Out of Africa: Why This Redford and Streep Romance Still Sparks Debate

Some movies just feel like a warm, expensive blanket. You know the ones. They’ve got sweeping orchestral music, golden-hour lighting that makes everyone look like a god, and two of the biggest movie stars to ever walk the earth.

When people search for a robert redford and meryl streep movie, they’re almost always looking for Out of Africa. Released in 1985, this thing was a juggernaut. It scooped up seven Oscars, including Best Picture. But honestly? If you watch it today, it’s a weirdly polarizing experience.

It’s beautiful. It’s long. It’s got a hair-washing scene that literally redefined romance for an entire generation. Yet, it also features Robert Redford playing a British aristocrat with a thick-as-molasses American accent.

Let's get into what actually happened behind the scenes and why this movie is still such a talking point.

The Story Behind the Legend

Basically, the film is based on the life of Karen Blixen. She was a Danish aristocrat who moved to Kenya (then British East Africa) in 1913 to run a coffee plantation. Meryl Streep plays Karen, and she’s doing that thing she does—an impeccable, rhythmic Danish accent that makes you forget she’s from New Jersey.

She marries her cousin, Baron Bror Blixen, played by Klaus Maria Brandauer. It’s a marriage of convenience, mostly because Bror wants her money and she wants the title. But Bror is a serial philanderer. He’s gone most of the time, chasing game or other women, eventually leaving Karen to run a massive farm alone while battling the literal and metaphorical elements.

Then enters Denys Finch Hatton.

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Redford’s character is this mysterious, rugged big-game hunter who values freedom above everything else. He won’t be owned. He won’t be tied down. And that’s the central friction of the movie: a woman who wants to possess the land and the man, and a man who refuses to belong to anyone.

Why Redford Didn't Use an Accent

This is the big one. The elephant in the room.

Denys Finch Hatton was a real guy. He was very, very British. He was the son of an Earl, educated at Eton and Oxford. So, naturally, when Sydney Pollack cast Robert Redford, everyone expected the "Sundance Kid" to dust off a British accent.

He tried. He really did.

Apparently, in early rehearsals, Redford attempted the accent, but Pollack shut it down. The director felt it was distracting. He thought Redford’s natural charm and "American-ness" better captured the spirit of a man who was an outsider to the rigid colonial system.

It was a bold move. Some critics at the time absolutely hated it. They felt it pulled them out of the 1910s Kenyan setting. But fans of the movie argue that Redford’s performance is about energy, not phonetics. He’s playing a man who is "more self-possessed than any British actor," as Pollack once put it.

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The Hair-Washing Scene (And Other "Swoon" Moments)

If you haven't seen the robert redford and meryl streep movie, you've likely seen the clips of the hair-washing scene.

It’s arguably the most famous part of the film. Denys washes Karen’s hair by a river while reciting poetry. It’s incredibly intimate without being graphic. It’s about the vulnerability of letting someone else take care of you in a harsh landscape.

Then there’s the flight.

The scene where Denys takes Karen up in his Gipsy Moth biplane is pure cinematic magic. No green screen (well, mostly none), just incredible cinematography by David Watkin. John Barry’s score kicks in, and you’re soaring over the Ngong Hills. It’s the kind of "Big Hollywood" moment they just don't make anymore. It feels grand. It feels earned.

Is It Factually Accurate?

Kinda. Sorta. Not really.

The film is "based loosely" on Karen Blixen’s memoir (written under the pen name Isak Dinesen). But the real Karen Blixen was a complicated figure. The movie paints her as a bit of a colonial saint, but the reality was messier.

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• The Syphilis: This part is true. Bror did give Karen syphilis early in their marriage, which forced her back to Denmark for treatment with arsenic (the "cure" back then was almost as bad as the disease).
• The Lions: In the movie, Karen fights off a lion with a whip. In reality, biographers suggest this was a bit of "embroidery" on Karen’s part. She liked a good story.
• The Relationship: Denys and Karen were together for years, but it wasn't always the sweeping romance the movie suggests. It was often lonely and fraught with Denys's long absences.

Also, the movie’s treatment of the Kikuyu people who lived on the farm has been criticized for being a bit paternalistic. While Karen did care deeply for her workers, the film views Africa through a very European, "elegiac" lens. It’s a postcard version of history.

Why It Still Matters Today

People still watch Out of Africa because it represents a specific type of filmmaking that is dying out. It’s a 161-minute epic that takes its time. It’s slow. It lets you breathe in the dust and the heat of the savannah.

Honestly, the chemistry between Redford and Streep shouldn't work. She’s all technique and precision; he’s all vibe and presence. But together? It clicks. You believe these two people are the only ones on the planet who truly understand each other.

How to Experience the Story Now

If you’re obsessed with the movie and want to go deeper, here’s how to do it:

1. Read the Book: Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa is much more of a lyrical meditation than a linear plot. It’s beautiful prose.
2. Visit the Museum: If you ever find yourself in Nairobi, the Karen Blixen Museum is located in her actual former farmhouse. You can walk through the rooms where she lived.
3. Listen to the Soundtrack: John Barry’s score is one of the best ever written. It’s the perfect background music for a rainy afternoon.

Out of Africa isn't a perfect movie. It’s long, Redford’s accent is a mystery, and it’s definitely a product of the 80s. But as a testament to the power of two massive stars sharing a screen, it remains the definitive robert redford and meryl streep movie that everyone needs to see at least once.

Go find a copy. Grab a glass of wine. Give yourself three hours. It’s worth the trip.