THE DANISH GIRL (2015)

This highly dramatic film directed by Tom Hooper with a screenplay by Lucinda Coxon based on the book The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff details the life of one of first known recipients of sexual reassignment surgery. This film has been loosely based on the lives of Danish painters Einar Wegener later known as Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, his wife. Einar a successful landscape artist and Gerda a not so successful portrait artist until she asks Einar to pose as a female subject, Lili, unleashing suppressed feelings that Einar at first is pressed to understand. The Lili paintings become all the rage in Denmark, providing much artistic success for Gerda. Gradually Einar comes to realize that he is truly female while trapped in a male body, which you can imagine causes tremendous challenges for the marriage and much sorrow for all involved. This is an interesting picture and though one may not necessarily be able to relate to the predicament these characters are suffering, it takes every pain to try and explain the situation in a most sensitive and perceptive way while reflecting the time that this story took place in, namely the 1920s. Beautifully photographed by Danny Cohen with a beautiful score by Alexandre Desplat, it showcases two beautiful performances by Eddie Redmayne (last years Oscar winner as Best Actor in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING where he played Stephen Hawking) as Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe and Alicia Vikander as Gerda Wegener with wonderful support from Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch and Amber Heard.