The Danish Girl (2015)

The Danish Girl depicts the story of one of the first people to undergo gender-confirmation surgery, a famed landscape artist in the early part of the 20^th Century, Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe. Central to the story of Einer’s transition to becoming Lili is the story of his wife, Gerda, a portrait artist who has to come to grips with the transition from what appears to be a happy marriage to a friendship with the woman who was once her husband. The film was directed by Tom Hooper, an Oscar winner for The King’s Speech, and it shares with Hooper’s earlier film an earnestness that sometimes gets in the way of a more realistic portrayal of what must have been a difficult time period for transgender people. Several aspects of the film lend themselves to criticism. For example, rather than using the historical record to develop the story, The Danish Girl is instead based upon the novel of the same name by David Ebershoff. The lead character is portrayed by a cisgender male actor (Redmayne, who is quite good in portraying the struggles that Lili undergoes) rather than a transgender actress. The filmmakers also campaigned to have Alicia Vikander placed in the category of Best Supporting Actress rather than Best Actress even though her role as Gerda is as large as Redmayne’s. What the film does well is depicting the growing desire that Einar feels to become Lili and the difficulties someone identifying as transgender faced during the 1920s, including doctors thinking that the “real” issue is “perversion” (i.e., homosexuality) or schizophrenia because Einar thinks of Lili as being a separate identity and speaks of her in third person. The film also clearly demonstrates the growing desire Lili feels to become a woman physically as well as emotionally and her attempts to learn how to be like other women by observing them carefully. It’s an intriguing film overall, and it has that typical polished look with quality production design and costume design that we might expect from a Hooper film. There’s a nice, underappreciated supporting turn from Matthias Schoenaerts as one of Einar’s childhood friends who becomes attracted to Gerda but remains loyal to both Lili and Gerda throughout the transition in their relationship. The resolution is rather abrupt, frankly, and the business with the scarf at the end is a bit heavy-handed for a film that overall has been rather delicate and sensitive.

Oscar Win: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Alicia Vikander)

Other Oscar Nominations: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Eddie Redmayne), Best Achievement in Costume Design, and Best Achievement in Production Design