La chica danesa

The new cinema year has got off to a robust start with the new movie from Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech", "Les Misérables").

We have seen many depictions of physical torture on the screen over the years, from the interminable teen-slasher pics, through 'that chair scene' in "Casino Royale" to the stylized presentations of Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese in films like "Reservoir Dogs" and "Casino". "The Danish Girl" is also in its way a film about torture, but more akin to the mental torture seen in films like "Buried" or "Flightpath". What must it be like to be trapped with a sexual orientation that you feel is not your own? To possess physical body parts you don't believe you should have? And all in a time (the 1920's) when an exposed ankle was considered slightly daring.

Based on a true story, Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything") and Alicia Vikander ("Ex Machina") play a bohemian married couple Einar and Gerda Wegener, apparently happily married and trying for a child in 1920's Copenhagen. Einar is a renowned landscape artist with his wife a struggling portrait artist living in his shadow. After taking part in a cross-dressing modelling session, strong feelings are awakened in Einar. As a bit of a 'game' Gerda encourages him to explore the character of his alter-ego "Lili" further: a big mistake, as Einar is swept into a spiral of confusion and self-doubt.

Eddie Redmayne is surely up for another Oscar-nomination for his brave performance as Einar/Lili, using his expressive eyes to great effect and delivering a truly heart-rending performance. With all this said however, I never quite believed I was watching the character of Lili but more Redmayne acting the character. Perhaps this is unfair, as Einar/Lili is such a bizarrely multi-dimensional person no one could perhaps have played him/her to my satisfaction. But I suspect (particularly as Redmayne won last year) this won't bring Redmayne the Oscar double.

Far more impressive for me was the delicious and delightful Alicia Vikander, once more turning in a fantastic performance as the increasingly desperate (both psychologically and sexually) Gerda. With Rooney Mara, Vikander must be one of the brightest actress talents in today's cinema.

Also turning in a strong performance, in what is a very limited cast list, is Matthias Schoenaerts ("Far from the Madding Crowd") as a Parisian art dealer with a link to Einar's past. The omni-present (sorry, that should read "hard-working") Ben Whishaw turns up again as a party guest with an unhealthy interest in Lili and Sebastian Koch (most recently seen in series 5 of "Homeland") plays Dr Warnekros who is a pioneer in the new and risky business of sexual reassignment surgery.

Another star of the film is the luscious Danish capital, filmed in vibrant colours, as if from the artists' palettes, by Danny Cohen, a Hooper favourite. Also a big surprise to me was the gloriously photographed Danish countryside, seen at the end of the film, with mountains and seascapes I never knew existed.

Another Hooper alumni, Alexandre Desplat, supplies the soupy but very fitting score.

While the film features a compelling story and much impressive acting, I never personally felt as connected to the story as I was to "The King's Speech". This isn't helped by a rather stagy script by Lucinda Coxon that feels lightweight at times. Perhaps its because we are in Oscar- season but, to me, it all felt a tad pretentious and (no pun intended) could have done with a few snips in places to reduce the running time by 15 minutes or so. That being said, and as an alternative view, I should point out that my wife was in tears for a good proportion of the film and disagrees vehemently with my views. I say "my wife", but since watching the film she's started wearing braces and smoking cigars – so I'm rather confused as to WHAT exactly is going on. :-)

(For the graphical version of this review, see bob-the-movie-man.com. Thanks).

I honestly found this movie very touching and delicate. It is delicate in the way it treats difficult subjects as sexuality and the discovery of one's identity in an hostile period. The fact that it is a true story makes the whole movie even more involving.

I don't think the film is perfect - but the acting, cinematography, the screenplay are absolutely amazing. I especially loved the middle part - where all the characters try to find a way out of the problem and when for the first time they seem to be facing a fracture between them.

I thought it had a great power on people even though it doesn't seem to have had the effect I was expecting (at least during the premiere in Venice).

Eddie Redmayne hasn't had enough of his Oscar and I wish him all the best for 2016!

"He's comfortable in his own skin," is usually seen as a compliment. It means that the person in question knows who he (or she) is and is content with that sense of identity. I dare speculate that it's a condition to which we all aspire. Unfortunately, many people around the world lack that inner peace because of a question of gender identity. Regardless of what others think about such an existential situation, people who feel uncomfortable with the biology with which they were born often suffer greatly over this conflict within their hearts and minds. They cannot be comfortable in their own skin, because they don't feel that their skin is really theirs. Before the somewhat more enlightened times of the 21st century, people who identified with a gender other than that to which biology assigned them suffered even more than some do today. In ages past, those people had little opportunity to make changes that would make themselves look on the outside as they felt on the inside. "The Danish Girl" (R, 2:00) is one such story.

Inspired by the true story of early 20th century married Danish painters Einar and Gerda Wegener, like David Ebershoff's 2000 book on which it's based, "The Danish Girl" is a fictionalized account of Einar's physical transition to Lili Elbe. Neither the book nor Lucinda Coxon's screenplay makes any claim to absolute historical accuracy. This story changes many of the facts for dramatic purposes. The real-life situation of Lili and Gerda's life was much more complicated than we see on screen. The result is a film that tells a simple story in a way that elicits empathy for the protagonists and enlightens the audience.

Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne plays Einar/Lili, and Alicia Vikander, his wife, Gerda. The couple lives in a large apartment in Copenhagen, Denmark, where they both make a living painting. At first, Einar's landscapes are more in demand and more respected than Gerda's portraits. One day when Gerda was in a hurry to finish a portrait of their mutual friend and ballerina, Oola (Amber Heard), Gerda asks Einar to stand in as a model by putting on Oola's stockings and heels and holding up Oola's dress in front of him. Although the scene is played with a combination of humor and awkwardness, it's obvious that Einar likes the clothes. He starts trying on his wife's clothes which gives birth to an idea. Gerda is a bit conflicted, but being the open-minded person she is, she suggests that her husband dress up as a woman to attend an art world function that he had been trying to avoid. And just like that, Lili is born.

The thing is that Einar had always felt like a female and being Lili was the first opportunity that he had really had to express what he felt was his true gender. Einar wears women's clothes and make-up more and more often, both at home and out in public. Lili even begins secretly seeing a local man named Henrik (Ben Whishaw). Gerda is understandably upset by all this, but she never criticizes her husband's inner turmoil or its outward manifestations. She wants to understand, and the more she does, the more she mourns her marriage, which she sees as slipping away. However, as all this is happening, her art career begins to take off. She paints Lili more and more, in fashionable clothes and in little or no clothes. As Gerda's style develops, increasing demand for her paintings soon leads the couple to move to Paris.

In Paris, Lili blossoms as a person, even as she seeks a more permanent solution to her feeling that her biology doesn't match her identity. She sees doctors whose diagnoses are wide-ranging, but are mainly focused on Einar/Lili having some sort of mental deficiency. Hans Axgil (Matthias Schoenarts), a childhood friend of Einar, tries to help, but he can do little more than offer moral support to the couple. Finally, Lili and Gerda find a possible solution in the person of German doctor Kurt Warnekros (Sebastian Koch). Dr. Warnekros offers to perform practically unprecedented sex reassignment surgery on Lili.

"The Danish Girl" is a very sensitive portrayal of a very tumultuous experience in the lives of two real people. Whether you sympathize with the situation of the two main characters or not, you're likely to empathize with them as people. While presenting a story about the controversial topic of gender identity, Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper also tells a very human story within the framework of the movie's plot. At its core, this is a tale of love and loss, of tolerance and devotion, of… feeling comfortable in one's own skin. Although some Movie Fans may find some of the situations, images and the brief but graphic nudity (both female and male) to be disturbing, and the plot does drag at times, one of the main reasons to see this movie is for the award-worthy performances by the two leads. With impressive emotional range and depth, both Redmayne and Vikander make this story surprisingly rich and relatable. Hooper draws even more focus (literally) to the characters' feelings by choosing especially significant moments to bring his camera in very close for a tight focus on the characters' faces, while allowing everything beyond their necks to go out of focus. "The Danish Girl" deserves credit for its honesty, its emotional power and its succinct presentation of a very complicated story. However, some of the changes in the story seem designed to increase the impact of the story, a move I would call emotionally manipulative. For that and other reasons, I just wish that this otherwise excellent film had been more historically accurate. "B"

Though it is nominated for 4 Oscars I wasn't looking forward to seeing it. The Danish Girl seemed like the typical arty-farty Oscar fare on paper but fortunately it was better than that. The best part of the film is the acting. Eddy Redmane does a great job but I was most surprised by Alicia Vikander. She almost steals the movie though she only has a supporting role. Mattias Schoenaerts is also in it with a supporting role and I must say: that man can do just about any language and accent and make it sound completely natural. The story was not that interesting to me and is somewhat of a typical subject matter for Oscar movies (that is movies about some sort of misunderstood minority and who was the first to start the revolution if you will). That being said, it is a very good movie, superb acting but on the other hand I don't consider this a must see.

Tom Hooper's 'The Danish Girl' is a brave story, about brave people, in a time where their bravery must've been counted as mental illness. Hooper chooses the correct actors to portray the parts & directs the film with dignity. However, The Writing doesn't always engage & is flawed in places.

'The Danish Girl' is A fictitious love story inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

'The Danish Girl' salutes the courageous lives of Lili Elbe & Gerda Wegener. Both of whom who died too early, had the courage to be themselves, especially Lilli, who chose to express rather than being repressed. And Gerda, a women who had to face the reality, was a women who respected her husband's truth. That was True Romance!

But, 'The Danish Girl' isn't as tightly Written it should have been. Lucinda Coxon's Screenplay, which is based on the 2000 novel of the same name by David Ebershoff, is powerful, but in doses. The first-hour works wonders, but the second-hour slows down & the flaws in the Writing show up. The final-act, to put it bluntly, isn't half as emotionally moving as it deserved to be. In short, the Writing lets 'The Danish Girl' down, at some parts.

Tom Hooper's Direction is dignified. He has handled some of the most dramatic scenes, with great conviction. Danny Cohen's Cinematography is nicely done. Melanie Ann Oliver's Editing is perfectly sized. Art & Costume Design are fabulous. Alexandre Desplat's Score is enchanting. A Special Mention for the nearly done Make-Up.

Performance-Wise: Eddie Redmayne as Lili Elbe & Alicia Vikander as Gerda Wegener, deliver brilliant performances. Eddie, fresh from his Oscar-Win this year, strikes back with a yet another winning performance, thats both, brave & heartbreaking. Vikander is splendid as his wife, who conveys her pain, with concern & sensitivity. And the on-screen chemistry between the two, is wonderful. Ben Whishaw & Amber Heard are terrific in supporting roles.

On the whole, 'The Danish Girl' isn't as good as one expects it to be, but its well-directed & very well-acted nonetheless!