Review of The Danish Girl (2015) by Jessica T — 15 Jan 2016

I have been excited and interested in this project for almost a year now and it is a tad underwhelming but still for the most part works. Eddie Redmayne is great but his most shining moments are in the 2nd half when Redmanye portrays Lilly.

Some of the ticks at the beginning bothered me but they make some sense because Redmayne is supposed to be portraying someone that feels like they are awkward in their own skin. When Redmayne develops as Lilly in full he really owns it and embraces the true heart and spirit of this character.

Alicia Vikander, one of my favorite breakouts of the year, is really terrific in a part that could have been thrown away as the suffering wife trying to deal with her problematic relationship but Vikander does much more with her character.

She is caring, heartbreaking, and understanding all at the same time. I think one of my issues with the movie is the script is kind of weak for a story that deserves better but Vikander really made anything she said worth paying attention to.

I am a bit of a Tom Hooper apologist as many really hate his style when it comes to framing but I'm more into it, I think it makes it stand out from the typical period pieces that are so generically made.

The cinematography is really gorgeous especially the insert shots of the landscapes these characters live around. The production design/art direction, costumes, make up, and hair designs are really beautiful and the score is great from the wonderful Alexandre Desplat.

Ben Whishaw is really good in a small role and Amber Heard was fine but her part was kind of a throw away as well. I think Hooper missed the mark on the structure and passing of the movie (as well as the writing as I mentioned) and doesn't get out more emotional performances all around making some of the scenes kind of boring but Vikander can really carry any scene she is in no matter who she is talking to.

Pacing really seemed to be an issue with me because the movie clocks in at 2 hours but it felt a lot longer. Usually for a movie that drags you would say scenes needed to be cut down shorter but I felt like a lot of the scenes in this movie feel incomplete and had more to say but were cut off.

I also felt like they rushed the ending and really killed any emotional impact of it because they spent to much time with exposition.Something about the screenplay just felt scrambled together but still had some shining moments.

It does take the topic seriously and makes it a more accessible discussion point of current discussions of what it means to be a transgender person and how hard it is to journey to become your true self when people around you don't understand what is going on with you and you need that support that Vikander's character gives to really encourage acceptance.

Things like Tangerine and Transparent are also great examples of discussion points of this topic but they are a tad less accessible to mainstream audiences either due to the fact that Tangerine is a bit polarizing but still good but just not for everyone and Transparent blocks out a whole audience with only being on Amazon Prime.

I appreciate this movie for being a nice starting ground in terms of a discussion but also believe it didn't go all the way with some of the chances it was hinting at in terms of sex, the dialogue and chemistry between Vikander and Redmayne, and the actual discussions of what is going through Lilly's mind of what she is going with.

I think that's where something like Transparent has it beat in terms of really getting the message across of what is going on inside a transgender person's heart and mind and what it means to them.

I still recommend it and I still really liked it but I felt like it had more potential with a really fascinating story. The nominations it received for Oscars were the right ones, I may have thrown it a bone for make up and cinematography as well possibly score but Actor, Supporting Actress (although it really deserves to be Actress because Vikander is no where near a supporting character in the movie), Costumes, and Production Design were all worthy nominations.