Out of boredom,I was changing from channel to channel when I tuned in to the MGM cinema and saw this scene, an austere but beautiful young woman was being taught a French song by an amorous French voice coach. The woman's voice was heavenly, the setting was in an drab cottage. It gripped my attention and I saw the whole film without knowing what it was. At the end credits, the principal actress was identified, Stephanie Audran, and the costumes were by Karl Lagerfield, so I realized that it must have been a big production rather than a never heard and forever obscure movie.
The story goes on to the young woman's delicately refusing the overtures of the coach and his advise for her to go to Paris to be the opera sensation of the city. For such a heavenly voice, it would have been logical that she accepts, but she goes to her father and sister and tells them that she wants to discontinue her studies. She is deeply commited to her religion and life in the bleak village.
After, a young French woman arives, with a letter of introduction from her former vocal coach, it is Babette and she is fleeing disturbances in France. She is willing to work as the cook sans wages for the 2 sisters, whose father, the Protestant minister has already died. She is accepted by the 2 spinsters and taught how to cook simple Nordic dishes. She is shown how to pick a dried fish from a rack, salt it, immerse it in water and boil it. Babette's face is inscrutable. Next, she is shown how to prepare the bread to thicken the soup by breaking stale pieces and boiling them in broth.
The next scene is 14 years after, and Babette hasn't aged, though the sisters have-placidly, I suppose due to their religious peace while Babette's preservation is due to her French style. Babette receives a notice that she has won a lottery in Paris and before she goes back, she asks the sisters if she could prepare a French dinner for the small community. At this time, the community is rife with strife, the usual small town bickerings. It would be Main st. if they didn't speak in Danish. The sisters are helpless in guiding them.
Babette comes back with crystals and porcelain, quails and a live turtle, herbs and sugar. The sisters are shocked, such extravagance for the senses can only be the devil's work. They tell the community about their fears and ask them, for Babette's sake to partake but to be silent. A social star, a retired Swedish general is accidentally invited. In this case, he is the food and wine critic of the movie. Babette is continuosly in the kitchen slaving for the guests who are bewildered by the dishes served. The general is amazed and when the quail comes pronounces it as something he tasted in the Cafe Anglais in Paris and was created by a woman chef. The dish's title, quail in a sarcophagus. Slowly, the congregation appreciates the feast and are warmed by the wine, amontillado, champagne. When the meal ends, the general is romantically nostalgic and the querulous congregation files out in harmony and beatifically.
Babette confesses that she can no longer go back to Paris for she has spent all her winnings for the feast. A dinner for 12 at the Cafe Anglais is 10,000 francs. She is the former chef. And so she remains, a drudge in a bleak Scandinavian village.
I though that it must have been taken from a short story by Guy de Maupassant. The simple tale, the bitter sweet ending. Weren't they all foolishness? The woman with the heavenly voice, wasted in the sarchopagus of the village, Babette forever toiling to a routine and preparing boiled fish.

I love this movie. One of my culinary school instructors recommended it, so I ordered it and within two days it was in my hands. Some people can't keep up with the slow start to the story, but when telling a good story it's not always necessary to jump right to the exciting part. You draw it out. Like cooking, storytelling is a craft that's quickly losing it's place in public eye. Both have been replaced by getting spoon-fed homogenous crap from a can.

At the end of the movie, when the sisters realize that Babette had given all of her money to prepare the meal, I identified with her, I felt a solidarity with her. She did it to feel like a human being again. There's such love. I only hope that someday I might perform like that. I've always looked at cooking as performance-art. My older sister is a singer, and I have a love for music, but my medium has always been in food, in feeding people and making it special. When I prepare meals for my family and friends, or as of late the students at school, I can sometimes hear an orchestra tuning up in my head. A feeling of "yes, now, begin". I got a sense of that from the movie, too. The spiritual experience of getting ready to prepare a wonderful meal, the care and patience that it takes.

I especially liked that the carriage-driver got to take part in the feast, too :-) In my current place in life as a lowly kitchen-rat, I appreciate that everyone gets fed.

There is unexpected comedy throughout the movie as well, that often goes overlooked. The villagers' shocked reactions, fearing for their very souls at the "witches' sabbath", futilly determined not to enjoy the meal. The dream sequence is nicely shot, and funny. Then to see one of the old ladies take a sip of water and then switch back to the wine. It brings a smile to my face every time.

Magic happens in the kitchen, I've always believed in that. When worked properly, at the dinner table, all quarrels are forgotten, harmony and jovality rule.

This is the first time I've seen it without sub-titles....dubbed in English! Marvelous film that can be taken many ways....a nice story about using our gifts and talents to help others, and the love that can arise, all the way to the symbolism of Christ's sacrifices for others (the story's intent).

Very well packaged, and quick shipping.