The Best Film on Subject of Transgender Since "Boys Don't Cry"

Rating: 8/10 (12 September 2019)

Well I finally saw it on cable, September 2019. When "Boys Don' Cry" was released in 1999, the film that exploded Hilary Swank's career, the word transgender and the subject matter was relatively new to the general public. "The Danish Girl" is a period piece which takes place in France at a time when it was so novel that most most doctors viewed it as a mental illness caused by an imbalance of hormones, often diagnosed as schizophrenia or insanity. Sure there have been many films that take the subject of crossdressing as farce and comedy, dating back to "Some Like it Hot". 'The Danish Girl" blew me away with it's sophisticated take on the subject and it is indeed painful to watch as we empathize with the tortured artist as he agonizingly accepts his true desire to be a woman after his wife playfully crossdresses him for a costume party which opens the floodgates to his self-realization he is a woman trapped in a man's body who goes by the name of Lili -- who does, admittedly, passes as a convincing cute lady. Equally painful is the agony his artist wife goes through during his mental and physical transformation. She loves her husband and he loves her, but as the plot progresses, physical intimacy between them slowly wanes. It is a tragic love story, often embarrassing, often erotic. I likely would have squirmed in my seat had I seen it in a theater audience. Though the artistry of this film and brilliant performances of the leads make this a must-see.