The Danish Girl Review

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, Amber Heard

The Danish Girl is a beautiful movie. Every scene looks as extravagant as the artwork Einar and Gerda Wegener painted. The cinematography is perfect, and the music is beautiful to listen to. The movie's physical beauty makes sense, because the story of Lili Elbe is a beautiful one. Lili was formerly Einar Wegener, until she transitioned to become one of the first documented transgender individuals. It seems like the formula for a perfect movie, but The Danish Girl can't help but feel lacking. There's something missing that doesn't make it the next great leap forward in cinema, or even an awards juggernaut. The performances are a different story. Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander give two of the best performances of the year. I seriously believe Vikander can go all the way and win, her performance far eclipses Redmayne, who is the titular character.

In my opinion, The Danish Girl's fault is that it's a message movie. I really enjoyed the movie, but it didn't strike me as totally emotional. By the end of the movie, I get it. I get the message, but I think the movie should have been more passionate rather than charming. I think the transgender community deserves a heavy movie like Selma for the African-American community. That's not to say its not a good movie, but it does more to paint an illustration of Gerda and Lili's relationship and its ultimate failure than it does to actually examine Lili and her issues. The Danish Girl is a love story that relies too much on a romantic message, which is not what I would have liked to have seen. I would have liked to see Lili and her struggles to fit in. The story is based off of her diary, yet almost nothing is in her perspective. You see the whole movie through the eyes of Gerda, and how she reacts to her husband being a woman. The movie is about a tragic romance. I believe that it fails to capitalize on a great opportunity. But in this mistake, it brings forth a fantastic performance from Alicia Vikander.

It came as a complete surprise that Alicia Vikander eclipsed Eddie Redmayne. All the buzz has been for Redmayne, possibly capitalizing on his win last year for The Theory of Everything with another Oscar. But like I said, he's not the focus even if he is the lead. Vikander's Gerda is the real subject, to the point where a character addresses her as "the Danish girl". The two of them both act circles around each other, but Gerda is where the film stays grounded. You can see the pain in her eyes, and the anger in her face. But with all the feelings she has for her husband, it is evident she still loves the man she married, even if he's not a man, and is destined to leave her alone. Redmayne is great, and his self-exploration is really inspirational. But this film is more about what it's like to be married to somebody transgender than it is to really be transgender.

The Danish Girl is a good movie, but I could not buy into the transgender message of the movie, and I desperately wanted to. It was just too shallow in its exploration that it didn't suit my tastes. As a love story I totally believed it, and I was invested in the couple. When I felt like crying, it was because of Gerda, not for Lili. That's just honestly how I felt. I do not think you are able to connect to Lili because she appears as a mystic being on a pedestal. When I see her tragedy, I feel more for Gerda because the movie focuses on her suffering. It's definitely odd and disjointed but you get to see Alicia Vikander really bust out her acting chops. With all of its lavish sets and beautiful scores, there's surprisingly little more than just that: beauty.

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