The Danish Girl begins it's story with married Danish artists Einar and Gerda Wegener. The couple lead a happy and passionate life, but despite this they have not produced a child that they long for. When assisting his wife by sitting for her in place of her model, Einar is asked to wear stockings and heeled shoes with a dress draped over him. Unbeknownst to Gerda, this awakens his inner identity of Lili Elbe, and so begins a journey of discovery and change for the both of them.
I saw the trailer for The Danish Girl a while ago, and having watched Mr Redmayne last New Years Day in The Theory Of Everything, which was a wonderful film with a fantastic performance from Redmayne, I was very keen to see him again in this movie. The other draw for me towards The Danish Girl was Alicia Vikander who I first saw at the end of 2014 in an advanced screening of Testament of Youth. At the time she was a complete unknown to me, and then she blew up on the big screen in 2015, appearing in Ex Machina, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Burnt. For me, her finest performance came in Testament though. She came from nowhere and put in this absolutely heartfelt performance that completely blew you away and made you feel every aspect of the war around her. And it was because of that movie that I knew she would be amazing here.
Of the two lead roles in this film, you cannot deny that Redmayne's is the showy award winner. I have no doubt that he will at the very least receive countless nominations for his performance here. And he should. It's an important story of one of the first recognised transgender women who underwent reassignment surgery, all when such procedures were experimental. However, it is Vikander's understated performance which grounds this film, and one which ultimately breaks your heart. Gerda loves Einar and supports him though the changes he ultimately needs to make in order to realise who he he truly is. Without Gerda's unwavering support Lili would take a lot longer to be realised, if at all. But all the while Einar is going through emotional and physical changes, it's Gerda we feel has to change the most. She goes from having a husband she adores, to a friend she cannot turn away from, no matter how much it hurts her to be there for Lili. She is simply superb and I hope she also gets the attention she deserves from this performance, because without her, I don't think this film would work.
You should see this if you are a fan of fantastic acting, and important stories that should be told. 8 out of 10.
Viewing Date - 1st January 2016
UK Release Date - 1st January 2016
Cast Overview:
Eddie Redmayne ~ Lili Elbe / Einar Wegener
Alicia Vikander ~ Gerda Wegener
Matthias Schoenaerts ~ Hans Axgil
Ben Whishaw ~ Henrik
Amber Heard ~ Ulla
Sebastian Koch ~ Dr Warnekros
Director ~ Tom Hooper
Writer ~ David Ebershoff (Novel) and Lucinda Coxon (Screenplay)
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