Karen Leonard-Berkley

Babette feast is really my favorite movie. For someone who has spent more than half a century on this earth with movies viewed, this is a huge statement. Since seeing Babette’s feast 35 years ago, my feelings about excellence have not wavered. The austerity presented in the lifestyle of Papas sisters, and their small community is mirrored in the landscape, and we experience the levels of restriction in that world. One can also see its spiritual beauty. Babette brings perfect artistry to this small community in the experience of the physical pleasure of her internationally acclaimed expertise in cooking to the spiritually elevated yet physically hungering community. Both tiny congregation and Babette become elevated- each with what the other has an abundance of, each, with what one is lacking that the other can offer. They come together in a beautiful portrait of wholeness made up of the spirit and the body. I can’t imagine how this movie could have been made any greater in its production or its story, its characters or acting.