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Film Search
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The Danish Girl
Biography, Historical drama
It’s not the fault of anyone involved that this feels like so much lesser a version of one of the best films of 2013. That’s not literally true: This is the first movie about married artists Einer (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander), whose lives in 1926 Copenhagen were turned upside-down by Einer’s transition to a woman named Lili, one of the first transgender surgeries in history. But this narrative also echoes Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Anyways in its primary emotional concern with the ways a loving relationship can—and cannot—transcend the gender identity of one’s lover. Director Tom Hooper’s version feels inferior in nearly every way, with a visual approach that suggests an almost pathological fear of not being sensitive enough. And while Alicia Vikander offers up a remarkable performance as Gerda, rich with all the conflict feelings built into the situation, Redmayne’s interpretation of Lili feels so lacking in physicality that it seems she’ll evaporate into the air at any moment. There is a power to this kind of unconditional love story; you just need to watch a different movie to fully understand how powerful it can be.
Official Site: www.focusfeatures.com/the_danish_girl
Director: Tom Hooper
Producer: Tom Hooper, Gail Mutrux, Anne Harrison, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Linda Reisman, Ulf Israel, Kathy Morgan and Liza Chasin
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard and Matthias Schoenaerts
Director: Tom Hooper
Producer: Tom Hooper, Gail Mutrux, Anne Harrison, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Linda Reisman, Ulf Israel, Kathy Morgan and Liza Chasin
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard and Matthias Schoenaerts
