. Babette's gift to the sisters and their community is the gift of grace. Unasked for, unearned, and of inestimable value.

The sisters were daughters of a stern Protestant who had formed a devout community. When the sisters were young and beautiful, they were each tempted by the chance to have great love and success outside their community. But they remained loyal to their father and their faith. After their father died, they carried on with their faith community. But as the years passed by, bickering and dissension set in.

One rainy day, there is a knock on the door and Babette appears in their doorway. She has a letter of introduction from one of the sister's old love, and they decide to take her in. Babette quietly makes herself indispensable to the sisters and the entire village. One day, she wins the lottery, and the sisters assume that she will now leave them. Before leaving them, however, she insists on serving them a proper French meal.

The meal itself is the center of the film, and during that meal all the threads of the film are richly woven together. The pious sisters and their community finally learn the true depths of faith - something which is more than just what we believe, but rather also reflects what we do and the love with which we do it. They are twelve to supper, and that number is no accident. Nor is the grace that flows through that meal. Any Christian can appreciate its significance. And anyone who loves the Eucharist can only smile in joy, when one of the guests identifies the main dish as "Caille en Sarcophage" (Quail in a sarcophagus.) He retails a story of the time he ate this extraordinary meal in a fine Parisian restaurant. The other guests smile, but miss his drift. And he exclaims, "But this really *is* Caille en Sarcophage!" They still do not understand, but the meal works its magic nonetheless.

This is a film of the sacramental vision - God's rich love reaching out to us body and soul.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing display of gratitude.
A French woman rescued by 2 little old ladies during the war. Babette was desperate and begged them to take her on as a cook , they said they could not afford to pay her, but... Read more
Published 3 days ago by bas bleu
5.0 out of 5 stars Babette's Feast
Babbette's Feast: A remarkable image of the immeasurable love of God for people! This is one the the best depictions (print/video) I've seen.
Published 3 days ago by Suzann Rose
5.0 out of 5 stars Babette's Feast is delicious
What a great film! Babette comes to a small and remote Scandinavian fishing village as a refugee from war and turmoil in France during the 1800's and is hired by two conservative... Read more
Published 13 days ago by David Corbitt
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
If you like moview that keep you thinking and pondering for days, this movie is one you will love. At first, the movie seems like a story of ordinary people living their lives in... Read more
Published 14 days ago by Kathleen M. Pittman
5.0 out of 5 stars A FEAST not in words but in ACTION
WE RECENTLY WATCHED THIS DELIGHTFUL TALE UNFOLD AGAIN WITH SOME SPANISH SPEAKING FRIENDS. LANGUAGE SPOKEN MOST OF THE FILM- SPANISH, SUBTITLES ENGLISH. Read more
Published 26 days ago by TC
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Movie
We've watched this movie a number of times and are always delighted by it. One of the best movies about food and quality of life.
Published 1 month ago by L. Grimm
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story
This movie is the story of a small Protestant community in the boonies of a Scandanavian country. Two sisters, whose father had founded the local church, survive him and are trying... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Doctor Fred
5.0 out of 5 stars Iconic
A beautiful and humorous movie about life, passion and fullfillment. The cinematography and acting are extraordinary and deftly create a rich fabric for a story about austere lives... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Make It Simple
1.0 out of 5 stars Long time coming, unplayable copy
I chose this rating because I could not play the disc. It would sputter and pixelate and just a bad copy. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Sheila S. Ensign
5.0 out of 5 stars What a wonderful movie!
Not only was the story and symbolism powerful, the movie was very enjoyably well made and acted. The singing characters were a special treat; unlike in Hollywood's recent musical... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ryan
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Why information about subtitles is so poor?
You're right. I need more information about this item. Not only for this amazing movie, for all kinds of pictures.
Aug 26, 2007 by P. E. Martinez |  See all 2 posts
Anamorphic release any time soon? Be the first to reply
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