How on earth did ar,le lose to Babette's feast
at the Oscars?
Babette was a cute movie, but horribly outclassed by winning films such as Pelle and Cinema Paradiso in the late 80's. Au revoir was robbed!
totally agree.
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MovieChat Forums > Au revoir les enfants (1988) Discussion > How on earth did ar,le lose to Babette's...
I treasure the films you mention, and had to comment that my friends tend to single out "Au Revoir Les Enfants" as the best of them all as well.
"it's a Kafka high, you feel like a bug"
I never thought of Babette's Feast as cute... lol :) But I agree..."Au Revoir Les Enfants" is better! It's an excellent unforgettable film.
Given the Oscars' notorious love of all things Holocaust-related, it's quite odd indeed that a sweet little Danish food movie beat Au revoir les enfants. Babette's Feast is a nice film - although it's been many years since I've seen it - but having watched Malle's film today for the first time in ages, I firmly believe it should have won.
shareIt's true...even more perplexing is that Babette's Feast managed to beat out not only Au revoir, les enfants but also Pathfinder, both of which, I believe are superior productions.
Reminds me, I saw the Criterion Collection release of Au revoir, les enfants the other day at Borders, I wish I would have gotten it instead of Pierrot le fou.
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keatoncooper, you're quite right - while Au revoir les enfants stands tall above them, Pathfinder is also a terrific and, sadly, now mostly forgotten film. One of the best action-adventure films, and what a great and haunting story. Babette's Feast would make a decent enough winner in many years but against that fantastic duo, no way should it have won.
shareI think the whole idea of pitting movies and performances against one another (as though filmmaking were some kind of sporting event) is pretty dumb. I saw both Babette's Feast and Au Revoir Les Enfants when they were released in 1987 and I thought both films were as good as they could have been. Au Revoir Les Enfants dealt with the darkness in humanity while Babette's Feast explored its more generous side; here's the story of a woman who literally gives everything she's got so the people in her village can have an evening they'll never forget. I considered it a graceful, almost poetic piece of filmmaking.
Having said that, the film that had the greater emotional impact on me was unquestionably Au Revoir Les Enfants. I've seen this movie over a dozen times and it knocks me sideways every time I watch it. I don't know if there's such a thing as a perfect film, but Au Revoir Les Enfants comes very close.
There's a documentary on Louis Malle that accompanies a box set of his films, and it follows the Oscar race of 1988. Au Revoir Les Enfants had won a number of international film awards since its release, but Malle was apparently devastated when it didn't win the Academy Award as well (it was considered the favorite to take the Foreign Language Film Oscar). However, Candice Bergen reported that after the shock had worn off, he realized how wrong he'd been to buy into all that nonsense. I'm sure he realized he'd made a brilliant, unforgettable film, and the fact that he didn't take the naked golden man home with him didn't diminish his achievement in any way.
Author Karen Blixen was big that year with Meryl Steep playing her in Out of Africa.
It's that man again!!
Babette's feast can hardly be described as "cute" even though the subject matter of the film was not as dramatic or serious as Au Revoir. It was a masterpiece of storytelling,the Cinematography was fantastic and lush. As a rare product of Danish Cinema that engaged the imaginations of the American audiences I believe it was Oscar worthy.
shareBabette's Feast is a lovely film, touching and sweet - images and moments from it have stayed with me over the many, many years since I saw it. It's far from a disgraceful winner.
Au Revoir les Enfants may be the greatest film of the 1980s IMO, and exists on a plane way above the Oscars. I do feel it should have won - and if the current voting system had been in place back then I think it probably would have - but awards, or lack thereof, does nothing to diminish the power of this incredible film.