Babette's Feast

The BFI Classic series, recently revamped with some rather snazzy new trade dress, has added a corker here. Its odd though because if you are coming to this monograph looking for the trivia and details of the gestation, making or reception of the film - you may be sorely disappointed (unless you really want to know what the Pope thought of it*). Indeed what it took the Rosemary's Baby BFI Classic half a book to argue, Baggini does in basically one sentence, claiming artistic triumph and genius for the film in an off the cuff statement before getting into the details of why. And Baggini's point becomes clear from his point of view. He loves Babette's Feast is great not just because it tells a wonderful story with clarity and artistry, but because it is actual philosophy.

I am very sympathetic to this point of view, as I studied philosophy, but not only did I study philosophy, but whilst studying I did it (this is not as usual as you might think - many philosophy students stick to regurgitating and looking at the responses to the big questions rather than giving them a go itself). He therefore examines what he means for a film to be a piece of philosophy (it posits the question, discusses the question and answers the question), and makes this one of the most entertaining pieces of Modern Philosophical writing I have read. The argument is that in there is no revelation in the ascetic puritan lifestyle of the Lutherans, but nor is there anything but a temporal joy in enjoyment of wonderfully cooked food. It is only within Babette's Feast itself that the two combine, that to show the joy in thee wonders of sensory pleasure can the sisters and their guests realise the depth and joy of the world and potentially the world beyond. Its good work in that it does not depend on you sharing the religious affiliations of the characters but rather everything to have this epiphany is held within the world of the film.

So while perhaps another stab at this topic would have considered Babettes's Feast within the genre of films about food and hedonism, Baggini does not bother. Bibi Andersson and her career barely gets a mention (and to talk about Babette's Feast without talking about Bergman feels weird). And yet its the personal nature of these responses which sometimes render the best read for a casual reader. And Babette's Feast is not a piece of work that sits importantly within a tradition, or a great Director's body of work. Its a mercurial, rather simple thing that in its base level tells a story which is interesting and uplifting, and digging below the surface as Baggini accessibly does here, offers ideas with which to fulfil your own existence with. This argument may well be better than the film actually is, but then that it what a monograph like this is for,

*The current Pope is a big fan naming it as a favourite when he was a cardinal, though he has be more judicious on its merits these days as its about Lutherans, and as a Papist (THE Papist) has to disapprove a bit.

[Netgalley ARC]