‘Danish Girl’ too tasteful script too much for great performances
“The Danish Girl,” based on the life of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe, has many things going for it: excellent acting, impeccable production values and socially relevant subject matter.
Perhaps this genteel approach may make the movie accessible to a wider audience, but the script often straightjackets the dramatic conflict of the story, which concerns a married Danish artist who undergoes gender reassignment surgery in 1920s Europe.
Ostensibly, “The Danish Girl” is a historical biopic about this courageous transgender figure, but in reality, it’s more a love-conquers-all tale in which Lili’s wife, Gerda, serves as the emotional core.
In another exhilarating scene, also with no dialogue, Lili visits a strip-tease joint, and we can feel her sense of discovery and joy and pain and longing as she imitates the dancer’s every move.
In those times, it took an extraordinary act of bravery for Lili to act on her gender identity, but we never feel the inner turmoil that she must have experienced in deciding to be true to herself.
Coming off his Oscar-winning turn as Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything,” the androgynous actor proves once again his fearlessness and his dedication to craft.
On occasion, he overdoes the shy smile and downward glance, but this is still formidable work; we just wish that the script had given him a chance to explore Lili (and Einar, for that matter) in more depth.
Vikander has the less showy role, but her character is more three-dimensional and gives the film its emotional heft.
Gerda’s pain, confusion — and ultimate acceptance — are written all over her beautiful, open face.