![]() As we watch this magnificence being eaten we are seeing Babettes substance consumed. She is said to have remarked that she was not that good of an actress. She takes the palate as seriously as the sisters the soul. ![]() ![]() In the scenes where she is enjoying sips of wine while preparing the dinner, it had to be real wine, not the usual fruit juice on film sets. She comfortably and gracefully commands the kitchen in every frame. In a remote 19th-century Danish village, two sisters lead a rigid life centered around their father, the local minister, and their church. In ‘real life’ Audran loved cooking and it shows. Watching the wonderful actress, the late Stéphane Audran as she works in the kitchen is a joy. Barely able to eat, she weighed less than 80 pounds. She had contracted syphilis from her husband early in life and likely had arsenic poisoning from the treatment. ![]() The film builds slowly and richly to the evening of feast. W hen Danish short-story author Isak Dinesen (18851962) wrote 'Babettes Feast,' she was in her seventies and already dying. She plans a spectacular French dinner for them and for the small congregation to celebrate what would have been their father’s 100th birthday. ![]() The years go by and Babette, who has come into some good luck, wishes to repay the generosity of the sisters. Published in 1958 as part of Dinesen’s short story collection Anecdotes of Destiny, Babette’s Feast is the story of two gentle and pious sisters who give Babette, a French refugee, shelter in a tiny Scandinavian village. ![]()
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