Review of The Danish Girl (2015) by Foxgrove — 10 Jan 2016
Tom Hooper’s highly anticipated ‘The Danish Girl’ was eventually greeted rather indifferently by the sniffy critics who ultimately only seemed to appreciate the lead performances. Hooper seems to have come in for a lot of critical wrath since winning an Oscar for his least enjoyable film, ‘The King’s Speech’, and both his subsequent movies ‘Les Miserables’, and now this seem to have as many detractors as fans.
The former group leaves me head scratchingly perplexed at this negativity as both films are beautifully conceived and marvellously acted examples of what cinema is all about. ‘The Danish Girl’ is a fascinating and, despite its two hour length, a concisely told and emotionally complex true story about transgender pioneer Lili Erbe.
The film is a gorgeous prestige production from the beautiful locations in Paris and Copenhagen, through its breath taking production and costume designs, right down to the top notch performances of the two leads.
Fresh from his Oscar winning success last year in ‘The Theory of Everything’, Eddie Redmayne is again very good. However, it has to be said that he does somewhat over do the coyness of the emerging Lili and, even at this early stage in his career, certain mannerisms and gestures are becoming quite identifiable within his repertoire.
It is also unfortunate for him that in both his Oscar winning role and now here he has been somewhat overshadowed by his leading ladies. Felicity Jones stole the show in ‘Theory’ and a revelatory Alicia Vikander almost single handedly rains on his parade here.
She runs a gauntlet of emotions and is heartbreakingly compelling. She becomes the film’s focal point and its soul without unbalancing the drama. Hooper’s direction is assured and there is a brevity in the editing to keep the pace interesting without seeming to trivialise or rush the complex and important story being told.
If all this isn’t enough to make you squeeze out the odd tear then Alexander Desplat’s beautiful score will complete the task.
This review of The Danish Girl (2015) was written by Foxgrove on 10 Jan 2016.
The Danish Girl has generally received positive reviews.
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