The Danish Girl

When I initially heard that Eddie Redmayne would be playing a transgender woman, and that before the movie was even released, there was talk of him winning an Oscar for his portrayal of the artist Lili Elbe, I was intrigued.  And, more so the first time I saw a picture of him in drag for the role.

Obviously, I was going into this superficially, because everything that I've seen him in, I've liked.  I knew nothing about the actual story of Lili Elbe.  (I feel like I'd heard the name, and probably had seen her work in art school.) So, the movie itself, was a teaching moment for me, both in terms of art history, and a historic moment in transgender, medical and sexual history.

It's very difficult to talk about what happens in the movie, without first giving a spoiler alert...although, a tiny bit of Googling will give you all the information that you need to know about Einar Wegener, Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener.

Eddie Redmayne as Einar Wegener, in one of the most

important scenes in the movie (in my opinion).

Einar Wegener and his wife Gerda were both painters in Denmark in the 1920's.  In the early part of the movie, we see that Einar has a flourishing career, while Gerda is struggling to have her paintings displayed.  Gerda asks Einar to pose in place of a model who had cancelled on her.  He agrees to pose, with a dress, although, he won't put it on.  And, in one of the most poignant moments in the film, he sees that Lili (who has always been inside him) could become a reality. While holding the dress up, wearing shoes and stockings, he runs his finger over the fabric of the dress, in such a way, that you almost see it dawning on him, that Lili has awakened. Gerda actually puts him in face for the first time, for a party, and things go from there.  Lili eventually becomes a muse for Gerda, and the tables turn.  Gerda becomes the one with a career, and Einar/Lili struggle to find a balance and figure out "What is wrong" with Einar.

Gerda's agent recommends that Einar see a doctor, who may be able to help.  And, for the first time, the idea of Lili taking over Einar's life, becomes a reality.  Magnus Hirschfeld (whose name I recognized from Season 2 of Transparent) was the doctor responsible for the first surgery. 

(According to the movie he was also responsible for the subsequent surgeries, as well...although, everything I've seen elsewhere, says otherwise.)  Whether the movie, or the book it's based on are historically accurate, or not, it was an amazing movie. 

Einar Wegener (l.) and Lili Elbe (r.)

Lili Elbe was one of (if not THE) first people to undergo a sex reassignment surgery.  Given the timeline of the 1920-30's this was amazing.  (Especially, given the fact that the first surgery that I knew of, previous to this, was Christine Jorgensen's in the 1950's.) 

Now that I've seen the movie, my next goal is to read the book.  Because, the book is always better than the movie.  Although, despite all the flack that it got for putting yet another cis-gender male in the part of a transgender female, I don't really have a lot of issues with it. 

****Spoiler****

While it was groundbreaking enough, to have had the sex reassignment surgery, to begin with, the story that was not told fully in the movie, was of the final surgery, that ultimately killed Lili.  While Einar was born male, Lili fully wished, after her transition to be able to bear children.  And, the doctor who performed the surgery was trying to fulfill her wishes.  What ultimately lead to the death of Lili Elbe was her body rejecting a uterine transplant.  And, unfortunately, the movie itself fell into the old prophecy of death, by the repeated uttering of the phrases, "Everything will be ok," and "She'll be fine."  The minute they started those phrases, I knew that she was a goner, and that I was going to be left feeling like it was all for nothing.

As with anything that I watch with transgender characters, it left me with a lot more questions that I don't know how to ask, or if I'll ever get answers for.  The biggest being: "What is it like to be in a relationship with someone, when they begin to transition?", "What does a spouse of a trans person feel in the initial moment when they state that they want to begin transitioning?"  and, "What amount of surgery does it take, for a trans person to feel like they have fully transitioned?"

I can only imagine that the answers to all of those questions widely vary, based on the people involved.  And, the only reason I have the questions, is because I'm very much interested in educating myself.  With the number of people I know who are trans, you would think that I would just ask point blank, but, I don't want to be offensive with the amount that I don't know, by asking things that are inappropriate.  But, for all the answers that the movie gave me, it left me with more questions.  (The funniest being whether or not Eddie Redmayne was a dancer, because throughout the movie, he walked very gracefully, both as Einar and as Lily, like a dancer.)

So, if you haven't seen it, you should.  It's a great movie.  Educational, beautiful, and heartbreaking.