Canter Bridge

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The same gentle irony that Karen Blixen brought to the interplay of faith and human experience in Out of Africa is to be observed in full flower in this delightfully quirky film adaptation of her short story called Babette’s Feast. Blixen found the French fathers in Kenya a bit rigid and self-interested, yet she expressed this with kindness and patience. She does the same here with her Lutheran Danes.

The romantic exuberance of the French servant-woman Babette as she brings to the island village that is her refuge the sensuality of a lavish feast does not reduce the disciplined and selfless orthodoxy of the Lutheran sect to ridicule. Rather, there is room for a certain conversion in both directions, a cross-pollenation that Blixen and her cinematic interpreters allow themselves to relish.

Blixen left us a great story. It has been made into a memorable film that belongs on the ‘keeper’ shelf of viewers who love a story.

Babette’s Feast is a full plate for the heart.