Redmayne, Vikander and Hooper consolidate their success

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2016)

This film tells the remarkable true story of an early attempt to effect a transgender choice from male to female involving pioneering, but dangerous, gender reassignment surgery.
The title is clever. Clearly it refers to Einar Wegener, the early 20th century male landscape painter, who wishes to become Lili Elbe not just through dress and mannerisms but as physically as possible. But the title can also be taken to reference his wife, the portrait artist Gerda Wegener who shows amazing understanding and support. So the headline performance is from British actor Eddie Redmayne as Einar/Lili who, following the Academy Award for his superb acting in "A Theory Of Everything", gives another convincing and nuanced representation of a real character. But this should not be allowed to overshadow the impressive acting of the Swedish Alicia Vikander who continues to shine ever more brightly since her break-out English-speaking role in "Ex Machina".
The British director of the work is Tom Hooper who consolidates his success following "Les MisÃ©rables" and "The King's Speech". Another real talent on this movie is Danny Cohen whose photography is admirable, making subtle use of location shooting in Copenhagen and Brussels.