I was flipping through the stations last evening, after we watched yet another depressing weather forecast. It was calling for snow, and the ice overnight, and treacherous conditions all day Wednesday, essentially. And, later on, either Saturday or Sunday, we are supposed to get some kind of a massive snowstorm, where estimates are between two to two and a half feet, from what I have heard.
Sighing, and wishing that this winter would end already, I stumbled on the very end of "Z", a French movie about trying Greek war criminals. It looked interesting, and it's not like it's every day that I can watch a French movie that I've never seen before, so it stayed on. But there was less than fifteen or so minutes left.
I kept that channel on, and the next movie was also foreign, although this one was from Denmark. I tried to recall if I had ever seen a Danish movie before, and could not recall ever having done so. And so, as you may have guessed, I kept it on. And, as it turns out, I was pretty glad to have done so afterwards.
The movie takes place mostly in a small and very remote 19th century Danish village, and centers on two daughters of a noted Danish pastor with his own Christian sect. This is a rather rigid religion, with followers wearing plain clothes. The village is small, and the residents are a reflection of this plainness, which is pretty much encouraged by the religion. Life is plain, food is plain, and pretty much nothing overly unpredictable happens here. Or is allowed to happen here.
The two girls both have opportunities at escaping the town when they are still young and beautiful. The first daughter, Martine, has a love affair with a young Swedish officer, Lorens Löwenhielm, who is visiting the town. He is in the process of preparing for a distinguished career in the military. His love for her proves a distraction to him, and he suddenly does not seem as sure that the military is the path for him. She is constantly on his mind. They love each other but, ultimately, when he has to decide on either staying with her, or pursuing his chosen career path, he leaves her. She is clearly crushed.
Not long afterwards, the second daughter, Philippa, finds herself as well an object of a young man's affection. The man is Achille Papin, a musician in an opera in Paris visiting the town, who falls in love not just with her beauty, but with her rich singing voice. He promises her Paris at her feet, and claims that the whole world will soon know the beauty of her singing. She decides at the spur of the moment that she does not want to see him anymore. He leaves the village with a broken heart, and returns to France.
Three and a half decades later, we find another young woman, Babette, coming to the village, looking for the home of the sisters. Babette. She has only one thing on her person, other than the clothes that she wears, and that is a letter from Achille Papin. We learn that she has fled France, after political turmoil broke out, and she was forced to flee. She has nobody or nothing left in France, except for one lottery ticket, and she needed to find someplace outside o France. Papin has recommended staying with the sisters, although they are hesitant. They have no money, or anything else, to offer her. But Babette has nothing, and nowhere else to go. If they do not take her in, death is the only thing left for her. The sisters decide to take her into their home as the cook.
It takes some adjusting by everyone, especially the sisters and Babette, but everyone begins to get used to this new arrangement within the village. We notice one thing, however, that Babette seems to have a particularly difficult time getting used to: the bland food.
We fast-forward fifteen years. Babette is now comfortably speaking Danish, and has blended in very nicely with the villagers. The sisters, who years earlier were not entirely certain what to do with Babette, and hesitated to take her in, have now grown to rely on her. Babette has proven useful in many regards, running their errands, and making life in general easier for everyone.
But one day, Babette receives a letter from France. She is informed that she won the lottery, and now has 10,000 francs coming her way.
In the meantime, we learn that the sisters are beginning to think about celebrations honoring their father's 100th birthday. Babette approaches the sisters, and asks them to allow her to pay for and prepare the meal for the occasion. Just once, she wants to prepare a "real French meal". The sisters refuse at first, but when Babette insists as a form of repayment for their taking her in, they finally yield.
This dinner is going to be a huge deal, and Martine has invited her former suitor, Lorens Löwenhielm, who is now a general. So, they want everything to go well for the dinner.
As it turns out, Babette was an accomplished chef at a famous Parisian restaurant, and she knows how to prepare for such an occasion. She brings to the village some things that look very exotic to the simple people of the village, including very expensive and old fine win, and an enormous turtle. Nobody in the village has ever seen anything like it, and the sisters grow suspicious, thinking it might be the work of the devil.
Babette busies herself preparing for the feast. Little by little, we see all of the boxes and cartons converted into recognizable food of a quality that is clearly foreign to the villagers.
In the meantime, we see Lorens once again. He is now General Löwenhielm, and looks very distinguished. Yet, he seems nervous to see Martine again, and expresses this nervousness. Perhaps confronting the possible life he might have had with the one that he has actually decided on and lived will prove too much. He asks if it is possible that after a life with a line of long successes, defeat is at the end of it. Still, he goes as the special guest of honor.
He arrives, and the two former loves see one another again. Neither of them appears to be with anyone else romantically by that point in their life. They are both still single, which seemed to add to the significance of their former romance. In a sense, the story has come full circle. The two visitors who had offered the daughters the chance at a different life have made their foreign presence felt once again, half a century later. Babette is there because of Papin, Philippa's former suitor, and had a tremendous impact on the sisters, and the villagers in general. And Lorens and Martine are reunited, at least for one evening.
They all sit down at a table. The living room, which had been plain, like everything else in the village, has been decorated and altered for the event, so that it looks almost unrecognizable. As the dishes come out one by one, including the wonderful drinks and fine wine, we see that the villagers show their simple ways. They do not know what to do, and in some cases, even what to make of the dishes. but the general is far more worldly, and he is delighted with each dish. He explains his familiarity with them, telling everyone that while he had visited Paris, there had been a restaurant, the Café Anglais, where he had enjoyed such food. That had been the only place where he had tasted this particular food done so well, and he marvels that he now finds the same quality in this, of all, places. This is not what he was expecting in revisiting the isolated little Danish village of his one true love.
And, sure enough, he finds that he does still have feelings for Martina. She looks at him often, and there is something still that exists between them. He realizes this, and acknowledges this. He stands up at the table and speaks about life, and choices. When he leaves, he talks directly to Martine, and tells her that she will be with him every evening at dinner. Maybe not in the flesh, although, he says, that is a poor and limited way of sharing things. No, she will be with him in spirit. And she, quite understandably, is still quite taken by him. As his horse carriage is about to turn the corner and be out of her sight (most likely the last time she will ever see him), he turns and kind of does a mixture of waving and saluting, and is clearly affected by her.
The dinner succeeded in impressing the general, but the townsfolk have felt the magic of the evening, as well. The persistent little internal squabbles and finger-pointing suddenly is not nearly as important, and people give up those hang-ups. The old villagers are actually in a jovial mood, and feel the magic from the feast. Far from being a sign of evil, it winds up being a very pleasant and unifying event for all. It has added some much needed color and flavor to their normally bland lives. The evening allowed them to lose themselves, to indulge, and to let off a little bit of steam, albeit in a very peaceful and subtle way.
At the end, we find out that Babette has spent all of the wealth that she received from her winning lottery ticket on the feast. The sisters had assumed that she would go back to France, leaving them behind. But she tells them that there is no one and nothing waiting for her back in France. She will be staying in the village after all, much to everyone's delight.
As I recalled earlier, I ran into this film almost by accident. It seemed a little strange at first, and I was not entirely certain what to make of it. Very nearly turned it off to find something else to watch, in fact. But, it was the philosophical thoughts expressed by the young Lorens Löwenhielm that got me a bit curious, and so I kept watching. Also, it portrayed a Scandinavian country from the 19th century, and that is not something you get to see everyday. That made the movie different than most, which piqued my curiosity. I could always watch some more typical movies or programs, but this was on a channel that was showing award winning movies, and so it had to be a decent quality, right? It remained on, and before long, I was hooked. There are not tons of explosions or action, or anything like that. This is not the summer blockbuster move with nonstop action. Not the type of film that you load up on popcorn and other junk food with and go see, knowing that the hero will win out in the end. Chances are, you won't be talking about this movie with anyone but whoever you watch it with, and forget about comparing notes by the water cooler at work. This is a more subtle film, one that requires a more cerebral effort. But it is rewarding to watch. There is some beauty, there is quite a bit of humor. It can feel depressing at times, as well. Ultimately, though, it is a rewarding movie and, in the end, if you are anything like me, you will be glad to have seen it.
Highly recommended!
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