This great movie shares a theme with another great film - Chocolat
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0241303/
Both films deal with how a newcomer brings light and tolerance into a dark and intolerant local society.
Were those two old ladies lucky, or what?
sharePlease don't compare Babette's Feast to Chocolat. It is nothing but a vulgar plagiarism.
shareThat was my exact thought when I saw Chocolat - it reminded me of Babette's Feast in its themes, but completely lacked the subtlety. I love Babette's Feast, so i am biased.
shareYes, don't compare the two please....Chocolate was a wonderful film, Babette's feast was more the cowpie and flies scenerio.
shareI would disagree. The point of "Babette's Feast" is sacrifice. The two old ladies have given up everything in the name of duty. Babette does the same thing. She's a great artist but the feast of the title is the last great work she will ever do.
sharelewy-2 has it right. It is the self-sacrifice of the two old ladies and of Babette herself that has given their lives meaning. And to the poster who said Babette brings light into a dark and intolerant society, I'm sorry, but you couldn't be more wrong. The village is anything but dark and intolerant. Look how they welcome Babette, a foreigner(and a Papist!), into their midst. They only become apprehensive when they see the unfamiliar foods she plans to feed them: the cow's head, the live turtle, the quails. Even then, the feast is not a complete turnaround of their perceptions, merely an intensifying of the grace and love for life that already existed among them.
shareI would agree more with pglee-1. We looked at the film frame by frame in my theology class back in college. The film looks at how the community has become secluded in their extremist form of Lutheranism, and how it takes the two Catholics, Babette and Papist, and the middle character Lowenheilm to show them that being religious doesn't necessarily mean depriving yourself of the pleasures of life.
shareBut the point is that the main characters have deprived themselves of the pleasure of life. One sister gave up the prospect of love and marriage, the other a career as a singer, while Babette chooses to remain in a more remote and wild place. What could be more painful for an artist than to give up her art? Yet that is precisely what Babette and one of the sisters has done. And it is that same sister, (I believe), who delivers the code to the film--"In heaven you will be the great artist that God intended you to be".
shareI have just seen the movie for the first time and am still thinking through its implications. I appreciate this discussion string.
I see the main point dealing more with artists and art and not just sensuality and deprivation. After all, there are many parts of the world that would welcome alebread and haddock rather than continual hunger.
The point of the artist is to create. Pappon realized in the end that the size of the crowd applauding was fleeting and not satisfying. His devotion to Babette was because of her passion for her art of cooking. I find it amazing that she would humbly "learn" to cook the simple fare and do so for 14 years. Yet even there she used her art. The people she cooked for knew the difference between Babette's cooking and that of the sisters.
In a similar way the sister who sang brought her art to the smaller scale of the church rather than the Salon in Paris.
Art is not about "making it big" but about art that should be a natural part of the artist's life regardless of how big or sophisticated the audience. That is an important lesson for all artists, because none of our art will last forever. It is for the joy of creation. Its appreciation by others is ephemeral.
I really found the General's reaction to the dinner facinating. It worked its effect of creating community on all the guests, even those who feared it and did not want to receive it. But the General was the only one who understood how astonishing and marvelous it was to have that feast in the remote village.
What a film!
Absolutely.. what a wonderful observation...!
The general's reaction provides us with the true depth and understanding of how much a work of art this feast was.. it would not have been enough for everyone to go " Oh Yummy.." )
I find myself waiting and relishing that moment all the times I have seen the film ( it becomes better and better with every viewing ! )
dimitri
Wonderful insight! And I love this film!
You are so right on but I would also say that we are all "artists" in one way or another.
One way this film moved me was in the way it showed how people have such lovely talents that are often not seen by the world. For many reasons....Remote location, life circumstances, not believing in themselves, the world isn't ready for them, etc, etc.....But in the end what really matters is experiencing this beautiful gift called life, and expressing our art, talents, and love however and whenever we can.
Wonderful insight! And I love this film!
You are so right on but I would also say that we are all "artists" in one way or another.
One way this film moved me was in the way it showed how people have such lovely talents that are often not seen by the world. For many reasons....Remote location, life circumstances, not believing in themselves, the world isn't ready for them, etc, etc.....But in the end what really matters is experiencing this beautiful gift called life, and expressing our art, talents, and love however and whenever we can.
well said
shareI thought it all pointed towards a Wonderful afterlife that God has prepared for those that love and serve him.
shareBut the point is that the main characters have deprived themselves of the pleasure of life. One sister gave up the prospect of love and marriage, the other a career as a singer
Can't agree more with WDavis28.
At the end of the movie they don't quarrel like they did before because they experience joy from the dinner. A harsh and dull life makes people intolerant.
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I agree completely. The characters of the villages play as if they would be only one. They represent abnegation and they show that the truest love is also the simplest.
shareSometimes the grace of God speaks through relative indulgence of the senses. The parishoners quarrel between themselves, probably from lack of a modicum of sensual gratification, whereas after the meal only forgiveness and spiritual love prosper.
Babette, the artist, is midwife to this process. The film tells us there is a metaphysical bond between God, grace, duty, art, sensuality, and love. Lutheran Protestantism has traditionally expunged art and sensuality from the equation.
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I think most people would agree that sensuality can be good in moderation (taking joy in the world around us), but not so good if practiced in excess (hedonism). Haight Male seems to take a typically San Francisco approach (Haight St., get it?) by speaking in confident absolutes about a topic (religion) he appears to know very little about. At least to this fellow San Franciscan.
shareerlend2 most closely reflects my feelings about the film. I love the line, "Babette, the artist, is midwife to this process." I think more than religion, this movie is about love and giving your all. Babette must have had great love for the two sisters after having lived with them and watched them walk the talk for some 15 years. They had become her family. She felt the best use of her 10,000 francs was to give back to the parishoners in a way that only she could. And in a way that would not change or alienate anyone. I also enjoyed the General's line about a great meal being like making love. Every course was from Babette's heart, the best she could make it. She shared her most unique gift. I noticed after the dinner, Babette did not seem to be expecting any praise or recognition. She did it because she wanted to.
shareI think this film can be about sacrificial love and being an artist at the same time. They're very wrapped up in each other. To live fully as a person and to create fully as an artist, you must do things with an outpouring of love and passion. If you do things for your own amusement, it stifles you and your abilities. Babette threw herself into making this extravagant meal as an act of love and generosity to the sisters. That is how it turned out so extravagantly beautiful.
shareLet's see... we have an entire tradition of Renaissance art that was largely devoted to worship. We have music -- Bach's entire work in Liepzig (Lutheran), not to mention Catholic, Anglican, and Baptist chorale music -- that is dedicated to the same, along with the religious underpinnings of blues and soul. And then of course there's poety, prose, and film, where you'll find plenty of religious representations, starting with psalms.
Concerning food (this is a Babette's Feast thread, after all), there's most certainly a tradition of fasting and feasting -- think Fat Tuesday? Church picnics? Easter breakfasts? Now, maybe it doesn't rise to the "art" reflected in the subject of this truly wonderful movie and, yes, there are some religions (and cultures) that skew to asceticism more than others, including the sweet Danes portrayed in the film. But to say that religions "expunge() art and sensuality from the equation" seems to be based on a narrow, distorted, and superficial view of religion being put forth by people in the press and entertainment industries who have very little exposure to it.
Granted, religions tend to put the brakes on Bacchanal feasts given (1) the emphasis on self-indulgence over the glorification of God's creation and (2) the unseemliness of this in a world where many people are starving, but that doesn't preclude the joy, beauty, celebration, and inspiration produced by religiously inspired arts -- including a profound appreciation of good food and drink.
I think the point is that sensuality, in a truly religious context, doesn't stop at the senses but tries to elevate the experience to a metaphysical level. At least that's what I took away from the movie.
mhammit makes a very good point. Too many times I see the entertainment industry trivialize or villify religion. They miss the mark mainly because of ignorance or superficiality. I didn't particularly enjoy this movie, but it sure is nice to see a well-made spiritual movie that doesn't feel like propaganda.
Regarding the statement that religion represses people, Spence W. Kimball once told a story of when, as a child, he asked his father what makes the kite fly, to which his father replied, "the string." Young Spencer did not believe him, so he let go of the string, and the kite fell. Anyways, this isn't a Sunday School lesson, but that is a very good analogy for why God gives commandments.
the point of the movie is that booze gets you drunk. the food didnt make them happy, the alcohol did. they were liquored up. and why not. the gospels insinuate that jesus himself was a bit of a boozer. (luke 7:34, as one of many examples)
share The point of the movie is not, as you so eloquently put it- "that booze gets you drunk". The members of the church came together in friendship and love as a result of of the love, beauty, and joy shown to them by Babette through her work of art- the feast.
It is also a gross error to state that Jesus was a drunkard- especially based on Luke 7:34. Jesus is rebuking the pharisees in this verse because they refuse to beleive the truth that both John the Baptist and Jesus himself are saying. They refused to listen to John because he dressed oddly and didn't eat normal food (like wine), yet the pharisees also refused to listen to the same message that a normal person like Jesus (who ate like a normal person) preached. Jesus in Luke 7:34 is quoting the pharisees accusations against Him and refuting it- not calling himself a drunkard or a gluttonous man.
It is also a mistake to say that there are many examples of Jesus being intoxicated in the New Testament- in fact there are none. There are occasions in which He drinks wine- like at houses and wedding feasts. Wine was a normal drink to have at meals- it was a lot cleaner than water- but nowhere does the Bible say that Jesus drank too much. Jesus did drink wine in moderation- which is not a bad thing at all.
I find myself in agreement with cheriberry. Habits get you through life, but not into it.
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face it. the man has the power to do ANYTHING, like cure all disease, feed all the hungry, end all suffering, and what does he use his power for - turning water into wine. the guy is a wino.
shareMany people do believe Jesus cured disease, ended hunger, and will stop all suffering. I'm a Jew myself; but I am respectful toward the beliefs of others.
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I was trying to remember the name of this movie (Babette's Feast) to search it in imdb. I'm glad I found it because now I realize that, yes, both movies are pretty quite similar, Chocolat and Babette's Feast. However Babette's Feast has an advantage over Chocolat because this film was first than Chocolat. And I think that Babbete's feast feels more homely than Chocolat. So i t works better for me than Chocolat.
erika from panama