Review of The Danish Girl (2015) by Tiina N — 25 Jan 2016

The latest from Oscar winning director Tom Hooper stars Eddie Redmayne in another transformation role, this time based on the real life story of Danish artist Einar Wegener, a pioneering recipient of gender reassignment surgery in the 1930s when it has never been attempted before, to become Lili Elbe.

Whilst it is a touching portrayal of Lili's courageous journey to be herself, it is not as good as Redmayne's extraordinary performance as Stephen Hawking in the Theory Of Everything, for which he won an Academy award.

Redmayne is supported by Alice Vikander who plays his long suffering artist wife Gerda, giving a performance that's funny, vulnerable and certainly worthy of the award nominations for which it has been nominated.

The Danish Girl, based on David Eberhoof's book of the same name, is a timely, untold story, a piece of history that speaks loudly to the present with transgender issues having an all time peak in awareness right now, Whilst it is a beautifully photographed and heartfelt picture, its very much focused as a story of a marriage in crisis and glosses over the complexity and challenge of undergoing the process of gender reassignment.