The Danish Girl

An important biopic, but not inspiring.

Before this film hitting the screens, I remember many experts were expecting it doing well at the Oscars. Now it's got 4 Oscar nods, even though it is very sad the movie is a hit and miss. A slipped away opportunity, had a great storyline, but the outcome was decent. An important historical biopic, at least for a certain section of the audience. I respect that, but it did not impress me as I anticipated.

From the Academy Award winning director for the movie 'The King's Speech', and the last year's winner for a lead role, Eddie Reddmayne together did not deliver the expected masterpiece. But Alicia Vikander was so good, another brilliant co-female-star display just like Felicity Jones from Eddie's previous movie 'The Theory of Everything'. If I were a jury I would definitely give the supporting actress award to her, that's the result I'm hoping for in the next Sunday.

The actor did a hard work for the title role, in the many scenes he mastered it, but that's where I slightly disappointed. I felt his character was a little intense, maybe I'm not getting him because I'm straight. The locations, costumes, even the direction and music were good. Both the lead actors kind looks alike, no doubt on the casting, but it only should have been a bit better in exhibiting story.

Maybe the pace should have been a little quicker as well as some sentimentally appealing scenes would have done good. I desperate to give more marks, but I can't go beyond this. I won't consider it a bad flick, what I meant was a missed opportunity to be a masterpiece. So overall, it is a good watch.

7/10

"You helped bring Lili to life, but she was always there."

The Danish Girl certainly took a long time getting to the big screen. The script went through dozens of iterations after David Ebershoff’s book was first was optioned. The cast changed numerous times. Directors passed it back and forth. Finally, after fifteen years of floating around, Tom Hooper’s film was released. And while the lead performances were brilliant, the film itself felt a bit flat. And weirdly, this seems to be something we say far too often about films that take a long time to get to the silver screen. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we wrap up our Transgender series with Hooper’s 2015 film The Danish Girl.

We talk about what works in the film, but we really try to dig and figure out what might be causing it to have its issues. We look at the journey the book took to get to the screen, and look at the age-old question of what responsibility do filmmakers/storytellers have to the original story and the original people when making biopics. We discuss Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander and what they bring to the table here, along with their fellow thespians. We chat about the incredible look this film has and how it fits in with the story. And we touch on how this series has opened our eyes to other great films that we would love to share down the line.

This was a fun series, even if it ended on a bit of a downer note. It did give us perspective for the world of transgenders and what they go through to feel ‘right’ in their own bodies. We have a great time talking about this movie, so check it out then tune in!

Andy’s star rating: 3 stars Pete’s star rating: 3.5 stars Average star rating: 3.25 stars

To listen to The Next Reel’s episode on The Danish Girl, please visit: thenextreel.com/tnr/the-danish-girl.

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Highly militant, a more neutral film would have been better.

This is a difficult film to comment on. On the one hand, and speaking exclusively from a technical point of view, it is a really good and well-made film. On the other hand, I have many questions and points of disagreement that prevent me from really approving it. And the reader better be ready to disagree healthily with what I write, because I'm not used to hiding what I think, or amputating my opinions under the guillotine of political correctness.

I know that the film was acclaimed when it came out and that the publicity machine sold it very well. I also know that it is one of the most beloved films in the GLBT (and all the letters and symbols they want to add) community. I have already written some reviews of other films, in which I criticized the excessive yielding to political correctness or moral/social lobbies. Since cinema is an artistic and leisure experience, I don't like to see it used for advertising or indoctrination of ideas and morals. We are supposed to enjoy watching a film and seeing the talent and artistry of those involved, not feeling that the film is trying to tell us what we should think about a subject or a theme, which is what this film tries to do. For this indoctrination, the script addresses an unknown figure: Einar Wegener, a Danish landscape painter little known internationally because he became known more as a “trans” personality than as a painter.

Married to Gerda Wegener, also a painter, it was only after he was married that he discovered (or assumed) his femininity, moving to Paris and starting to assume himself as a woman and using the name Lili Elvenes. What is certain is that he was one of the first men to undergo a surgical process of genital reconstruction, which ended with the rejection of the transplanted organ and the generalized infection that led to his death. The clinical process was burned by Nazism. From that time, only a few of Wegener's diaries...

This an interesting story based closely on real events. It makes you stop and really think about what Trans people really go through. The part that stays with me the most is when she talks about a dream she had near the end of the movie.