Devran ikiz Directed by Tom Hooper, "The Danish Girl" is based on the 2000 novel with the same name written by David Ebershoff. The story is loosely based on the life of Einar Wegener, the first person to go through transgender surgery, and his personal struggles and relationship with his wife. In "The Danish Girl," performances are as important as the story itself. From the first scene I fell in love with Eddie Redmayne's acting and later paid more attention to Alicia Vikander, as Gerda Wegener, and her outstanding performance. Einar is going through a transformation progress to become Lili, and the perception of Gerda's infinite and everlasting love for her husband is the strongest point of the film. This performance brought Alicia Vikander an Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. On the other hand, Eddie Redmayne's performance was critical for the film's reputation. He is becoming the master in disguise after his equally hard role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. That performance brought him an Oscar for The Best Performance by Actor in a Leading Role. One year later he came very close to win his 2nd Oscar for his performance in "The Danish Girl." The role of Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe is very hard to perform. Figures, gestures, mimics and feelings are very important. To master this particular role, you need to feel like Einar Wegener, and Redmayne's performance overcomes all the struggles of this role. With this kind of hard roles, you get to see the real talent of the artist.Controversial or sensitive subjects have always been rewarded in cinema. It is thought by the authorities that this kind of films always serve to the true purpose of art. I don't share this thought, but yet again I am not the one in power to decide what is good and bad for the audience. Films like "The Danish Girl" have a mission to show us the unspoken or hidden facts. Most of the time getting into these roles is not easy, and this is the reason why they are usually awarded.Camera shots behind the ballet clothes and paintings manage to make a difference in the means of Cinematography. Beautiful sceneries and identical Danish houses were shot with wide angles, and this technique shows us the importance of cinematography for a film. In "The Danish Girl," both Einar and his wife Gerda are painters. So, default setup of the scenes, with paintings and costumes all over, are preparing you for the grey mood presented throughout the film. Beautiful and diverse costumes also serve the purpose of the film. This brought another nomination to "The Danish Girl" for Best Achievement in Costume Design. The clothes Einar wear in disguise as a woman are matching both the era and the inner taste of Lili. Those costumes are somehow the visual representatives of her inner feelings as a woman.The perception of homosexuality back in 20s in Europe is another subject of the film. Tom Hooper focuses on all the struggles of Einar by showing some scenes that take courage to show. He goes to striptease shows and imitates the dancing woman. He goes to fish market to observe the gestures of women. He continuously imagines himself as a woman and getting beaten up once.Lili and Einar are two different characters. One of them is Einar's true form, and the other is the person he is forced to be. Social pressure tends to force you into personalities that don't represent you. If a person doesn't have strong state of mind, this forcing may end up in suicide. This is not the case for Einar. He is a strong character, and he knows that he is a woman inside. This is how he faces all the bumps on the road. Transgender surgeries are a matter of debate even today. In long term, this kind of films are going to build up the social acceptance. This is how cinema serves to society.With outstanding performances and an interesting subject, "The Danish Girl" encourages people with the similar situation to act and live their lives as they see fit. Being drama, history and biography, "The Danish Girl" is one of the good examples of these genres.

Maria D This film and it's actors just did not capture this real story to the best of their ability. Don't get me wrong as they are both talented A stars but this character Lily was portrayed to be so overly feminine and superficial in her hyper focus on dressing in female clothing. Lily's relationship encounters with men were equally lacking in authenticity. Yes she was a woman trapped inside a man's body but are we still simplify the trans gender or those who identify as such to be only in it for the lipstick and the clothes? Lots of flaws on the approach to this true story moving at a turtle pace when within all that mundane waste of the viewer's time could have been filled with so much more about Lily we'll never know about. Implicitly though I must say that the relationship with her soulmate Gerta shows a perspective of true love and the crosses one bears for those we love with a very unique lense that is remarkably enlightening, inspiring and crucial for all to witness.

classicsoncall For a film dealing with subject matter completely out of my comfort zone, I thought director Hooper sensitively handled a complex topic intelligently in the manner of Ang Lee's "Brokeback Moountain" of 2005. The movie itself is beautifully filmed, and Eddie Redmayne's performance as the transgendered Einar/Lili comes close to his Oscar winning portrayal of Stephen Hawking in the prior year's "The Theory Of Everything". Alicia Vikander is also competent in the role of Einar's wife Gerda, resolutely standing by her spouse's decision to follow through on a sex change operation after initial misgivings about Einar's apparently sudden mental and physical transformation. Taking place in the late 1920's in Europe, I wasn't surprised at the reaction of the medical profession to what was going on with Einar, though I wouldn't have thought that experimental forms of gender reassignment surgery took place as early as 1930. To think that if Einar had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, he might have wound up in an institution for moral depravity undergoing treatment for perversion. In that regard, the film chronicles a valiant pioneering effort on the part of Einar/Lili for those individuals hopelessly conflicted over their own sexual identity.

mlcham I just want to add one thing to these reviews. I would like to say that the acting performances are very good, or, in the case of Alicia Vikander, excellent, but sadly they are let down by the current fashion that all dialogue has to be whispered or mumbled whether that is relevant or not.