i do not know whether this film hit my heart the way it do because of the feeling of friendship and love and closeness to others or the warmth of that transformation babette cook creates and but when the feast start and for the rest of the movie and i choke up often . yes and this be a feel good movie and but without a speck of mawkishness or facile sentimentality . please note that element of the plot be discuss . babette feast tell it story with restraint and care and and it let u discover for ourselves the value of grace and love . all we need to know be that babette harsant ( stephane audran ) be a french refugee who be give shelter by two age sister in a tiny community on the coast of jutland . the sister lead what remain of their father flock . he be a pastor of conviction who teach that salvation come through self denial . the sister make their sacrifice to duty and faith . those who still remain honor the now long dead pastor teaching and his spiritual guidance . still and a they have grow old the tiny community have become querulous and argumentative . the sister do what they can . for the pastor 100th birthday and babette wish to cook the dinner for the small group the sister will invite . the sister reluctantly agree and but when they see the supply babette have order and they and their guest become uneasy . they be use to the community usual fare of dried cod and boil and and a soup make of bread and water and a little ale . even though babette over time have make improvement and what they be see now seem close to godlessness . at the dinner also will be a visitor and general loren lowenhielm and who year earlier have choose ambition over his love for one of the sister . what do we experience . there be the austerity of the age community faith and the stone and wind swept cottage they live in . there be the warmth by candlelight of the sister small and crowded dining room . and then there be the transform power of babette artistry a we watch her cook and watch erik and a young boy help her and serve and pour and and watch the old parishioner and with the help of fine wine and exquisite cooking and gradually rediscover their community and love and friendship . the general serf a our unexpected guide because he be the only one who know what extraordinary dish they be eat . the general tell a story to his uncomprehending dinner companion and a story about a famed woman who be the exemplary chef at the famed café anglais in paris . . this woman and this head chef and have the ability to transform a dinner into a kind of love affair . a love affair that make no distinction between bodily appetite and spiritual appetite . he and too and be be transform into a man who will accept what he have become and yet will always know the value and the love of what long ago he choose not to accept . an old couple kiss . two old men remember past friendship . and babette and who spend all that she have win in a lottery on this dinner and have have an opportunity to be the artist she once be in france and an opportunity she accept with love and friendship . babette and now as poor a she be when she arrive penniless year earlier and will continue with the sister . the general in a carriage with his aunt return to her estate . and the elderly guest leave the sister home to return to their own cottage . they pause and look at the clear night sky and the star overhead . they spontaneously hold hand in a circle and dance and sing this hymn . the clock strike and time go by eternity be nigh . let u use this time to try to serve the lord with heart and mind . so that our true home we shall find . so that our true home we shall find . they smile at each other . all have be reconcile . babette feast be a wonderful movie and full of restrained emotion and unspoken understanding and wisdom . and and of course and a meal that will leave you with a growl stomach a you exit the theater . if you win a lottery so you could afford what babette create and have her skill and artistry and here what she serve represent potage a la tortue ( a rich turtle soup ) and serve with amontillado sherry blinis demidoff au caviar ( small buckwheat pancake with sour cream and caviar ) and serve with veuve clicquot champagne cailles en sarcophage with sauce perigourdine ( bone quail stuffed with foie gras and truffle in puff pastry with truffle sauce enrich with madeira ) and serve with clos de vougeot and a fine burgundy salade cheese and fresh fruit baba au rhum with glacee fruit and fresh fig coffee and a fine brandy .