In a recent interview, the newly installed Pope Francis revealed that his favorite movie was Gabriel Axel's Babette's Feast. Having now seen the film, I can totally understand why. Babette's Feast isn't so much a movie as a parable that would feel right at home in the Gospels. It is a meditation on charity, selflessness, compassion, and earnest Christian piety. The story centers on two Christian sisters, Martine and Philippa, who live in a small community on the coast of Jutland, Denmark in the 19th century. One day, a woman named Babette arrives and asks them for a job. See, Babette is a refugee from political turmoil in Paris that had left her entire family dead. She was told by an old friend of the sisters that she could seek shelter with them. Though initially uncomfortable with her sudden presence, the sisters, and the village at large, begins to love Babette. Years after her arrival, she receives news that she has won 10,000 francs from the lottery. But instead of going back to her old home, she selfishly (and secretly) spends every franc on a lavish feast for the entire village featuring authentic French cuisine. The food is so magnificent that it washes away old hatreds and grudges among the townsfolk and proves that even something as "sinful" as good food can be a pious act devoted to the glory of God. Religious without seeming preachy, emotional without being melodramatic, and completely earnest in its intentions, Babette's Feast is nothing short of a miracle.
9/10
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