The Worst Film Ever

It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It's 19th century Denmark. Aged sisters Martine and Philippa live austere lives in a remote settlement founded by their father. He is long dead and the disciples are dwindling. The sisters have a french maid named Babette. The movie flashes back to the sisters as beautiful young women. The village is more vibrant. Officer Lorens Löwenhielm is sent to the remote coast and courts Martine. Opera star Achille Papin from Paris courts Philippa. Their father opposes both. They end up spending their lives taking care of their father. Later, the sisters take in French refugee Babette Hersant. Later still, Babette wins the lottery and asks to cook a delicious French meal for everybody in the village. The sisters relents and then fears the worst for their souls.The strict pious manner really takes the life out of the material for me. It loses the passion and the excitement of the love stories. The narration puts another layer of separation between me and the immediacy of the romances. It becomes something of a stilted story. There is nothing much for the first half. Then it becomes magnificent food porn. It is funny and a joy. I just wish I didn't have to wait so long for it. The first half is no more than 3. The second half is a solid 7.

I won't judge the visual quality and atmosphere of the film, which is certainly of good rate. I simply look upon the subject of the story, revolving around two beautiful girls, in the very bloom of their youth and (one imagines) sexual drive and liveliness, ready to embrace life at its full and enjoy freedom, pleasures and adventures, who on the contrary devote themselves to religious longing and prayer and fade away year after year sewing, sighing, singing and hanging out with old folks. I can't imagine any human being not growing insane in these conditions; it is definitely a good subject for a Michael Haneke's film, but to want to work a comedy out of this requires a very partial, not to say obtuse, comprehension of human nature. We often (and wrongly) quote authors like Pinter, Ionesco and Beckett as the representatives of the Theatre of the Absurd: well, we should rather start from this.

Much like the delicacies that grace the table in this film, each scene of "Babette's Feast" seems a treat for the senses -- a joy to behold, against the hardscrabble backdrop of Jutland, Denmark. Whenever I am asked to name my favorite film, "Babette's Feast" jumps to mind. Babette is the ultimate role model -- a woman who survives the worst of life only to rebound with strength and vibrancy. I have seen this dazzling movie several times over the years, and in the past I focused on the meal's magical impact on guests at the feast. This time around I found Babette and Achille Papin most compelling."An artist is never poor," Babette reminds us. And aren't we all, potentially, artists? Quoting the French baritone Achille (played exquisitely by Jean-Phillipe LaFont): "One long cry from the heart of the artist -- Give me leave to do my utmost!" Mirroring the bedecked table, the casting here approaches perfection. Stephane Audrane was born to play a French refugee in a small Danish village, bantering with the locals to get a better price on fish. Bodil Kjer and Brigitte Federspiel shine as a pair of religious sisters -- but, for God's sake, why couldn't Lorens's intended utter even a word to the smitten man? And Jarl Kulle fascinates as a worldly general whose military regalia belies a poetic soul. "He visited many times but it seemed to him he grew more insignificant each time." (Wow, does that line nail one of life's sadder experiences!) And later, this sensitive man confides, "...I have learned in life there are some things that are impossible..."I will never forget this film, and if I somehow become stranded on a desert island, this is the only movie I'd ever require. Babette, thank you for your example!

Babette's Feast (1987)This movie made my eyes damp a few times.It takes place in a small village on the west coast of Denmark, where two spinster sisters carry on their deceased father's spiritual work.Babette comes to the village after her family is killed in a French revolt.She cooks for the sisters, mainly fish soup and bread mixed with ale.The after 14 years, Babette receives a letter saying she was won the French lottery -$10,000 francs.The two sisters had planned a dinner party to honor what would have been their father's 100th birthday.Babette decides to spend her lottery money by cooking a real French dinner with many courses for the occasion.She sends for what she needs, which includes a large live turtle, a dozen live baby quails, the finest wines and champagne, truffles and much other stuff.When the sisters see the big turtle on the kitchen counter they react as if it were the devil's food, and pre-warn their guests not to mention the food at the party.The day arrives, and shows Babette cooking each dish and desert, and has a neighbor boy serve the table. Before the third course is served the guests are melted in culinary ecstasy.Alas, the movie is sub titled.Garry