Friday 16 April 2010

babettes feast and the end of mad men


So, the end of Mad Men was tonight (or at least we watched it tonight). Don Draper and some of the other people from the agency are breaking away and forming their own company, as they were about to be sold off. Don (who you actually feel sorry for, even though he has been cheating throughout the series) is getting a divorce from Becks, but now has a new family of sorts with his fellow workers. It has been a really well put together series with a great cast and development, keeping you guessing what is going to happen, but also blind-siding the viewer with unexpected developments, such as the sacking of Sal. Can't wait for the next series, but I hope they don't drag it out for too long, they should quit before any shark jumping takes place.

After the FPO had gone to bed, I watched Babettes Feast (1987), a Danish subtitled film that was pretty bleak for most of it, but got more colourful as Babette prepared the feast (wow! symbolism!). Basically, villagers, especially the two daughters that Babette worked for, had been living a pious life in the middle of nowhere (Jutland). Praising the Lord for every morsel they got, they are suspicious when Babette (after she wins the French lottery), wants to prepare a large French meal for the sisters and the villagers, who have been squabbling and moving away from the 'Love thy Neighbour' teachings. They are overcome with joy and unbridled emotion when eating the meal, as they have never experienced anything equivalent to it before. They then find renewed love and faith and Babette is happy as she has created something beautiful ' As an artist'. The sisters think Babette will now return back to Paris (as they discover she used to be a head chef in an exclusive restaurant), but she explains she has spent all of her winnings on the meal. They then say to her that she will get her rewards in Heaven. End of film. A very slow paced two hours, but I enjoyed it.

Now it's looking at crap on the computer for an hour or so before beddie byes
toodle pip

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