Spite Watch: Babette's Feast (1987)

Watched:  06/24/2024

Format:  Criterion

Viewing:  First

Director:  Gabriel Axel

People lash out at their circumstances in a variety of ways, and your blogger is no different.  I am acting out by choosing to watch a staple of arthouse from the 1980's and 90's, Babette's Feast (1987).  

While I wait for La Dolce Vita to make it's way to my local library branch, I've been filling the time with what has turned out to be absolutely terrible movies.  And, so, I needed a palette cleanser.  So, one part of this spite-watch was to get hostile to the idea of bad movies and watch something so utterly different from, say, Shazam 2 and Ember Days, that it doesn't feel like the same art form.  And, maybe that's a real discussion to be had.

The second part of my spite stems from a dinner conversation which occurred about four years ago, when an art-film minded pal (who shall remain anonymous) was comparing something to Babette's Feast, and I admitted I'd not seen it.  He stated that Babette's Feast was not the type of thing I watch.  And so, just to spite him, I planned to watch the movie.  And here we are.  

See, I DID WATCH YOUR DUMB MOVIE,* anonymous friend!  HA HA.  Who's the Godzilla-watching dope NOW?**

So, Babette's Feast.

Based on a story by Isak Dinesen (aka: Karen Blixen) - the film is set on the coast of Jutland, Denmark, where a small conclave of pious believers (seems likely a Lutheran sect) have settled some time earlier to live in contemplation of God.  The film portrays events from the 19th century, from 1885, 1871 and 1836 as we find the history of how two devout sisters, daughters of a loving but strict father, have had a French maid come into their employ.  As young women, one daughter is courted by a young officer of the Swedish Army, but to no avail as she will remain at her father's side.  The second sister is found to have an incredible talent to sing, and a vacationing opera performer sees her talent, cultivating it with the idea he'll take her to Paris, but she also stays home.  

Years later, the father has died and the sisters receive a refugee from the turmoil in Paris. A woman named Babette has arrived, directed there by the opera singer.  The sisters take her in as a maid.

In the wake of the pastor's death, the community of worshippers has lost members through death and attrition, and over time, somewhat turned on each other.  Babette comes into money, and - now free to go, she plans a sumptuous meal for her employers and the people of the church.

Firstly, this is an absolutely lovely movie, and I'd recommend it.  It won Best Foreign Picture at the Oscars, so I'm not alone in the assessment.  

I came into it cold, and didn't know if we were headed for The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover territory, or where this story would go.  But, instead, we get a sort of meditation on faith, on denying oneself, the limitations of austerity, fellowship and the needs and heart of an artist.  Quite a bit for a movie where the dramatic moments are never delivered in a calm, reasonable tone.

Filmed in Jutland and Copenhagen, the movie is quiet, the photography has a painterly naturalism.  Frankly, if nothing else, watch it for the cinematography and art design, which does a tremendous amount in small spaces, with a utilitarian minimalism (the unadorned, plain walls speak volumes).  I get the feeling that despite the small scale and world of modesty the film presents, a considerable budget (for a Danish period piece) was applied, based on casting, costuming, sets, etc...  And there's a whole turtle puppet shown.  Babette's costume is by Karl Lagerfeld.

Unlike so many small or indie movies that want to *shock* you or show you *actually, the world is cruel* - this movie is, essentially, about the coming together of people to be who they are, to take in the richness of the world - especially that created for them by the artists among them, and how that is not at odds with faith.  Or with each other.

The components of the story and movie seem simple - and, in fact, the story is told in a storybook fashion, or maybe a fable.  But our final third of the film is the night of the feast, as events of 49 years come together in big and small ways - but it's not through revelations of dark family secrets or vendettas worked out at the table.  This is not the Night of the Seven Fishes episode of The Bear.

What could have been a pretentious message movie about "real artists" and often flimsily depicted arguments for artistry of any kind.  Babette's Feast goes well beyond those limitations, understanding what happens when people hold themselves back from art, from experiences, and how that means everyone is diminished - whether it's the artist who decides to stop making art, or the person who refuses the art.  Or the woman who denies herself love.  Instead of that lesser movie, we get something pretty extraordinary - and a call to live life while we're here.  And to do it well.

So, yeah.  I really dug it.  

I don't know if I'll be going on a run of Gabriel Axel movies, but it does remind me of the curious days of movie-going in high school and college when we'd just pick a movie, knowing very little, and sometimes walk out having seen something that resonated on a foundational level.  It's rewarding to return to watching that kind of film now as a middle-aged movie-watcher - certain I appreciate it more now than I would have decades ago.

Maybe I don't or didn't watch movies like this, and my pal is right (there's an argument I *try*), but I'm glad for any push to get me to try things off my radar that will challenge me a bit.

*it is not a dumb movie

**me.  It's me.