The Danish Girl
Nope. Nope. Nope.
So I found the film itself fairly middling. Not especially deep. Not especially enthralling. Beyond Vikander, not especially strong performances. Not especially interesting direction. I found it fairly ordinary. But I reserved judgement. I wanted to read takes from LGBT people because it was entirely possible that they'd actually conveyed Lili and the whole experience quite well but I, through my obvious ignorance, didn't realise. Sadly that seems to not be the case. I'm seeing it slammed for, like I found it, being surface and no substance. It's lots of quivering lips and gasps and clothes. There was SO much more there but the writing and performing just fell miserably short.
Redmayne pretty much failed. When Lili was as a woman it was pretty much just a slightly more nervous/socially uncomfortable version of Lili as a man. There was no sense that Einar was disappearing, they just had to keep stating it. In fairness, I think the writing and direction meant he was fighting a losing battle. But it was still a failure. Outrageous he was nominated ahead of Idris Elba.
Vikander is the saving grace. You really feel her struggle and love for Lili. She squeezed everything out of the role and makes it her own. It's a shame the rest of the film falls short.
2/5