Gabriel Axel’s Danish film – and 1987’s Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film – is an Isak Dinesen tale about a 19th-century French servant and refugee (beautifully, stoically played by Stephane Audran) who seeks shelter in a strict Lutheran household in a rough Danish coastal town.
To repay her hard, deprived hosts for their kindness, she spends her entire lottery winnings doing the one thing she knows how to do best – she cooks an elaborate, exotic, eponymous meal for the entire village, filled with game and liquors and desserts they’ve never experienced before.
The meticulous preparation, serving, and devouring of this feast changes the lives of everyone involved, enhancing the true meaning of friendship.
Impeccably acted, and suffused with charm and delicacy, this is one film that’s a meal in itself.
Babette Hersant
Stephane Audran Filippa
Bodil Kjer Martine
Brigitte Federspiel Achille Papin
Jean-Phillipe Lafont General Lorens Löwenhielm/Löwenhielm’s Father
Jarl Kulle Swedish Lady-in-Waiting
Bibi Andersson Narrator
Ghita Nørby Anna
Asta Esper Andersen Swedish Lieutenant
Thomas Antoni Poor Man
Gert Bastian Fisherman in Rowboat
Viggo Bentzon Young Martine
Vibeke Hastrup Martha
Therese Højgaard Christensen Pastor
Pouel Kern Poul
Cay Kristiansen Löwenhielm’s Wife
Tine Miehe-Renard Larsen
Finn Nielsen Karlsen
Holger Perfort Solveig
Else Petersen Erik
Erik Petersén Christopher
Ebbe Rode Old Nielsen
Bendt Rothe Captain
Preben Lerdorff Rye Young Filippa
Hanne Stensgaard
