[3] The elderly and pious Protestant sisters Martine and Filippa live in a small village on the remote western coast of Jutland in 19th-century Denmark.

Babette serves as their cook for the next fourteen years, producing improved versions of the bland meals typical of the abstemious nature of the congregation and gaining their respect, and that of the other locals.

After her win she decides to prepare a dinner for the sisters and their small congregation on the occasion of the founding pastor's hundredth birthday.

As the various never-before-seen ingredients arrive and preparations commence, the sisters begin to worry that the meal will become a sin of sensual luxury, if not some form of devilry.

In a hasty conference, the sisters and the congregation agree to eat the meal, but to forgo speaking of any pleasure in it and to make no mention of the food during the dinner.

He is unaware of the other guests' austere plans and as a man of the world and former attaché in Paris, he is the only person at the table qualified to comment on the meal.

He regales the guests with abundant information about the extraordinary food and drink, comparing it to a meal he enjoyed years earlier at the famous Café Anglais in Paris.

Although the other celebrants refuse to comment on the earthly pleasures of their meal, Babette's gifts break down their distrust and superstitions, elevating them physically and spiritually.

Blixen's original story takes place in the Norwegian port town of Berlevåg, albeit in an inaccurate setting of multi-coloured wooden houses on a long fjord.

[5] He shifted the location to the flat windswept coast of western Jutland and asked his set designer, Sven Wichmann, to build a small grey village offering very few or no attractions.

[6] Somewhat ironically, the actual village of Berlevåg is not on a fjord, but directly on the Barents Sea, and is subject to strong winds—very much similar to Axel's vision.

Axel was supported by the Danish Film Institute's consultant, Claes Kastholm Hansen, who also agreed the cast should include international stars.

Deneuve was interested in the part but was concerned because she had been criticized in her past attempts to depart from her usual ‘sophisticated woman’ roles.

Axel remembered Audran from her roles in Claude Chabrol's films Violette Nozière (1978) and Cop au Vin (1985).

These included Lisbeth Movin as the Old Widow, Preben Lerdorff Rye as the Captain, Axel Strøbye as the Driver, Bendt Rothe as Old Nielsen and Ebbe Rode as Christopher.

The site's consensus is; "Charming and melancholy, Babette's Feast is a timeless Scandinavian treat that explores the complex relationships between people, beliefs, and what it means to be an artist.

[19] The movie is a favorite of Alton Brown,[20] Pope Francis,[21] Rowan Williams,[22] Richard Gere,[23] and Stanley Tucci.