[yasr_overall_rating]
The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of 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.
Tom Hooper’s “The Danish Girl,” is a portrait of love, devotion, and transformation in both a marriage and within an individual whose deepest shrouded truths must be fully realized in spite of confusion and discrimination. And while “The Danish Girl,” may be accused of conventionalizing a social issue that has become most urgent in recent years (and while it may be true) there can be no argument against the quality of performance or the grand design of the film, as both Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander exactingly slay it. Both are fully committed, striking, and bring forth a strength and grace in their performances.
Redmayne and Vikander are Einar and Gerda Wegener, husband and wife, both artists living in 1920s Copenhagen, fetchingly bohemian, bringing life and color to the backdrop of their grey surroundings. Even the most lavish settings seem muted in their presence. While Einar has made a name for himself with his paintings, Gerda struggles with her portraits despite all her talent and technique, they just aren’t up to scratch, lacking an eternal spark. It isn’t until she asks her husband, Einar, to fill in for an absent model, that spark ignites and births Lili Elbe.
The first half of the film meanders a bit around Einar and his desires. Einar is striking with razor sharp cheekbones softened by full lips, beautifully androgynous, and always hidden away in the shadows of a corner, reflective and skittish. Gerda is a force of her own, sprightly, and ever the dutiful wife and exasperated artist. The admiration of bedazzled shoes, the appreciation of new stockings clinging to the skin, and the desire to wear silk are only but a few allusions of what is to come. Once Einar presents himself to his wife in her new nightgown, there is a delicate tension between confusion and acceptance present, while Gerda embraces Einar in that moment, she does not yet realize their lives are to both drastically change. It is not a game as they both thought, but the start of a transformation and journey that challenges the boundaries of love.
Some of the most intriguing scenes are when Einar is in the midst of creating a fully realized Lili, studying how to sway and speak like a woman. A particular scene Einar leaves Gerda to her art and celebrations in Paris to venture into a Parisian peepshow. There’s a curious vibe between Einar and the peepshow performer. The girl is at first unsure of Einar’s intentions but soon a game of sensual mimicking and hand gestures ensues. The girl soon flutters off as if unsure again, her level of discomfort rising to the surface catching her off guard.
While “The Danish Girl,” focuses on Einar/Lili Elbe’s mental and physical struggle, going to one doctor after another trying to “fix” whatever is wrong, the film is just as much about Gerda and her emotional struggle of letting go of the man she married and accepting Lili, putting aside her pain and helping Lili achieve what God mucked up. Alicia Vikander is spirited; nothing feels contrived, as you see her eyes brim with tears, your heart drags. She and Eddie Redmayne have been paired perfectly (as he is also a master of fully immersing himself in a character) in this affecting biopic full of compassion, demonstrating the fullness of what love can be.
While at times the film teeters on the edge of maudlin, particularly towards the end, there is a delicate quaintness about it. The sound of tulle rustling, a chair scuttling and creaking, and the stilted sounds of high risk pleasure via stockings and silk. The film plays to the senses and emotions on the highest levels. It is a marvel both visually and aurally. Perhaps conventional, not as gritty as many might desire given the subject matter, but nevertheless, “The Danish Girl,” is grand and emotionally charged, worthy of any praise it may receive.
In theaters December 18th
