(Please note: This review is written in such a manner as to not spoil the film for those who have yet to see it.)
The Danish Girl is a fictionalization of the true story of painter Lili Elbe—the first transgender woman to undergo a sex change operation—and her wife, Gerda Wegener. It stars Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) and Alicia Vikander (The Man from U.N.C.L.E) in these roles, respectively, and is a bittersweet little film set in 1920s Copenhagen.
Everything about The Danish Girl is beautiful and tragic, from the brilliant acting by Redmayne, Vikander, and the supporting cast, to the gorgeous cinematography and settings and costumes, to Alexandre Desplat’s haunting score. Director Tom Hooper clearly has a knack for period pieces—and for filming Eddie Redmayne, with whom he previously worked on Les Misérables. Hooper perfectly captures both the prickly uneasiness of Redmayne’s Lili first experiencing the discomfort of being subjected to the male gaze and the lovely empowerment of her discovering what it feels like to be at home in her own body for the first time.
However, if anything, Vikander actually upstages Redmayne in many respects. While this film definitely feels like it was made primarily as a vehicle to showcase Redmayne’s range after last year’s Oscar win for The Theory of Everything, Gerda’s pain, love, and desperation to understand and help Lili are apparent in every shot of Vikander. The film is easily as much hers as it is Redmayne’s.
The Danish Girl is perhaps a little too long, and feels almost a little too proud of itself for tackling the story it has, especially considering how the filmmakers cast a cisgender male in one of the few roles built for a transgender actor. Despite this, it still accomplishes what it set out to do—not to tell the drama of Lili transitioning from man to woman, as much as to share the love story between Lili and Gerda.
In the end, the title character of “the Danish Girl” could be either one of them. Perhaps, it is up to the audience to decide.
The Danish Girl opens at the State Theater on Thursday, December 24th. Tickets are available now at the box office.
