Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Danish Girl (2015) - Another reverberant historical drama from Hooper

2/20/2016

The Danish Girl (2015) - Another reverberant historical drama from Hooper

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Drama of the Year


Leads Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne adorn the beautiful poster for Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl

Gerda and Einar are a married couple of painters in Copenhagen in the 1920s. Their relationship is put under a strain, when they discover that Einar has got a female personality hidden inside of him, who wants to come out.

Danish Girl presents the true story of one of the first sex-change operations in the world, (one German man-to-woman surgery was reportedly performed successfully before it.) The story is very much told through the prism of the loving relationship of a husband and wife who are determined to find a way forward together. Oscar-nominated Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything (2014)) and Oscar-nominated Alicia Vikander (A Royal Affair/En Kongelig Affære (2012)) are a major asset for this: Redmayne has an innocence to him and exudes a rich internal life, and Vikander impresses just as much and gives an emotionally affecting performance as a loyal and strong wife and artist.
Danish Girl also benefits from Ben Whishaw (Lilting (2014)) and Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone (2012)), the latter looking absolutely stunning as an old friend of Einar. The film's aesthetics are thoroughly pleasing throughout, with fine photography by Danny Cohen (Room (2015)), also taking great delight in its locations of Copenhagen, Paris and Dresden, and some magnificent costumes by Oscar-nominated Paco Delgado (Les Misérables (2012)). London-born master filmmaker Tom Hooper (The King's Speech (2010)) has exactly the sensitivity to command the transgressive material into a film that makes the unnerving experience of being trapped in the 'wrong' gender, - and of being married to that person, - into something that can be understood and felt by a wider circle of people than is probably usually the case. One can only shudder to think what the saccharine Swede Lasse Hallström (Chocolat (2000)), who was once attached to direct Danish Girl, would have turned out.
Lucinda Coxon (Wild Target (2010)) wrote the screenplay based on David Ebershoff's (The 19th Wife (2009)) 2000 novel of the same name.

Related posts:

Tom Hooper: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The King's Speech (2010) - Hooper's soaring, royal masterpiece about overcoming human frailty

Matthias Schoenaerts looks stunning as Hans in Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl

Alicia Vikander is riveting in Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl

Eddie Redmayne as Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl

Watch the strong trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 64.2 mil. $
= Big hit
[The Danish Girl premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and runs 119 minutes. Coxon had worked with the script since 2004, and Tomas Alfredson was also earlier attached to direct, but finding the actors and financing proved more difficult. Filming lasted from February - April 2015 in Copenhagen, London, Brussels and Germany. The film's differences from the real life stories of Einar/Lili and Gerda and the sensitive content has inspired debate. One noticeable falsification, for Danes especially, is that Einar's native Vejle, Jutland in Denmark has mountains! (There are no mountains in Denmark.) - However this serves a specific purpose in the film and is therefore totally justified. The film has been banned for 'moral depravity' in at least 6 hellish countries in the world: Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. The film's first, limited opening in the US, in four theaters in LA and NY, was the 6th best per cinema opening average for 2015. The movie has grossed 10.8 mil. $ (24.4 % of the total gross) in North America. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are the UK with 10.4 mil. $ (23.2 %) and Spain with 4.9 mil. $ (10.9 %). - The film has also done relatively well in Denmark with a 0.9 mil. $ (2 %) gross there. The Danish Girl is fresh at 70 % with a 6.6 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Danish Girl?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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2/20/2016

The Danish Girl (2015) - Another reverberant historical drama from Hooper

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