Tom Hooper's The
Danish Girl is an important film, but is it necessarily a good one? As
the conversation around transgender people intensifies and enters further into
the mainstream, a film like this is essential in the same way Brokeback Mountain was key
in changing hearts and minds about homosexual men. To that end, Hooper's
overly-restrained and wispy style, coupled with a fairly straight-forward
biopic narrative, may be the perfect fit for making the film palatable to
audiences. But it also prevents the film from being as revelatory as it should
be, especially given the transcendent performances that do justice to such a
meaningful story.
From the moment Eddie Redmayne was
confirmed to play Lili Elbe, the first recipient of sexual reassignment
surgery, the calls have been out there for him to earn his second Best Actor
victory. And that may be the case as he's once again terrifically genuine and
subtle, especially opposite Alicia Vikander who is gaining similar notices for
her work as Elbe's incredibly devoted wife. If only the screenplay by Lucinda
Coxon, adapting the book by David Ebershoff, was half as courageous but instead
it goes with the safest possible route.
The 1920s-set story begins with famous
landscape artist Einar Wegener (Redmayne), who shared an idyllic life and
marriage in Copenhagen with wife, Gerda (Vikander), an aspiring artist of her
own. She's more interested in painting portraits, but when she can't find a
model for a particular piece she turns to Einar to model as a woman. The
sensation in his eyes upon feeling the soft touch of female garments is like an
awakening of the spirit. Something inside him has been unleashed and can't be
bottled back up. With the help of their ballerina friend (Amber Heard), Einar's
alter ego is christened "Lili"and it isn't long before she begins to
dominate their lives. Einar practically disappears as Lili takes over, leaving
Gerda to wonder what has happened to her husband. At one point she practically
begs to see her husband again, but Einar is so far gone into becoming Lili that
he simply refuses. He wants to live a life as Lili, as the woman he feels
himself to be, even if that destroys his once-perfect marriage.
The tract Hooper and Coxon take in
presenting Elbe's self-actualization is unsubtle, painted in the kind of broad
strokes that often hamper these kinds of biopics. For example, he captures the
duality within Einar/Lili with a prevalence of mirroring shots, including one
scene where Einar mimics the actions of a female dancer. Hooper shoots them
with grace, naturally, but then again he shoots everything that way even when
the scene doesn't necessarily demand it. Some might say he's got too light of a
filmmaking touch, but that also fits the desire to keep this complicated story
as uncomplicated as possible.
The film is at its most compelling when it
dares to explore Lili's impact on others, and society's view of her existence. We're
talking about 1926 when doctors were throwing women into insane asylums with
shocking regularity for common ailments, so one can imagine what they thought
of Einar/Lili, who leaped from more than a few windows to escape being locked
away. There's also Lili's brief dalliance with a handsome man (Ben Whishaw)
that forces her to reevaluate what she wants from a relationship standpoint.
That causes friction with Gerda, whose painting career has unexpectedly taken
off based solely on her images of Lili. Another interesting avenue finds Lili
discovering what life as a woman is really like just as she reconnects with an
old friend (the always-great Matthias Schoenaerts) who Einar shared an intimate
moment with years earlier.
There aren't many actors who would take on
the challenge of playing Lili Elbe, and fewer still who could pull it off with
the kind of ease Redmayne does. He's simply a marvel when embracing such
outwardly physical roles and this one is arguably more demanding than his turn
as Stephen Hawking. It requires more nuances in his movements, especially
during the phase where Einar is learning to become Lili. Once again he's paired
up with an actress who more than holds her own opposite him, with Vikander
showing Gerda to be a true beacon of strength and resolve, even as she's coping
with her husband's transformation. Vikander has had the kind of year any
actress dreams of, and this is a great way to put a cap on it.
Perhaps there's no easy way to present
this story and keep it palatable to mainstream audiences. Although it's rather
sad that audiences need to be catered to in that way, it's an unfortunate
reality when it comes to such an issue. With the emergence of Caitlyn Jenner
into the national spotlight, The
Danish Girl is in a perfect
position to open a few eyes about transgenderism, and while it doesn't push the
envelope as far as one might hope, it admirably takes the first steps in moving
the discussion forward and opens the door for more films on this subject.
Rating: 3 out of 5
