The Danish Girl

Directed by Tom Hooper

Sumptuously photographed, The Danish Girl is set in Copenhagen in the 1920s and focuses almost entirely on a free-spirited couple, both of them painters — he of delicate landscapes, she of portraits. Einar (Redmayne), has just had a successful gallery show, but Gerda (Vikander) struggles to gain attention for her work. One day, Gerda asks her husband to stand in for a female model so she can complete her latest painting. Einar is overwhelmed by the experience of putting on beautiful, feminine clothes, and soon it turns into a quiet obsession. As Einar gradually rediscovers himself, Gerda’s paintings of him as a woman begin to attract serious attention. Gerda balances Einar’s transformation with her newfound acclaim. Einar, meanwhile, finds it impossible to put the genie back in the bottle: She will become Lili, one of the first known recipients of gender reassignment surgery. Vikander is superb, and Redmayne’s performance in his transgendered role is as subtle and powerful as his work in last year’s The Theory of Everything.

Duration:
120 minutes

Languages:
English

Country of origin:
Germany, Great Britain and USA

Year of production:
2015