Babettes Feast (U)

Director Gabriel Axel. 1987 Danish Drama with English sub-titles


Adapted with great sensitivity and invention from Isak Dinesen’s short story (itself inspired by The Tempest), this truly lovely tale of everyday passion, magic and miracles is a delicacy to savour. Relocating the story from a bourgeois Norwegian port to a remote, windswept Jutland hamlet so steeped in Lutheran spirituality it feels like something out of a Dreyer film, Axel traces the strange chain of events that led to the two elderly daughters of a famously pious pastor taking on, as their cook, a Parisienne who was until the advent of the Commune one of the city’s most celebrated chefs. At once poignant and funny, gently ironic and quietly compassionate, the story – beautifully performed by all concerned, but most especially by Audran, clearly relishing her role as a gastronomic wizard – casts its spell carefully yet confidently, culminating in the titular banquet: improbable, mouthwatering, and supremely regenerative.

Starring Stéphane Audran, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel


Flicks Advisor (comments from our film promoters)

Great film, especially as the last film of the year and in the run-up to Christmas. Round of applause at the end. Perhaps that was for the complimentary mince pies, stollen, and at the interval Blini Demidoff and bubbly for free as well. Audience loved the whole experience.

It might appear bleak and dour, which at the time life was; the pace might appear slow (or you could say gentle), but it really was an excellent build-up to the exquisite feast and the perspective and meaning it gave. Quite remarkable.

Friday21Feb

Tickets
Adult: £10.00 

Time
6.30 pm

Running Time
103

Enquiries
07939 273525

Extra Event Information
Price includes a glass of wine and tapas before the film.

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