''Babette's Feast'' () is a 1987 Danish
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Gabriel Axel. The screenplay, written by Axel, was based on the
1958 story by Isak Dinesen (
Karen Blixen
Baroness Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Ta ...
). It was produced by
Just Betzer,
Bo Christensen and
Benni Korzen, with funding from the
Danish Film Institute. It stars
Stéphane Audran,
Birgitte Federspiel, and
Bodil Kjer.
''Babette's Feast'' was met with widespread critical acclaim and became the first Danish film to win the
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People and fictional and mythical characters
* Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar
* Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
for
Best Foreign Language Film. It was also the first Danish cinema film of a Blixen story.
The film premiered in the ''
Un Certain Regard
(; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films with unusua ...
'' section of the
1987 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
The elderly and pious
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
sisters Martine and Filippa live in a small village on the remote western coast of
Jutland
Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
in 19th-century Denmark. Their late father was a pastor who founded his own
Pietistic conventicle
A conventicle originally meant "an assembly" and was frequently used by ancient writers to mean "a church." At a semantic level, ''conventicle'' is a Latinized synonym of the Greek word for ''church'', and references Jesus' promise in Matthew 18: ...
. Lacking new converts, the aging sisters preside over a dwindling, elderly congregation.
Forty-nine years before, the sisters had many suitors, but their father rejected them, to retain the women’s assistance with his pastoral mission. Martine was courted by a young
Swedish cavalry officer, Lorens Löwenhielm, who was visiting Jutland. Filippa was courted by the famous
baritone
A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
Achille Papin, on hiatus from the
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
. Both sisters spurned their suitors and stayed with their father.
Thirty-five years later, Babette Hersant appears at their door. She carries a letter from Papin which explains that she is a refugee from
counter-revolutionary bloodshed in Paris and recommends her as a housekeeper. The sisters cannot afford to employ Babette, but she begs to work for free. Babette serves as their cook for the next fourteen years, producing improved versions of the bland meals typical of the abstemious nature of the congregation and gaining their respect, and that of the other locals. As the years go by, the sisters are deeply distressed by the increasing number of disputes between the congregants. Babette is also troubled, and at one point, interrupts the arguments with a stern rebuke.
Babette's only link to her former life is a
lottery
A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...
ticket. A Parisian friend annually renews the ticket. One day, she wins the lottery and receives 10,000 francs. After her win she decides to prepare a dinner for the sisters and their small congregation on the occasion of the founding pastor's hundredth birthday. More than just a feast, the meal is an outpouring of Babette's appreciation, an act of self-sacrifice.
The sisters accept both Babette's meal and her offer to pay for the creation of a "real
French dinner." Babette arranges for her nephew to go to Paris and gather the supplies for the feast. The ingredients are plentiful, sumptuous and exotic, and their arrival causes much consternation and discussion among the villagers. As the various never-before-seen ingredients arrive and preparations commence, the sisters begin to worry that the meal will become a sin of sensual luxury, if not some form of devilry. In a hasty conference, the sisters and the congregation agree to eat the meal, but to forgo speaking of any pleasure in it and to make no mention of the food during the dinner.
Martine's former suitor, Lorens, now a famous general married to a member of the
Queen's court, comes as the guest of his aunt, the local lady of the manor and a member of the old pastor's congregation. He is unaware of the other guests' austere plans and as a man of the world and former
attaché in Paris, he is the only person at the table qualified to comment on the meal. He regales the guests with abundant information about the extraordinary food and drink, comparing it to a meal he enjoyed years earlier at the famous
Café Anglais in Paris. Although the other celebrants refuse to comment on the earthly pleasures of their meal, Babette's gifts break down their distrust and superstitions, elevating them physically and spiritually. Old wrongs are forgiven, ancient loves are rekindled and a mystical redemption of the human spirit settles over the table.
Bereft, the sisters assume that Babette will return to Paris. However, when she says that all of her money is gone and that she is not going anywhere, the sisters are aghast. Babette then reveals that she was formerly the head chef of the Café Anglais, where a dinner for twelve cost 10,000 francs. Martine tearfully says, "Now you will be poor the rest of your life", to which Babette replies, "An artist is never poor." Filippa then says: "But this is not the end, Babette. In paradise you will be the great artist God meant you to be" and then embraces her with tears in her eyes saying: "Oh, how you will enchant the angels!"
Cast
*
Stéphane Audran as Babette Hersant
*
Bodil Kjer as Filippa (old)
*
Birgitte Federspiel as Martine (old)
*
Jarl Kulle as General Lorens Löwenhielm (old)
*
Jean-Philippe Lafont as Achille Papin
*
Vibeke Hastrup as Martine (young)
* Hanne Stensgaard as Filippa (young)
*
Tina Kiberg as Filippa (singing voice)
* Gudmar Wivesson as Lorens (young)
*
Bibi Andersson as Swedish courtier
* Pouel Kern as the pastor, the father
*
Bendt Rothe as Nielsen, parishioner
* Cay Kristiansen as Poul, parishioner
*
Lisbeth Movin as the Widow, parishioner
*
Preben Lerdorff Rye as the Captain, parishioner
*
Ebbe Rode as Christopher, parishioner
*
Else Petersen as Solveig, parishioner
* Asta Esper Andersen as Anna, parishioner
* Holger Perfort as Karlsen, parishioner
* Ebba With as Löwenhielm's aunt
*
Axel Strøbye as Löwenhielm's coachman
* Finn Nielsen as grocery store owner
*
Ghita Nørby as Narrator (voice)
Production
Blixen's original story takes place in a Norwegian village called Berlevåg, which coincidentally shares its name with the port village of
Berlevåg, which has multi-coloured wooden houses on a long fjord. However, when Axel researched locations in Norway, he found the settings were too idyllic and resembled a "beautiful tourist brochure".
[Mørch, Karin, ''Gabriel's Gæstebud: Portrait af en Filmmager'', Copenhagen: Gyldendal, (2008) p.403] He shifted the location to the flat windswept coast of western
Jutland
Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
and asked his set designer, Sven Wichmann, to build a small grey village offering very few or no attractions.
Mårup Church, a plain Romanesque church built around 1250 on a remote seaside cliff near the village of
Lønstrup, was used as a backdrop. Somewhat ironically, the actual village of Berlevåg is not on a fjord, but directly on the
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...
, and is subject to strong winds—very much similar to Axel's vision.
Axel altered the setting from a ship-filled harbor to fishermen's rowboats on a beach. He said the changes would highlight Blixen's vision of Babette's life in near complete exile.
[ translated from "Der er meget, der fungerer på skrift, men når det blive overført til billeder, giver det slet ikke samme indtryk eller følelse. Alle de ændringer, jeg foretog, gjorde jeg faktisk for at være tro mod Karen Blixens."]
The
Nordisk Film production company suggested the cast of ''Babette's Feast'' should include only Danish actors to reduce production costs. However, Axel wanted Danish, Swedish and French actors to play the roles for the sake of authenticity. Axel was supported by the
Danish Film Institute's consultant, Claes Kastholm Hansen, who also agreed the cast should include international stars.
The title character of Babette was initially offered to
Catherine Deneuve. Deneuve was interested in the part but was concerned because she had been criticized in her past attempts to depart from her usual ‘sophisticated woman’ roles.
While Deneuve deliberated for a day, Axel met with French actress
Stéphane Audran. Axel remembered Audran from her roles in
Claude Chabrol
Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...
's films ''
Violette Nozière'' (1978) and ''
Cop au Vin'' (1985). When Axel asked Chabrol (her former husband) about Audran's suitability, Chabrol said Audran was the archetype of Babette. Axel gave the script to Audran, told her that Deneuve was contemplating the role, and asked her if she might be able to respond before the next day. Audran called two hours later and said she wanted the role. The following day, Deneuve declined and Audran was officially cast.
Two other major parts were the characters of the elderly maiden sisters, Phillipa and Martine. Phillipa, the once-promising singer, was portrayed by
Bodil Kjer, considered the first lady of Danish theater and namesake of the
Bodil Award.
Birgitte Federspiel, best known for Carl Dreyer's 1955 classic film ''
Ordet
''Ordet'' (, meaning " The Word" and originally released as ''The Word'' in English) is a 1955 Danish drama film, written and directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. It is based on a play by Kaj Munk, a Danish Lutheran priest, first performed in 1932. ...
'', was cast as the staid, lovelorn Martine.
The role of the Swedish General Lorens Löwenhielm, the former suitor of Martine, was accepted by
Jarl Kulle and the Swedish Court Lady by
Bibi Andersson. Both had achieved international recognition as two of
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...
's favorite actors, appearing in many of his films.
The group of elderly villagers was composed of Danish actors, many of whom were well known for their roles in the films of
Carl Theodor Dreyer
Carl Theodor Dreyer (; 3 February 1889 – 20 March 1968), commonly known as Carl Th. Dreyer, was a Danish film director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers in history, his movies are noted for emotional austerity ...
. These included
Lisbeth Movin as the Old Widow,
Preben Lerdorff Rye as the Captain,
Axel Strøbye as the Driver,
Bendt Rothe as Old Nielsen and
Ebbe Rode as Christopher.
The popular Danish actress
Ghita Nørby was cast as the film's narrator. Although production consultants complained to Axel that the use of a narrator was too old-fashioned, Axel was adamant about using one. He said it was not about being old-fashioned but only about the need: "If there is need for a narrator, then one uses one."
Menu
The seven-
course menu in the film consisted of:
* "Potage à la Tortue" (
turtle soup) served with
Amontillado
Amontillado () is a variety of sherry wine characterised by being darker than fino sherry, but lighter than oloroso sherry. Amontillado wine is named after the Montilla municipality, in Andalusia, Spain, where the style of sherry originated in th ...
sherry
Sherry ( ) is a fortified wine produced from white grapes grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is a drink produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versio ...
* "
Blinis Demidoff" (
buckwheat pancakes with
caviar
Caviar or caviare is a food consisting of salt-cured roe of the family Acipenseridae. Caviar is considered a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or spread. Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspi ...
and
sour cream
Sour cream (sometimes known as soured cream in British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturall ...
) served with
Veuve Clicquot
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot Ponsardin, Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known Champag ...
Champagne
* "Cailles en Sarcophage" (
quail in
puff pastry shell with
foie gras
; (, ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a Domestic duck, duck or Domestic goose, goose. According to French law, ''foie gras'' is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by ''gavage'' (force feeding).
''Foie gras'' i ...
and
truffle
A truffle is the Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''P ...
sauce) served with
Clos de Vougeot Pinot Noir
Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...
* An
endive
Endive () is a leaf vegetable belonging to the genus ''Cichorium'', which includes several similar bitter-leafed vegetables. Species include ''Cichorium endivia'' (also called endive), ''Cichorium pumilum'' (also called wild endive), and ''Cicho ...
salad
* "Savarin au Rhum avec des Figues et Fruit Glacée" (
rum sponge cake with
figs
The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...
and
candied cherries) served with Champagne
* Assorted cheeses and fruits served with
Sauternes
* Coffee with vieux marc
Grande Champagne cognac.
Release
Reception
Upon its release in 1987, ''Babette's Feast'' received positive reviews. The film won the 1987
Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.
It also received the
BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
Film Award for
Best Foreign Language Film. In Denmark, it won both the
Bodil and
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...
awards for Best Danish Film of the Year. The film was nominated and/or won several other awards including a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
nomination, the
Grand Prix (Belgian Film Critics Association) award and a
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
special prize.
The film maintained a 97% "Fresh" rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
based on 34 reviews, and an average score of 8.5/10. The site's consensus is; "Charming and melancholy, ''Babette's Feast'' is a timeless Scandinavian treat that explores the complex relationships between people, beliefs, and what it means to be an artist." The film also has a
weighted average score of 78 out of 100 at
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". After the film's release, several restaurants offered recreations of the film's menu.
The movie is a favorite of
Alton Brown,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
,
Rowan Williams,
Richard Gere, and
Stanley Tucci. The film was included by the Vatican in
a list of important films compiled in 1995, under the category of "Religion".
Home video
''Babette's Feast'' was released on
DVD by
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
on January 23, 2001, presented in its original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. The only special feature was the original theatrical trailer.
On July 23, 2013, the film was released by
The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...
on DVD and
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
. The Blu-ray has a new, restored high-definition digital transfer, and features new video interviews with star Stéphane Audran, sociologist Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson, and a 1995 documentary about author Karen Blixen, as well as a booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Mark Le Fanu and Dinesen's 1950 story.
American remake
In December 2019, it was announced that
Alexander Payne
Constantine Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is noted for his satire, satirical depictions of contemporary American society. Payne has received List of awards and nominations rec ...
had been asked to direct an American remake of the film. Payne's version was planned to be set in
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
.
See also
*
List of submissions to the 60th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
*
List of Danish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
Alt URL*
*
*
* Tibbetts, John C., and James M. Welsh, eds. ''The Encyclopedia of Novels Into Film'' (2nd ed. 2005) pp 22–23.
*
External links
*
''Babette's Feast'' at AllMovie*
*
*
at KarenBlixen.com
''Babettes gæstebud''at the Danish Film Institute (in Danish)
''Babette’s Feast: “Mercy and Truth Have Met Together”''an essay by Mark Le Fanu at the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...
{{Authority control
1987 films
1987 multilingual films
1987 romantic drama films
1980s Danish-language films
1980s French-language films
1980s Swedish-language films
Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners
Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award winners
Cooking films
Danish Culture Canon
Danish multilingual films
Danish romantic drama films
Films about Christianity
Films about food and drink
Films about old age
Films about sisters
Films based on Danish novels
Films based on works by Karen Blixen
Films directed by Gabriel Axel
Films set in the 19th century
Films set in Denmark
Films shot in Denmark
Films scored by Per Nørgård