+ 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 |
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?
No comments:
Post a Comment