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Author Topic: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)  (Read 14451 times)

oldkid

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #40 on: November 01, 2011, 07:48:04 PM »
Or to put it into terms that I would understand:

Quote
Judas: Woman your fine ointment, brand new and expensive
Should have been saved for the poor.
Why has it been wasted? We could have raised maybe
Three hundred silver pieces or more.
People who are hungry, people who are starving
They matter more than your feet and hair!

Jesus: Surely you're not saying we have the resources
To save the poor from their lot?
There will be poor always, pathetically struggling.
Look at the good things you've got.

THAT'S IT!
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

smirnoff

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #41 on: November 01, 2011, 08:14:34 PM »

Her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.



I like what verbALs said about the film having a lot of comic potential. It's so true! I'm not sayin' they should've made this exactly (even though they could have)...



... but all the ingredients of good comedy are there.

I got the feeling the only reason the film was solemn was to be profound, but really isn't that more a byproduct of the writing than the tone? Did Shakespeare's comedies lack substance? Surely you can portray a community as being stark without making the film feel the same way. There was such rich themes and conflicts here, I'm pretty sure they would've survived a lighter mood. If nothing else the film really could've stood to move along a little faster.

Just imagine a moment like Babbette eating the Ale-bread had we known beforehand that she was a famous chef. Froham thought the Ale-bread was gross just by looking at it, but I had the opposite reaction. I was all "mmm, ale-bread". As a result the scene where Babbette eats it, and pauses but doesn't show weather she likes it or not, meant nothing to me.

Any why do the old ladies have a fit when Babbette declares she's serving wine at the feast? They put ale in their bread. Their bread! Suddenly they're worried about alcohol?

Anyways, like Antares I thought maybe I'd made a mistake bothering to watch this but by the second half things started to turn around. There's nothing finer than watching a craftsman (or woman) at work.

FroHam X

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #42 on: November 01, 2011, 10:49:44 PM »
There is no mistake in ever watching a Movie of the Week. Just look at all the great discussion!

I think the point about the film being solemn to be profound is an interesting one. It completely worked on me, but I so sympathize with that feeling that solemnity is like a crutch for attempted profundity.
"We didn't clean the hamster's cage, the hamster's cage cleaned us!"

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mañana

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #43 on: November 02, 2011, 08:36:38 AM »

Her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.
;D
There's no deceit in the cauliflower.

verbALs

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #44 on: November 06, 2011, 07:24:23 AM »
Since this is the end of the first week, I wondered if anyone else was interested in seeing if a consensus of opinion had formed? Re-reading this thread it feels as if people who liked it were talking to each other and not addressing the less positive reactions. Perhaps a poll on the lines of the Masterpiece-Very Good etc (whatever sliding scale Martin uses for instance) or A, B etc.

I would be interested in what the group mind comes up with as an average score each week, but the obsessive need to class everything is something I should see a doctor about.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

Bondo

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #45 on: November 06, 2011, 07:55:28 AM »
I feel like there wasn't just a massive disagreement between those who liked the film and those who didn't. A lot of it seemed to come down to the relative value of the feast and the degree to which the viewer savored the food aspect of it.

Still, to squeeze one more bit of discussion before calling it quits I'll bring back the question I put in my initial post, what of the voice over? I found it a bit distracting and was glad it didn't continue much past the first 15 minutes.

verbALs

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #46 on: November 06, 2011, 08:34:27 AM »
Then you are assuming quite a lot.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

1SO

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #47 on: November 06, 2011, 09:11:17 AM »
I know everyone has their own system, but I also would love if these threads came with a "Grade it!" poll.

smirnoff

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #48 on: November 06, 2011, 09:21:14 AM »
Me too.

As for the voice-over I would've liked it to continue. If nothing else it gave me something to occupy myself with. It ends long before the film stops being completely boring.

Anyways, for me this is a film with only a few scenes that live up to the material, so I would rate it pretty low. Maybe 2/4. No desire to ever sit through it all again, that's for sure.

oldkid

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Re: Movie of the Week: Babette's Feast (1987)
« Reply #49 on: November 06, 2011, 10:58:32 AM »
I gave it a 4/5.  I enjoyed it, but I understand why others would find it dull.  In fact, some of the religious background, which would be terribly boring for many, was fascinating to me because I could fit it into my knowledge of Christian history.  But my tastes are esoteric like that.

The funny thing is that I watched it at the strong recommendation of my mother who loved this film so much that she forced my father and brother-- who don't appreciate a film without at least three explosions-- to watch it.  They now have it marked as the most boring film of all time.  I could try to get them to watch a couple other films that they would mark as a new low, but I don't want to torture my family meSmbers.  Too much.

I don't really even consider BF a divisive film.  Some would appreciate it, others wouldn't.  But I think few would claim this film as great or as one of the worst they've seen.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

 

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