The Danish Girl is by no means a faiulure, but it fails to truly engage, reviewer Jeremy Quinn says.
Director: Tom Hooper
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch, Amber Heard
Rating: (M) ★★+
The true story of Danish transgender woman Lili Elbe, who in 1930 became one of the first people in the world to undergo sex reassignment surgery, was previously ‘‘reimagined'' by David Ebershoff in a fictionalised (and much acclaimed) novel, first published in 2000.
This adaptation from writer Lucinda Coxon and director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech, Les Miserables) has been somewhat criticised for also playing with the facts while billing itself as a true story. However, it has more notably attracted negative attention for the casting of cisgender actor Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) as Lili.
While these are certainly valid concerns, what is most striking is that such a potentially powerful narrative is so strangely reserved and unmoving. Although the film's heart is undeniably in the right place, it's hard to shake the notion that there's a far more imaginative and telling version of this remarkable story which we are being deprived of.
Admittedly, Redmayne is compelling to watch, although he is at times let down by a glaring lack of complexity in the script, which sadly obscures any deeper sense of character beneath the surface.
Alicia Vikander, as Lili's wife Gerda, fares much better, with a charismatic and spirited performance that gives the film a sorely needed emotional centre.
The Danish Girl is by no means a failure, but it ultimately fails to truly engage by being too eager to tick all the boxes required of an awards season prestige picture, rather than finding its own unique voice.
