The Danish Girl

The trailer for the Tom Hooper's new up-coming movie, The Danish Girl, was released four days ago (trailer below). First premiering September 5th in 2015 Venice Film Festival, The Danish Girl depicts the incredible true story of transgender Lili Elbe played by Academy award winning actor, Eddie Redmayne.  Lili was born as male Einar Wegner, a painter and husband to struggling portrait artist Gerda Wegner (Alicia Vikander). Taking place in 1920's Copenhagen, the film follow's Lili's journey to finding her true self and eventually becoming the first transgender individual to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Redmayne has a tender, graceful touch that always bring justice to his complex characters. His feminine features make his transformation not only fascinating yet incredibly believable. 

However, there has been much controversy over a cis actor playing a transgender role. Tom Cooper commented, “I was a great believer in him (Redmayne) as an actor. I think also there’s a certain gender fluidity that I sensed in him, that I found intriguing and it led me to think he might be a really interesting person to cast in this role.” According to Cooper, Redmayne was the only person he wanted for the role. Furthermore, for an already transitioned trans women to play the role, they would have to come off their hormones because Lili is still a male for a large portion of the film. This could cause many issues mentally and physically for the actor. Cooper also notes that they cast 40-50 trans people for supporting roles.

Two months ago, the United States Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. Last April, Caitlyn Jenner emerged on the cover of Vanity Fair encouraging and advocating for transgender individuals across the nation. LGBT communities have finally been making much deserved strides after decades of fighting for their rights. In practicality, The Danish girl is just a movie. However, it has a connotation of being part of much greater movement that is overhauling our world today. The Danish Girl, comes out in theaters on November 27th. 

A Link for more information on the true story of Lili Elbe: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/film/the-danish-girl/true-story-lili-elbe-transgender/