The Danish Girl

Finally got round to seeing 'The Danish Girl' last night, having been intrigued by it (thanks to its subject, the way it was advertised and the talent involved) for a long time but not having the time due to heavy music and music college work commitments and being behind with my "must-see" list.

My thoughts were that it is a beautiful and courageous film that won't be, and clearly isn't judging from the polarising user review opinions here, everybody's cup of tea, but is a sensitive and emotionally powerful portrayal of a subject matter that's important, very much relevant (even more so now) and controversial. It takes a lot of guts to portray this subject in any form and 'The Danish Girl' acquits itself beautifully if not perfectly.

'The Danish Girl' to me is not without its imperfections. It does drag a little at times and trimming 10-15 minutes off the running time would have helped it perhaps. The script, while mostly thought-provoking and sensitive, has instances where it's too lightweight and needed a tightening up and could have been bolder and take more risks.

So much works though. 'The Danish Girl' looks gorgeous, like an art painting come to life, especially the landscapes and sumptuous period detail. The costumes are evocative and pleasing on the eyes and the whole film is beautifully photographed. Alexandre Desplat's score is one of his most hypnotic and enchanting and Tom Hooper's direction is perhaps him at his most subtle and understated.

It, in terms of writing and story, is mostly thought-provoking and treats the subject matter with an honesty, sensitivity and a big emotional wallop. There are instances such as the ending where the film did bring tears to my eyes.

Can't say anything bad about the performances. Eddie Redmayne is the top-billed star and he does give a very deeply felt and courageous turn. Oddly enough though Gerda is actually the focus, where her complex feelings are ones that anybody in her position would relate to. Alicia Vikander's performance is truly sensational and her chemistry with Redmayne is also one where it is clear they're in love with each other. All the supporting cast are strong, my favourite being the sympathetic one of Matthias Schoenaerts.

All in all, beautiful and brave film but not for all. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The new cinema year has got off to a robust start with the new movie from Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech", "Les Misérables").

We have seen many depictions of physical torture on the screen over the years, from the interminable teen-slasher pics, through 'that chair scene' in "Casino Royale" to the stylized presentations of Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese in films like "Reservoir Dogs" and "Casino". "The Danish Girl" is also in its way a film about torture, but more akin to the mental torture seen in films like "Buried" or "Flightpath". What must it be like to be trapped with a sexual orientation that you feel is not your own? To possess physical body parts you don't believe you should have? And all in a time (the 1920's) when an exposed ankle was considered slightly daring.

Based on a true story, Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything") and Alicia Vikander ("Ex Machina") play a bohemian married couple Einar and Gerda Wegener, apparently happily married and trying for a child in 1920's Copenhagen. Einar is a renowned landscape artist with his wife a struggling portrait artist living in his shadow. After taking part in a cross-dressing modelling session, strong feelings are awakened in Einar. As a bit of a 'game' Gerda encourages him to explore the character of his alter-ego "Lili" further: a big mistake, as Einar is swept into a spiral of confusion and self-doubt.

Eddie Redmayne is surely up for another Oscar-nomination for his brave performance as Einar/Lili, using his expressive eyes to great effect and delivering a truly heart-rending performance. With all this said however, I never quite believed I was watching the character of Lili but more Redmayne acting the character. Perhaps this is unfair, as Einar/Lili is such a bizarrely multi-dimensional person no one could perhaps have played him/her to my satisfaction. But I suspect (particularly as Redmayne won last year) this won't bring Redmayne the Oscar double.

Far more impressive for me was the delicious and delightful Alicia Vikander, once more turning in a fantastic performance as the increasingly desperate (both psychologically and sexually) Gerda. With Rooney Mara, Vikander must be one of the brightest actress talents in today's cinema.

Also turning in a strong performance, in what is a very limited cast list, is Matthias Schoenaerts ("Far from the Madding Crowd") as a Parisian art dealer with a link to Einar's past. The omni-present (sorry, that should read "hard-working") Ben Whishaw turns up again as a party guest with an unhealthy interest in Lili and Sebastian Koch (most recently seen in series 5 of "Homeland") plays Dr Warnekros who is a pioneer in the new and risky business of sexual reassignment surgery.

Another star of the film is the luscious Danish capital, filmed in vibrant colours, as if from the artists' palettes, by Danny Cohen, a Hooper favourite. Also a big surprise to me was the gloriously photographed Danish countryside, seen at the end of the film, with mountains and seascapes I never knew existed.

Another Hooper alumni, Alexandre Desplat, supplies the soupy but very fitting score.

While the film features a compelling story and much impressive acting, I never personally felt as connected to the story as I was to "The King's Speech". This isn't helped by a rather stagy script by Lucinda Coxon that feels lightweight at times. Perhaps its because we are in Oscar- season but, to me, it all felt a tad pretentious and (no pun intended) could have done with a few snips in places to reduce the running time by 15 minutes or so. That being said, and as an alternative view, I should point out that my wife was in tears for a good proportion of the film and disagrees vehemently with my views. I say "my wife", but since watching the film she's started wearing braces and smoking cigars – so I'm rather confused as to WHAT exactly is going on. :-)

(For the graphical version of this review, see bob-the-movie-man.com. Thanks).

The story could have been very dramatic and deeply touching, as it is a true story of both the internal conflicts of a man and the deep love of a woman to her partner. Unfortunately the meticulous attention to image rather than screenplay (to me) resulted in a quite cold and un- engaging movie, where beautiful costumes, interiors and landscapes are the only highlights. I found that even the acting of the brilliant young Eddie Redmayne was not that good, as his constant smiles and shy blinking eyes after a while seem to be the only stratagem he has to portray such a complex character (and after the first dozen of them I couldn't stand it anymore). A more sophisticated psychological portrait of the main character and a more dramatic rendition of his/her troubled soul would have given more solidity to a movie which seems too superficial.

Because of the subject matter in The Danish Girl I wasn't sure this was going to be a film that I would particularly like but I need not have have worried because I thought this was a fascinating movie that justified it's plaudits. This is the story of Danish artist Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne) who realised that despite being born a man he is really a woman and that woman is called Lile. Although Redmayne will quite obviously get all the praise for his role as Lile but I think the outstanding performance of this film comes from Alicia Vikander who plays his wife. As an actor she is exposed unlike Redmayne who has the make up to hide behind. Instead of being about Lile this film for me is more about the love of his wife who will do anything to make her husband happy. Even if that means losing him. in the process.

Though it is nominated for 4 Oscars I wasn't looking forward to seeing it. The Danish Girl seemed like the typical arty-farty Oscar fare on paper but fortunately it was better than that. The best part of the film is the acting. Eddy Redmane does a great job but I was most surprised by Alicia Vikander. She almost steals the movie though she only has a supporting role. Mattias Schoenaerts is also in it with a supporting role and I must say: that man can do just about any language and accent and make it sound completely natural. The story was not that interesting to me and is somewhat of a typical subject matter for Oscar movies (that is movies about some sort of misunderstood minority and who was the first to start the revolution if you will). That being said, it is a very good movie, superb acting but on the other hand I don't consider this a must see.