The Objectivism of Subjective Desires: The Transcendence of Sensuality in Gabriel Axel’s “Babette’s Feast”

Waldemar Frąc

Abstract

The author considers the dominant status of sensuality in contemporary culture and the consequences stemming from this status. Gabriel Axel's Babette's Feast is formally an ascetic picture that at the same time is an affirmation of sensuality, and at a deeper level problematises the claim of its primacy. It shows the fundamental role of sensuality in the construction of sense, while at the same time showing us its inner limits. The attitude of the characters in the film shows the secondary nature of the distinction between bad and good taste. The question of taste is to be a manifestation of objectivistic axiology. It leads to the rejection of the relativism caused by the subjectivity of individual experiences. In the film axiological objectivism is present in that true art is portrayed as not depending on individual tastes; rather it transcends that which is subjective and reaches the level of artistic perfection. The film appears to refer to Plato's Symposium in showing that transcendence can be achieved through the senses. In this manner the consequences and shortcomings of relativism, that appears to be an important element of contemporary culture, are shown.