It's that time of year once again! Oscar season has returned to grace us with a vast array of biopics, dramas, period pieces and sop stories. Every year we get a small number of films that dare to challenge not only our perception of cinema, but of ourselves and how we view each other as well. Tom Hooper attempts to do just that with The Danish Girl. Now this review is being written with no real knowledge of the persons or events that this film is based on so please forgive any unintended ignorance. This is purely a review of the film as a whole.
The Danish Girl follows Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne), his wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander) and the tests they go through as Eina slowly comes to the uncomfortable conclusion that he is a woman trapped inside a man's body. Through a game they play, Eian and Gerda fashion the name 'Lily' for this inner being and Eina goes about transforming and potentially risking his life in order to bring Lily to the forefront, both inside and out.
Firstly, the major positive for this film is the cast. Both Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander turn in excellent award worthy performances. There is a real warmth and believability to their characters and they are blatantly giving it their all. Oddly enough Eddie Redmayne, where most expected he would be, is not the star performance of this film. The real credit goes to Alicia Vikander as Gerda; while Redmayne has to go through such a radical transformation, Vikander has to give the audience a strong character who is forced to watch while her husband completely alters his life around her. That is where the real strength of the film lies; every scene she's in, we really believe that Gerda is deteriorating as her husband slowly fades away from her. She provides us with a door into this world since most of us can't imagine the story from Eina's perspective. While her character at the start is a little too immediately accepting of her husband's more unusual choices (a romantic scene where Eina is concealing a blouse comes to mind), if you need any one reason to see this film it is Alicia Vikander in what is the best of a so far explosive young career.
Eddie Redmanye, despite some issues, does give us a fantastic performance. However after his stunning depiction of Steven Hawking this can't help but feel like an attempt to make the same magic happen. Redmayne is throwing himself at this role and is clearly acting his heart out but that is unfortunately all it feels like; it doesn't really come off as a genuine person so much as an actor giving his all in order to portray a character. This is through no obvious fault of Redmayne, as it will be made apparent later on but in spite of an obvious oscar bait attempt, Redmayne does give us an exceptionally well acted performance. Unfortunately however, when put next to Vikander it just seems a bit more manufactured.
Another well deserved mention in this film is the subject matter; there have not been many films in history that really try to address something so relevant and controversial but Hooper really goes for it here. Nothing is protected with soft edges, there are a lot of scenes that make no attempt to sugar coat the harsh reality of Eina and Gerda's life and while there are shortcomings in this film, this was an exceptionally brave film to make and it definitely deserves to be known.
Unfortunately those are the main high points and the rest of this film is slightly underwhelming; with previous releases like 12 Years a Slave and Birdman winning multiple awards for their stunning direction, Tom Hooper's choices both for camera-work and his actors are far too deliberate. The imagery is intentionally off with dutch angles and strange out-of-focus close ups; it all comes across as Hooper pretentiously saying 'look at how unusual and unique my imagery is' and, with far too many close up crying scenes, 'look at all this oscar worthy acting from my cast'. It really is the definition of Oscar baiting. A lot of scenes that could have majorly benefitted from music (Alexander Desplat's score is actually very moving when used) are very intentionally given none in order to feel more real. Since a lot of the scenes are played gently and more theatrically than a gritty drama, this creates a strange lack of focus. Sometimes this film is a heavy realistic drama, sometimes a romance, sometimes a whimsical tail of being yourself and overcoming negative obstacles. The ending decides to go for absolute whimsy and it comes across as both extremely cheesy and out of place. It is cringeworthy and seriously contradicts the previous scenes. This mess of intentions actually detracts from the more emotionally heavy beats of the film; when the actors are evidently baring their soul and breaking down on screen, no real weight is given to them usually due to a lack of music or an attempt to make it more visually artsy.
Overall The Danish Girl is an uneven film with a lot that distracts but definitely parts that triumph. See it for the exceptional acting, especially from an easy oscar favourite in Alicia Vikander. While the pacing and feel of the film can be messy there is definitely something there. If you want to see a film that really goes for telling a different and controversial story with strong performances and good music, then this is for you. It does not merit repeat viewings but all in all if the trailer took your fancy and you have a free afternoon you will likely find something to enjoy.
The Danish Girl follows Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne), his wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander) and the tests they go through as Eina slowly comes to the uncomfortable conclusion that he is a woman trapped inside a man's body. Through a game they play, Eian and Gerda fashion the name 'Lily' for this inner being and Eina goes about transforming and potentially risking his life in order to bring Lily to the forefront, both inside and out.
Firstly, the major positive for this film is the cast. Both Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander turn in excellent award worthy performances. There is a real warmth and believability to their characters and they are blatantly giving it their all. Oddly enough Eddie Redmayne, where most expected he would be, is not the star performance of this film. The real credit goes to Alicia Vikander as Gerda; while Redmayne has to go through such a radical transformation, Vikander has to give the audience a strong character who is forced to watch while her husband completely alters his life around her. That is where the real strength of the film lies; every scene she's in, we really believe that Gerda is deteriorating as her husband slowly fades away from her. She provides us with a door into this world since most of us can't imagine the story from Eina's perspective. While her character at the start is a little too immediately accepting of her husband's more unusual choices (a romantic scene where Eina is concealing a blouse comes to mind), if you need any one reason to see this film it is Alicia Vikander in what is the best of a so far explosive young career.
Eddie Redmanye, despite some issues, does give us a fantastic performance. However after his stunning depiction of Steven Hawking this can't help but feel like an attempt to make the same magic happen. Redmayne is throwing himself at this role and is clearly acting his heart out but that is unfortunately all it feels like; it doesn't really come off as a genuine person so much as an actor giving his all in order to portray a character. This is through no obvious fault of Redmayne, as it will be made apparent later on but in spite of an obvious oscar bait attempt, Redmayne does give us an exceptionally well acted performance. Unfortunately however, when put next to Vikander it just seems a bit more manufactured.
Another well deserved mention in this film is the subject matter; there have not been many films in history that really try to address something so relevant and controversial but Hooper really goes for it here. Nothing is protected with soft edges, there are a lot of scenes that make no attempt to sugar coat the harsh reality of Eina and Gerda's life and while there are shortcomings in this film, this was an exceptionally brave film to make and it definitely deserves to be known.
Unfortunately those are the main high points and the rest of this film is slightly underwhelming; with previous releases like 12 Years a Slave and Birdman winning multiple awards for their stunning direction, Tom Hooper's choices both for camera-work and his actors are far too deliberate. The imagery is intentionally off with dutch angles and strange out-of-focus close ups; it all comes across as Hooper pretentiously saying 'look at how unusual and unique my imagery is' and, with far too many close up crying scenes, 'look at all this oscar worthy acting from my cast'. It really is the definition of Oscar baiting. A lot of scenes that could have majorly benefitted from music (Alexander Desplat's score is actually very moving when used) are very intentionally given none in order to feel more real. Since a lot of the scenes are played gently and more theatrically than a gritty drama, this creates a strange lack of focus. Sometimes this film is a heavy realistic drama, sometimes a romance, sometimes a whimsical tail of being yourself and overcoming negative obstacles. The ending decides to go for absolute whimsy and it comes across as both extremely cheesy and out of place. It is cringeworthy and seriously contradicts the previous scenes. This mess of intentions actually detracts from the more emotionally heavy beats of the film; when the actors are evidently baring their soul and breaking down on screen, no real weight is given to them usually due to a lack of music or an attempt to make it more visually artsy.
Overall The Danish Girl is an uneven film with a lot that distracts but definitely parts that triumph. See it for the exceptional acting, especially from an easy oscar favourite in Alicia Vikander. While the pacing and feel of the film can be messy there is definitely something there. If you want to see a film that really goes for telling a different and controversial story with strong performances and good music, then this is for you. It does not merit repeat viewings but all in all if the trailer took your fancy and you have a free afternoon you will likely find something to enjoy.