Babette's Feast

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Pinera, Vera Lorenza Angelica M. Pinera Nov. 22, 2013 COM 115.5 Film Seminar: European Film A Reflection on Babette’s Feast I grew up watching the ever glorious Hollywood films and also Filipino movies which are almost always based on some American storyline. Despite their differences in terms of genres and storylines, several commonalities can be observed in such films – problems are always resolved, background music and special effects are always a must, and of course unrealistic, highly predictable plots. This maybe so, but still people like me line up to satisfy the hunger for a spectacle, giving wild imagination its bound. My high regard for American films may have been the reason for my limited interest for other foreign produced films including those from the European Cinema. Not that I haven’t seen one, it’s just that I always thought those kinds of films were too serious, too quiet, and simply put, too boring. However, having enrolled to a European Film class, I knew I had to change my outlook and forget my perceptions and prejudices against the European Cinema. True to this, the first film we have seen in class – Babette’s Feast – gave me a different view on European Cinema and surprisingly so, I did not have to force myself to appreciate the film. Unlike the movies I am so used to watching, Babette’s feast engages my intellect in trying to interpret the different use of each symbolism, as well as in making sense of the almost poetic dialogues spoken by the characters. The use of the characters to portray contrasting yet complementing virtues and ideas is key to understanding the core message of the film. On one hand, there are the two sisters and the small congregation who give excessive importance to purity and strong spirituality, and on the other hand, there is the general who seems to measure his worth through worldly matters and
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