The Danish Girl (2015)
Sky Cinema Select, Boxing Day, 5:30pm
Director: Tom Hooper. (15)
Rating: 4/5 - Very good, lots to enjoy
Synopsis
A fiction-slanted love story inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander). Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer by being the first person to undergo sex reassignment surgery to make her a woman.
Review by Jason Day
Hooper and co. rode the crest of a trans wave in 2015 when the lives and loves of trans people hit the headlines in good ways, when the news was not just concerned with problems, complaints or abuse, but acceptance and everyday life.
Lili Elbe would not recognise such outward, social acceptance. But, in the skilful hands of Eddie Redmayne, she emerges as a positive and resilient character anyway and one who does not let the upsetting of social mores get in the way of being who she feels she is. He receives brilliant support from a consistently on-form Vikander.
Trans researchers may baulk at the Hollywood-ised treatment given to Elbe's story, but the filmmakers were honest about this from the start and the result is an inspiring, gorgeous delight.
For more, read the full review here
