Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

The Danish Girl Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 7, 2016

Tom Hooper knows his way around the Historical Biopic. The Director picked up an Oscar for The King's Speech and helmed the Golden Globe-winning TV miniseries Elizabeth I, starring Helen Miren and Jeremy Irons. Hooper returns to the past for a very contemporary film in The Danish Girl, the story of a man's transformation into a woman in 1920s Denmark. The film comes based on the novel of the same name by David Ebershoff, a story inspired by a pioneer of transgenderism and one of the first known people to undergo sex reassignment surgery. The film has reportedly been banned in Malaysia and several Middle Eastern countries.

These make me feel...

Einar and Gerda Wegener (Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, respectively) are artists -- he's a landscape artist, she's a portrait artist -- who are deeply in love. They've been married six years and yearn to have children. One day, one of Gerda's subjects fails to appear for modeling duty. She appeals to Einar to pose in her place. He puts on the model's stockings and Gerda lays the dress over his body. An innocent moment of aid becomes, for Einar, an arousing experience and a personal revelation. He instantly falls in love with the lines and textures of the garments, allowing him to feel his deeply held femininity. He takes to wearing women's underclothes, and after a night out, Gerda makes the discovery. She's accepting, largely, and as the transformation progresses she goes out on the town with "Lili," whose cover story is that she's Einar's cousin. But as Einar's transformation becomes deeper and, eventually, irreversible, the couple is left to choose its path together as Einar begins life as Lili.

The Danish Girl approaches its subject with a combination of affable, tone-setting and character-ingratiating humor and serious drama that takes both the characters and the audience to dark places along a journey of self discovery and identity. The film uses humor -- much of which comes from Redmayne's performance and Hooper's framing thereof -- as a means of not stifling the subject but rather easing the viewer, and the characters, into it. It opens the door and gently guides the audience into the film's more serious dramatic arcs and character moments that cover the entire spectrum of the transformation, from realization to admittance and from emotional acceptance to physical alteration. Neither Hooper nor his cast ever take the material for granted, approach it lightly, or, on the other hand, tread too delicately. That's what makes Alicia Vikander's performance so incredible and her role so crucial. She is essentiality the audience, bearing full witness to the transformation and, through her intimacy with the character along every step of the journey, on the front lines of not just the teases and the superficialities of transgenderism -- applying makeup, changing clothes -- but rather the deeper emotional sentiments and feelings that are the true driving force behind Einar's transformation into Lili. Further, the film is beautifully shot. Hooper accentuates the narrative with a number of direct, and occasionally suggestive, shots, but he's largely in the business of rightly capturing the dramatic nuances his performers so capably present.

Hooper never allows the movie to become weighted down in a sense of self importance or timeliness or come across as agenda-driven propaganda. It's authentic insofar as it aims to tell a story rather than indoctrinate its audience by framing a contemporary issue in historical wrappings. That said, there's no denying that the film will likely be received less on its merits and more on its subject matter by those on either side of the transgender issue, and for some probably without seeing more than a trailer or reading more than a blurb about its story. But the film does its best to remain politically neutral, at least broadly. Where it struggles is in its search for intimate character depth. While Hooper and cast craft the film with the aforementioned balance between light humor and serious drama, the movie never explores very far beyond the surface, though it does certainly push in that direction many times. Redmayne's performance is terrific, but neither he nor the script give him much room to maneuver the part to a more inwardly reflective place that captures the true, core, deeply held essence. Alicia Vikander's Gerda opens up more deeply than Redmayne's Einar/Lili, but maybe that's the movie's more subtle nudging, perhaps its way of saying that it's not the transgender person, but rather those around the transgender person, who may find a greater emotional challenge in the struggle between acceptance and rejection than the transgender person in question.

The Danish Girl Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Danish Girl's digital source translates into a striking 1080p transfer that lacks the texture of film but captures its underlying essence with extraordinary attention to detail and robust coloration. Indeed, the transfer springs to life with remarkable clarity throughout. Details are precise and clear, and while the Blu-ray may not reveal character moles, pores, facial hair, and freckles to the same level of intimacy as the finest 2160p UHD presentations, there's no mistaking the Blu-ray's ability to bring out the finest details it can. The same holds true for the finest lacy fabric textures, canvases, scuffed and worn wooden floors, paint-splattered surfaces, finely worn interiors, and stout brick and stone exteriors. The image never falters in its ability to provide a gorgeous cinematic texturing. Colors are impressively robust. Makeup is a standout -- Lili's red lipstick seems always prominent -- while a myriad of solitary and blended paints on canvas and palette, colorful attire, and bright city exteriors are highlights. Black levels hold firm and offer a good command of depth and shadow detail. Flesh tones are a little airy, particularly on Einar/Lily, but there's never a serious push to unwanted paleness or warmth. Beyond light source noise, the transfer is never home to unsightly artifacts. This is a tremendous presentation from Universal.

The Danish Girl Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Danish Girl features a well defined and effortlessly immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music is the highlight, presenting with excellent, almost airy spacing around the stage, including a prominent, but properly balanced, surround support. The low end is smooth and supportive, never overly pronounced. The track makes the most of its environments. Ambience at an art exhibit where hushed whispers and laughs emanate from all around the stage is an early movie highlight. Seagulls and passing bicycles give shape to outdoor ambience, and a few other small support pieces transform the listening area into the film's environments. Dialogue is the key component, however, and it enjoys richness of definition, expert prioritization, and a natural center placement.

The Danish Girl Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Danish Girl contains only one supplement. The Making of 'The Danish Girl' (1080p, 11:29) looks back at the real story, Director Tom Hooper's attachment to and love for the script, casting and the actors' appreciation for the story and one another, Hooper's craftsmanship, shooting in Copenhagen, recreating the era in which the story takes place, costumes and makeup, Redmayne's performance, and the film's role in the transgender community. Also included with purchase is a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy.

The Danish Girl Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's no doubt that The Danish Girl will polarize audiences and even polarize people who haven't seen the movie. Hooper's films does its best to shy away from overt commentary and instead focuses on telling its story. Performances are strong and Hooper's direction is silky smooth. It's a terrific movie on its technical merits, but the question is whether audiences will find the real, intimate depth the story demands or a more skin-deep experience. Universal's Blu-ray is unfortunately devoid of meaningful supplemental content; it only includes a broad overview making-of. However, video and audio are terrific. Fans concerned only with the disc's technical merits should not hesitate to purchase.