Depending on how you felt about David Ebershoff's Lambda Literary Award-winning novel, you will either love or hate Tom Hooper's film adaptation of the Oscar-winning The Danish Girl (Focus/Universal). Screenwriter Lucinda Coxon trims quite a bit from Ebershoff's dense book and even diverts from the original ending.
That said, Hooper's treatment of the tale, "loosely" based on a true story, is both sensitive and visually captivating. Married artists Einar (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda (Alicia Vikander) are each attempting to make a name for themselves within the artistic community of 1920s Copenhagen. Einar, a landscape painter, has achieved more recognition than portrait painter Gerda. But all of that changes when the lithe and delicately-featured Einar stands in for a female model in a painting that Gerda has yet to complete.
The experience has an unexpected impact on Einar who suddenly finds himself drawn to cross-dressing, and even stirs up the memory of a youthful homosexual dalliance. The free-thinking Gerda is, at first, supportive of Einar (they attend a party with him dressed as his alter-ego Lili). The reception that Gerda's series of paintings of Lili receives elevates her status and even allows her to surpass Einar.
However, it doesn't take long for things to start unraveling as Lili takes over Einar's identity, leading Lili to seek out medical options to fully transition into her true self. As a film about artists, director Tom Hooper's The Danish Girl is an artistic achievement. It's simply stunning to behold. Equally dazzling are Oscar-winner Redmayne's exceptional and insightful portrayal of transgender forerunner Einar/Lili and 2015 breakout star Vikander's (see also Ex Machina and Testament of Youth) embodiment of Gerda. Both actors received Oscar nominations (with Vikander taking home the award) for performances that are nothing less than brilliant. The lone bonus feature is a "making of" featurette.