The Danish Girl.

Tom Hooper’s return to form after the dreadfully disappointing film version of Les Miserables (2012) is a fictionalised retelling of the story of a very brave and courageous human being. Based on David Ebershoff's novel of the same name, The Danish Girl (2015) is the story of Lille Elbe who was credited as one of the first identifiable recipients of sex reassignment surgery.

Lilli Elbe.

Born Einar Magnus Andreas Wagener in Venice, Denmark in 1882 as a male, met his future wife at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and married in 1904. Einar specialised in landscape painting while he wife Gerda illustrated books and fashion magazines. Einar love of dressing as a woman started when he was asked to wear stockings and heels so he could fill in for the ‘legs and feet’ of Gerda's absentee model Anna Larssen. Following this one simple incident he stared dressing, and in time identifying as a woman. He became the beautiful female model featured in his wife's best known paintings and accompanied her to many social functions in Paris where they moved in 1912. It was after this period in 1930 that this transgender pioneer Lilli Elbe went to Germany for what was at that time experimental sex reassignment surgery which would involve four operations over two years.

 

Gerda Wegener's portrait of her husband.

Gerda's self portrait.

The film stars Eddie Redmayne as Einar Wegerer/Lilli Elbe who was nominated for Best Actor in the 2016 Academy Awards and Swedish actress Alicia Vikander as Gerda Wegenar/Gottlieb for which she quite rightly won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Also included in the cast is Ben Whishaw as Claude Lejeune Lilli Elbe's lover, Sebastian Koch as Doctor Kurt Warnekros who performed the ground breaking surgery and Amber Heard as Anna Larssen Gerda's model and friend.

 

Alicia Vikander as Gerda Wegenar. 

There was some criticism for casting a cis actor in the main role but I believe Redmayne pulled it off but there certainly more to the story than was portrayed in Ebershoff’s book. Although it has been opined that Lucinda Coxen's screenplay allows a more truthful reflection of the story it still does not tell the whole story including the fact that Gerda Gottlieb had lesbian lovers leading to some critics accusing the film of being LGBT sanitised. A well-intentioned film that in my opinion does not go far enough.

Les Miserables.

Unless you’ve been living on a far away planet you couldn’t miss the fact that Les Miserables (2012) has again been adapted for the big screen, this time by Tom Hooper who was responsible for the very successful movie, The Kings Speech (2010).  The story, as ever, is based on the 1862 French historical novel by Victor Hugo described as a tale about broken dreams, unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption. It begins in 1815 in France when Jean Valjean is released from a 19-year prison term, for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family, and ends with the unsuccessful 1832 June Rebellion in Paris.  In between we get Valjean attempting to avoid re-arrest for jumping bail, by his nemesis Inspector Javert.

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean.

I’m not really a fan of stage musicals, although no one can deny that that a 27-year run for any stage show is exceptional. I only attended this movie because my wife expressed a wish to see it (although I suspect it had some thing to do with Hugh Jackman being in the cast) and the fact that it was at the RBC Film Theatre on her birthday, job done. My backside was not the only thing numb at the end of its 158-minute running time! It started all right but the longer it went on the more tedious it became. The films production and the cinematography were excellent and I was pleasantly surprised by Anne Hathaway’s performance as Fantine the workhouse girl who turns to prostitution, a role that won her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. But I was unconvinced by the musical score, I would have preferred a standard spoken narrative instead of one being sung to music.  Also it’s a very male dominated story with the two main characters always coming across as Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe rather than Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert. Never mind that’s me done my bit for mainstream cinema for a while.

Russell Crowe as the Inspector.

The Kings Speech

Bertie and Elizabeth.

When a film is hyped up and wins as many awards as The Kings Speech (2010) it usually turns out to be some what of a disappointment, for example Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire I could never understand what the fuss was about, a mediocre offering at best. But I must admit that the Tom Hooper directed film is in a class of its own. Its premise is simple; it’s about a man who’s given a job of work to do and is ill-equipped to carry it out! After the death of his father George V in 1936 and the abdication of his brother Edward V111 who expressed a desire to marry the American double divorcee Mrs Wallis Simpson, Albert Duke of York, known as Bertie to his family, reluctantly became King George V1. During this period in history was the advent of what we know now as mass media in fact George V was the first monarch to address his “subjects” via the radio and there lies the problem. Bertie was incapable of giving any kind of speech without badly stammering and with the outbreak of war looming the new King, along with his wife Elizabeth, would be required to become figureheads with a need to regularly address the nation. Various speech therapists were tried without success until Elizabeth approaches an unorthodox Australian therapist called Lionel Logue, the rest is history.

Coronation Day 1937.

Unless you have been living on Mars you will be aware that The Kings Speech was nominated for 14 and won 7 British Academy Film Awards, three of which were well deserved acting awards. Colin Firth, for the second year running, won Leading Actor for his brilliant portrayal of a King coping with a serious disability, Geoffrey Rush, who dominates ever scene he’s in, for the role as Logue and Helena Bonham Carter splendid as Bertie’s wife Elizabeth. There is no doubt that the strength of this movie is in the acting, the best of which involves the interactions between Firth and Rush. This successful British film will hopefully do very well at the upcoming Oscars and more importantly has put bums on seats at the RBC cinema well into May!