Review of The Danish Girl (2015) by Carmen L — 07 Jan 2016

With breathtaking performances from Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, an inspirational story, and director Tom Hooper's creativity and attention to detail, The Danish Girl provides a deep and emotional understanding of the struggle of feeling trapped in someone else's body. However, even though every scene seems to be overflowed with perfection, the movie as a whole feels a little too much on the safe side.

After seeing Redmayne and Vikander's amazing performances on The Theory of Everything and Ex Machina, it is easy to expect the same in The Danish Girl. However, the beautiful chemistry they showed in this film was out of this world. Every phase of this complicated relationship was surprisingly simple to absorb and understand thanks to their performances.

In addition, the elements and settings around them and their incorporation in the scenes was just as important as the performances. Nothing seemed unnecessary, every scene was important. The film however, seems overall too delicate. It is strange to me how a film with such a thought-provoking topic could feel so peaceful at times. It is as if something is missing from the plot. In the end, you leave the theater listing everything you liked, but unable to say you loved the final products.

Though not as radical as one may have thought, The Danish Girl excels thanks to the beautiful direction of Tom Hooper, who makes every scene matter, and to Redmayne and Vikander's outstanding performances, who who blend together and take you throughout the movie in a remarkable manner.