Reply
Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,222
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: "BABETTE'S FEAST"-- STEPHANE AUDRAN WEDNESDAY 8:15 A.M. EASTERN TCM

@drizzellla, in the Wikipedia entry for "Babette's Feast", they listed the menu that was served.  I think it was considered the height of sophistication in the nineteenth century.  You could tell those people had never tasted such food!

 

Wiki said after the release of the movie, several restaurants duplicated the exact menu for their patrons...

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,889
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: "BABETTE'S FEAST"-- STEPHANE AUDRAN WEDNESDAY 8:15 A.M. EASTERN TCM

[ Edited ]

I first saw this film in a class I took in French cuisine through literature. It was fabulous. We saw films, read poems, and studied stories within the context of French culinary culture. I’d love to revisit the town and the people where the feast occurred since I was also fortunate enough to visit some lovely Scandinavian towns.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,222
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: "BABETTE'S FEAST"-- STEPHANE AUDRAN WEDNESDAY 8:15 A.M. EASTERN TCM

What a memorable class that must have been, @Vivian....

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,889
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: "BABETTE'S FEAST"-- STEPHANE AUDRAN WEDNESDAY 8:15 A.M. EASTERN TCM

That class was fantastic. Not only did we read about French food and its revered place in French culture, but we also ate French foods. The course was entirely in French, taught by a native speaker. One time our prof brought in a baguette she had made herself but also some fantastic French cheeses she had bought at our local Wegman’s supermarket. The French cheese was not identical because of US laws but surely close enough. When the class ended, the prof asked if anyone would like to take home the leftovers. No one else wanted them except for moi. What a feast!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,739
Registered: ‎05-19-2012

Re: "BABETTE'S FEAST"-- STEPHANE AUDRAN WEDNESDAY 8:15 A.M. EASTERN TCM

[ Edited ]

oznell,

 

A hundred million kisses are being blown to you.  What a fully satisfying film Babette's Feast was It has been quite a while since I have felt this much joy from seeing a movie.

 

Of course I was drawn in by the ascetic piety of the sisters, their pastor father and his flock.  I admired the purity of their beings and their devotion to doing good acts.  (Oddly enough, I kept thinking I really am enjoying this as a lenten film.)

 

The message was music to my soul: "righteousness and bliss kiss one another."  I was laughing so hard when I saw the live and monstrous turtle being hauled to the home, along with the quail.  And then the look of horror on the sisters' faces when they took a gander at all the fixings for what they feared would be a "witches' sabbath," as they so quaintly put it.

 

Wasn't it delightful when the bickering flock who had been experiencing discord found the "love that children have" with one another again?  All because of a succulent meal and forbidden wine.

 

Adding to my pleasure were the home and the village sights and sounds.  They brought back memories even though mine were made in Southern Europe.


In 1966, my father's village in Greece still did not have electricity or running water (electricity arrived the very next year).  I stayed with my father's brother and his wife, who was modestly dressed in an all black frock and black stockings.  Their home had two stories, but the general impression was that of the Danish home of the pastor and his daughters.  The roof, however, was a thatched affair.  Wooden shutters were the windows, which were open.  Birds flew into the home on occasion as I lay on my bed that had sun-bleached sheets on them. 

 

On the first floor could be found the granary and the pit for stomping on grapes to make wine.  Yes, I did that!

 

I could hear the church bells ringing on the hour in addition to the ****** crowing early in the morning and the baaing of sheep, the goats making their strange noise and the chickens clucking.

 

I loved every minute while I was there!  I felt the peace I sensed in my father's village while I watched this film.  The simple and pure faith was apparent in that Greek village just as it was in the Danish village.  What a joy.  To add to my pleasure, the general's aunt facially looked very much like my maternal grandmother. 

 

My father's sister offered the same pleasures to me in her village, which was closer to the mountains.  These were memories I'll forever cherish.  

 

This film was a total pleasure on so many levels for me.      THANK YOU.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,222
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: "BABETTE'S FEAST"-- STEPHANE AUDRAN WEDNESDAY 8:15 A.M. EASTERN TCM

What a delight to get your sharp observations and lovely reminiscences of beautiful Greece, @golding76.   Thank you for favoring us!

 

The simple devotion of the all-too-human congregation, and the sisters' attempts to maintain harmony amid squabbles, are so familiar to us sinners, high-minded as we might try to be!  The eternal struggle.

 

Didn't you love Babette's perfectionism, and the fevered but systematic work behind the scenes, as she meticulously ignited, stirred, cut, formed and placed.  Amazing that she produced that divine meal with only two helpers in the kitchen...and amateurs, at that!

 

So glad you enjoyed!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,739
Registered: ‎05-19-2012

Re: "BABETTE'S FEAST"-- STEPHANE AUDRAN WEDNESDAY 8:15 A.M. EASTERN TCM

[ Edited ]

You are so right in directing our attention to the formidable Babette preparing and presenting the banquet with such intensity and culinary skill.  I like, too, that you mentioned the placement of those elements that made her exquisite meal.  There was an unexpected thrill in observing her expertise at work as she cooked and then assembled all the pieces into impressive cuisine.

 

How hilarious the very sober older ladies were as they discovered the pleasure of wine/champagne.  Their eyes said it all.

 

I cannot express adequately, oznell, what a succulent bowl of delight this movie was for me.

  

This might sound a bit naive and stupid, but it took this movie and The Emigrants to make me realize the zeal and seriousness with which Northern Europeans approach their faith.

  

ETA:  Northern Europeans of that era, I must add.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,222
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: "BABETTE'S FEAST"-- STEPHANE AUDRAN WEDNESDAY 8:15 A.M. EASTERN TCM

Your last sentence is only too true, @golding76.  It's heartbreaking to many onlookers, what the "forward-looking, etc."  Scandinavians have forsaken....

Honored Contributor
Posts: 9,739
Registered: ‎05-19-2012

Re: "BABETTE'S FEAST"-- STEPHANE AUDRAN WEDNESDAY 8:15 A.M. EASTERN TCM

It is a strange phenomenon, oznell,  but very often the erstwhile commitment and ardor that all Europeans once had for (you-know-what) can be found in the children of those who emigrated from the European countries, both northern and southern.  But most of these "children" are now my age, and soon we will no longer be here. 

 

I am thinking of my brother's first girlfriend, who was of Swedish descent.  She and her sisters were ardent believers as are so many of those from my generation of Greek immigrants.  Who knows what's next...

 

I wanted to clarify that my uncle's house was far larger and more imposing than that of the Danish sisters.  His home was made of stone, was wider than their home and (of course) had a large terrace built off the second floor.   Greeks love to enjoy eating and sitting outside.