78
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100EmpireDavid ParkinsonEmpireDavid ParkinsonImpeccably mounted and played, this is gastro-cinema at its most sensual and intoxicating.
- 90The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyAll of this is by way of being the prelude to the film's extended, funny and moving final sequence, a spectacular feast, the preparation and execution of which reveal Babette's secret and the nature of her sustaining glory.
- 90Los Angeles TimesSheila BensonLos Angeles TimesSheila BensonThe delectable Babette’s Feast is a fable told with passion, intelligence and sumptuousness. Although it certainly has a feast at its center, it would be a mistake to think that its tribute is intended only for great cooks. No, it’s a deep reverence to all great artists--whether they make books, bowls or ballets, baskets, quilts, songs, poems, paintings . . . or films.
- 88Slant MagazineBill WeberSlant MagazineBill WeberThis impeccably plated set is as savory as the brains sucked out of a quail’s head by Jarl Kulle’s General Löwenhielm.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawTwenty-five years on, the story is still charming and beguiling.
- 80Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonThis banquet is the glorious finale of Gabriel Axel's Babette's Feast, his handsome, understated adaptation of the Isak Dinesen short story.
- 75Chicago TribuneGene SiskelChicago TribuneGene SiskelA strangely powerful yet meandering film that takes a long time to make its point.
- 70The DissolveTasha RobinsonThe DissolveTasha RobinsonWhile Babette’s Feast is bleak, and often ponderous and stony, it eventually resolves as a moving hymn to art.
- 58The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe story’s poignant theme—that love and art retain their beauty even if they can only be indulged once in a lifetime—registers more as an afterthought than as the soul-stirring revelation clearly intended.