Two devout elderly sisters in a small Jutland village do their best to dedicate their lives to humbly serving God and keeping their late father's church flock together. Then the widowed Babette arrives, fleeing a France in turmoil, and gradually insinuates herself into the community over the years. Finally, a day comes when she declares that she wants to prepare a French dinner for them and this throws the pious locals into quite a flap with their fear of sensual pleasures being not far removed from witchcraft.
Babette's Feast is the epitome of a film built on the small gesture and the telling detail. Nothing apart from the aforementioned actually happens, and nor does it need to: there is a wealth of simple pleasure in the wryly detached but affectionate observation of the earnest villagers.
7/10
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