There is a longstanding correlation between an actor’s likelihood of winning an Academy Award and the amount of effort visible on screen.
That’s why Leonardo DiCaprio is the odds-on favorite this year for “The Revenant” — the poor guy works so hard he looks as though he’s actually breaking bones in the cause.
Eddie Redmayne, who won last year for his “Theory of Everything” role as Stephen Hawking, is not taking this challenge lying down. In “The Danish Girl,” Redmayne plays Einar Wegener, a Danish painter who underwent sex reassignment surgery in order to become a woman, the newly christened Lili Elbe.
This true story happened in the early years of the 20th century, which makes it prime fodder for the period-decoration approach of director Tom Hooper (“The King’s Speech”).
The film introduces us to Einar and wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander) at a time when his success as an artist outstrips hers — Gerda can’t get taken seriously by the sexist art establishment.
When she asks her husband to fill in for a tardy model in a very feminine pose, we see Einar thrilling to the touch of silk stockings, and it isn’t long before Einar’s dolled-up “sister,” Lili, begins appearing in public on Gerda’s arm. The early reels catch some of the uncertainty and riskiness of people figuring out who they are — Gerda as much as Einar/Lili — before an experimental doctor (Sebastian Koch, from “The Lives of Others”) is consulted and the film takes a turn toward the fatally noble.
In part “The Danish Girl” grinds down because we spend less time with Gerda, who is at least as interesting as her tormented spouse. And the eerily composed Vikander — recently seen in “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” and as the android in “Ex Machina” — gives a very modern, thoughtful performance.
Redmayne’s sober acting style actually looks a little antique next to hers. The spark she provides grows faint as Hooper slows things down so we can appreciate the injustice to Lili, and the tragedy of being in the wrong body at the wrong time.
This enervated approach brings the worst aspects of the prestige arthouse picture to the fore: tasteful design, serious subject, self-congratulating mood.
“The Theory of Everything” remembered to make the audience feel good — a manipulative ploy, yes, but at least one with some oomph to it. “The Danish Girl” is content to quietly admire its own importance, and assume you will too.
“The Danish Girl” (2 stars)
Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne plays an early 20th-century painter who became an early example of a transgender personality. The true story is given an enervated arthouse treatment by “King’s Speech” director Tom Hooper, and the film dries up despite the hard work of Redmayne and Alicia Vikander.
Rating: R, for nudity, subject matter
Showing: SIFF Cinema Egyptian
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