The Danish Girl

The Danish Girl is Director Tom Hooper’s valiant attempt to bring to the screen the story of transgender Lili Elbe (Eddie Redmayne), who underwent sexual reassignment surgery in the 1920s.

 

I say “valiant attempt” because, as tenderly told as this story is and as beautifully photographed as Cinematographer Danny Cohen captured the action, Writer Lucinda Coxon’s screenplay does not give sufficient back story about Lili as Einar Wegener, the famed painter she was for over 30 years.  As a result, Einar moves to crossdresser and, seemingly, only then to the realization of being a woman trapped in a man’s body.

As good as Redmayne is as Einar/Lili, the real star of this film is Alicia Vikander as Einar’s wife Gerda.  With this year’s Ex Machina, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and, now, this, she has proven herself as a phenomenal actress and, if she is not nominated for Best Actress for this role, something is very wrong in Tinseltown.

Without Vikander’s transformation from wife to loving friend, The Danish Girl would have fallen flat.

As it is, I give The Danish Girl a 3.8 out of 5, but Vikander gets a 5 out of 5.  It’s worth a view to see her masterful performance.