The Danish Girl (2015)

Load of rubbish!!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Loosely based on a "real" story, the plot is about Einar Wegener/Lili, one of the first transgender people to undergo surgery. The story starts in 1926, with Einar happily married to Gerda. Both are painters, enjoying some fame in Copenhagen. One day Gerda asks Einer to wear silk stockings to pose for an unfinished portrait of a ballerina and from then on Einar starts discovering Lili, his "female" side, which will end up "killing" Einar.Gerda pursues her career and finds success with Einar's portraits as his female counterpart Lili. The couple moves to Paris, where Einar can leave more openly as Lili in the bohemian artist society. Also, Gerda meets a former friend of Einar, the brooding and all-male Hans, who stirs feelings presumably more pleasant than dealing with your husband's trans-sexuality.After several disastrous meetings with different doctors, all of whom think Einar is insane, a German surgeon finally announces he will try to help Einar getting rid of his male parts and start living fully as Lili. Gerda, supported by Hans, decides to stick to Lili's decision and stays with her "husband" during his medical treatment. However, surgery is a risky business, even more so a hundred years ago…. The movie created - predictably - some controversy. Some criticized the fictional character of Hans, but I think he provided a much needed masculine but discreet performance, to balance the Einar/Lili character. Vikander is really good in showing the strong mix of emotions Gerda felt during Einar's journey: from amusement to worry, from horror, desperation and rage and finally to support. I did not like much Redmayne as Einar/Lili. Granted it was a difficult part to play, but Redmayne drove me to distraction with his hands movements and his fluttering of eyelashes. Besides, he was not even remotely believable as a woman, just a guy in wig and drags. I am surprised he did not "attract" more bewildered reactions, especially during the first outing at the big ball in Copenhagen. That anybody there mistook him for a girl is ludicrous.Photography and costumes are very good, especially the choice of the cold, Nordic light and minimalist interiors. However, after the move to Paris, the story does slow down considerably and even more so after the first surgery, when I thought the movie should finish, but there was still a bit to go. A tighter editing and a different male lead would have helped.

For a film dealing with subject matter completely out of my comfort zone, I thought director Hooper sensitively handled a complex topic intelligently in the manner of Ang Lee's "Brokeback Moountain" of 2005. The movie itself is beautifully filmed, and Eddie Redmayne's performance as the transgendered Einar/Lili comes close to his Oscar winning portrayal of Stephen Hawking in the prior year's "The Theory Of Everything". Alicia Vikander is also competent in the role of Einar's wife Gerda, resolutely standing by her spouse's decision to follow through on a sex change operation after initial misgivings about Einar's apparently sudden mental and physical transformation. Taking place in the late 1920's in Europe, I wasn't surprised at the reaction of the medical profession to what was going on with Einar, though I wouldn't have thought that experimental forms of gender reassignment surgery took place as early as 1930. To think that if Einar had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, he might have wound up in an institution for moral depravity undergoing treatment for perversion. In that regard, the film chronicles a valiant pioneering effort on the part of Einar/Lili for those individuals hopelessly conflicted over their own sexual identity.

The Danish girl and the Danish man who thinks he's a girl.This kind of movie will continue to be made until everyone is either confused-gendered or homosexual and then.... we'll start all over with trying to be normal.We are all so screwed up.

Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl tells the story of one of the first transgender females, at least one of the first, if not THE first one to undergo the sex change surgery. Set in 1926, the sets are very well designed and accurate to the time period. The makeup used in the film is fantastic, very beautiful classic style of makeup, the makeup has to be good for a film of this kind, it just has to be. The sequence where Einer is putting on his makeup for the first time is breathtaking visually and very well done. I loved the costume design for each individual character, especially lili. The costumes that lili wore suited her so very well and she looked absolutely beautiful in all of them. And Alicia Vikander looks great in both her makeup and tee various costumes. Now we get to the best part of the entire film, and that is the performances by the actors. We'll start with the academy award winning performance given by Alicia Vikander. Vikander gives a truly moving, deep performance that is rooted in love and rife with strong emotion throughout. Her character goes through a lot as you can imagine. Eddie Redmayne is such a marvelous actor! He plays both Einer and lili sooo well. The way in which he behaves, talks and behaves as lili is so skilled and natural, you never feel like you're watching Eddie act, it feels real. There are a couple of scenes I would like to recognize because they were so needed and crucial to this film. One scene is where Einer is nude in front of a mirror and he tucks his penis in between his legs and it looks like he now has a vulva, this is a crucial scene that HAD to be included, it showcase his character's journey to self discovery. Another is Einer visiting a peep show to see a nude woman and see how she moves and examine/mimic her mannerisms, another scene showcasing self discovery. I feel the ending was handled fairly well, no complaints about that. Moving, well acted, visually great looking and important story. 8/10