The story of transgender pioneer lili elbe is stripped of complexity and danger in favour of slick, sumptuous. The danish girl is a 2015 biographical romantic drama film directed by tom hooper, based on the 2000 novel of the same name by david ebershoff, and loosely inspired by the lives of danish painters lili elbe and gerda wegener. Amazing acting from alicia vikander and eddie redmayne. Director tom hooper works out a scene with actor eddie redmayne who plays. I enjoyed it, but wasnt really happy with the ending. Exquisitely acted intimacy in danish girl pulls you. The danish girl by david ebershoff the danish girl, by david ebershoff opens in copenhagen in 1925 with a wonderful enigmatic four word sentence his wife knew first. Greta warns her so many times against having the final procedure that she might as well be waving a giant foreshadowing flag. As a rule, the respectful way to discuss transgender people is by using the name and pronoun they specifically identify with.
While the pairs reputation stems from einars work as a landscape artist, einar dedicates a significant amount of time to. Nov 27, 2015 the danish girl also stars ben whishaw, sebastian koch, amber heard, and matthias schoenaerts. The danish girl is another beautiful looking film from tom hooper, the director best. He is the author of the international bestseller the danish girl and visiting lecturer at princeton university. Einar tries to explain he has always felt like a girl despite being in a male body. We had his books and paintings around for the team to reference constantly. Let me say at the start that my mental turbulence had nothing to do with a film telling the story of the first person to undergo a sex operation in germany in the early nineteen thirties. The danish girl movie tiein by david ebershoff, paperback. Starring eddie redmayne as einar wegener and alicia vikander as his wife gerda gottlieb. A few good words from you will help me reach other readers. He has not only imagined most of what he wrote about elbes inner life, but he has also fabricated all of the other characters in the book, most important among them wegeners blueblooded americanborn wife, greta waud, who like ebershoff comes from pasadena, california. Oct 27, 2015 the danish girl by david ebershoff the danish girl, by david ebershoff opens in copenhagen in 1925 with a wonderful enigmatic four word sentence his wife knew first.
Ebershoff, executive editor at random house, tells the story of a man who gets turned into a woman. In tom hoopers highly anticipated the danish girl, eddie redmayne stars. Is haunted by this question throughout most of his life. The film the danish girl is a remarkable love story inspired by the lives of lili elbeeinar. Caitlyn jenner should always be referred to as caitlyn, no matter which era of her life. The danish girl summary before we get into this book, wed like to pause to make sure were all on the same page.
She died from paralysis of the heart due to organ rejection roughly three months after undertaking her fifth and final sexchange operation in june 1931. Theres a scene in the danish girl in which a group of female shop. Here is a book that truly makes the reader stop and question one of our most rigidly held fundaments of identity, gender. The titlethe danish girlis fairly selfexplanatory as titles go. With every nervous quiver of titillation and every accelerated breath of anxiety, redmayne dives head first into this mentally and physically soulbearing role. The film stars eddie redmayne as elbe, one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery, alicia vikander as wegener, and sebastian koch as kurt warnekros. Greta asks her husband einar to wear silk stockings and feminine shoes to pose for her, so that she can continue painting a portrait in the absence of the female model. The danish girl serves as another showcase for eddie redmaynes talent and poignantly explores thoughtprovoking themes with a beautifully filmed biopic drama.
But ebershoff emphasizes the title in the book s final chapter, as lili thinks, she was fraulein lili elbe. The danish girl is produced by gail mutrux, anne harrison, tim bevan, eric fellner, and tom hooper. David ebershoff is the publishing director of the modern library, a division of random house, inc. A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of danish artists lili elbe and gerda wegener. Redmayne swings like a pendulum between einar and lili, masculine and feminine, suits and dresses. How the danish girl helped me discover myself the author of the book upon which the new eddie redmayne film is based reflects on how uncovering trans pioneer lili elbes story helped him.
It is also about what makes a marriage and how far a woman will go to let her husband find his true self, knowing that she. At the start of the film 1926, both are showing paintings in a danish art show. Im starting work now on a new film called the danish girl, and its another extraordinary story about extraordinary people. It is also about what makes a marriage and how far a woman will go to let her husband find his true self, knowing that she will likely lose him in the process. But speaking of the heart, the danish girl is more likely to appeal to the head.
This guide is useful for exploring topics including pshe education, psychology, history, literacy and citizenship in. Now a major motion picture starring eddie redmayne and directed by tom hooper, the danish girl is a shockingly original novel about one of the most unusual and passionate love stories of the 20th. The danish girl lives up to the woman who inspired it. This fictionalised biopic of pioneering transgender artist lili elbe is well made and sympathetic. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. The danish girl is a beautiful film with brave performances though hooper often struggles to translate lili elbes life into memorable movie drama einar wegener eddie redmayne and his wife gerda gottlieb alicia vikander are staples of the denmark art scene. A film guide that looks at the danish girl 2015, a period drama depicting the true story of danish artist lili elbe, one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery. Dec 11, 2015 the danish girl 2015 directed by tom hooper.
Kitten having read the book after i saw the movie, id suggest you give it a shot. Jan 26, 2016 both movies are known for their powerful human element in their stories and the reliability of the characters. Nov 27, 2015 the danish girl may seem zeitgeisty through sheer timingand that may seem cynical on the surfacebut its clear that its heart is in the right place. The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists lili elbe and gerda wegener portrayed by academy award winner eddie redmayne and. The actress describes the film as a love story about learning to love yourself.
Starring eddie redmayne, alicia vikander, amber heard, adrian schiller, ben whishaw and matthias schoenaerts. This touching biopic was adapted from david ebershoffs book of the same name, and helmed by director tom hooper the kings speech. Before we get into this book, wed like to pause to make sure were all on the same page. The liberation of lili in the danish girl the new york times. The danish girl won the rosenthal foundation award from the american academy of arts and letters and the lambda literary award. A novel about a historic trans person that feels dated and stilted to me, even. She wonders if something is the matter with him and suggests they go see a doctor.
The danish girl is not a novelization of an amazing historical anecdoteit is a beautifully written, senstivelyhandled, and deeplyengaging novel that it absolutely one of the best i have read in recent years. Books similar to the danish girl meet your next favorite book. The liberation of lili in the danish girl the new york. Jan 30, 2016 the danish girl tells a true story of one of the first sex reassigment surgeries of einar wegener. But he has a male body, so he has learned to repress who he is, to consider his female identity something to be hidden, a source of shame. If you have nice things to say about one of my books, first, thank you. Lili elbeeinar wegener in this historic tale of courage and love. The danish girl is the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of lili elbe and gerda wegener, portrayed in the film respectively by academy award winner eddie redmayne the theory of everything and alicia vikander ex machina, directed by academy award winner tom hooper the kings speech, les misrables. The screenplay adaptation is by lucinda coxon, based on the book the danish girl by david ebershoff. He is also the author of the novel pasadena and the. There were 5 other movies released on the same date, including the wonders, stink and the american dream.
Despite lilis eventual historic operation, performed by surgeon dr. The danish girl is the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of lili elbe and gerda wegener portrayed by academy award winner eddie redmayne and alicia vikander, directed by academy award winner tom hooper. The danish girls lush prose and generous emotional insight make it, after the last page is turned, a deeply moving first novel about one of the most passionate and unusual love stories of the 20th century. The danish girl is based on the real and almost forgotten life of einar wegener, a danish painter, and his californiaborn wife greta waud, a brash heiress living the. The danish girl is at its most affecting in the films second half, when gerda and lili seek desperately for guidance from the medical profession and come up at first against. Eddie redmayne on the danish girl and finding the freedom in. The danish girl tells a true story of one of the first sex reassigment surgeries of einar wegener. Coxon and the director try to pack in as much of elbes experience filtered through the lens of ebershoffs fictional telling as possible but the sensitive and deeply personal subject matter gets. The film equivalent of a coffee table book about lili elbe. His book is based on the reallife story of einar wegener, a danish. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. The danish girl is boring and annoying with a strong romantic, politically correct, homosexual worldview and extreme lewd content. This was another book that i read due to the movie that is out. They do and the doctor makes notes of the nosebleeds, as well as the stomach cramps he imagines having once a month.
Admittedly, theres some striking imagery that will surely grab you. David ebershoffs debut novel, the danish girl, won the 2000 lambda literary award for transgender fiction and has been adapted into a major motion picture starring academy awardwinner eddie redmayne. She had gone in for a fourth surgery in order to have a uterus implant in the hopes she could have a baby. The danish girl is a delicate, elegant novel about the search for ones true self when. The danish girl stars, director talk lessons learned. Lili and gerdas marriage and work evolve as they navigate lilis groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer. The danish girl is a film comprised of two central and tremendously difficult performances from eddie redmayne and alicia vikander. She wanted to be a woman fully, and to have the child of a man she had fallen in love with. The danish girl, an intoxicating novel by david ebershoff, is a different kind of love story, but one that is tender and moving and touches us in the most profound ways. The danish girl is produced by gail mutrux, anne harrison, tim bevan, eric fellner, and. I was moved to tears by this remarkable story of love and loss, identity and courage.
It was also a finalist for the tiptree award, the new york public librarys young lions award, and an american library association award, and was a new york times notable book. The danish girl vs the true story of lili elbe, gerda wegener. Everything you need to know about the danish girl movie 2015. The danish girl also stars ben whishaw, sebastian koch, amber heard, and matthias schoenaerts.
She begins as einar wegener, a danish man in copenhagen, and she ends as lili, the danish girl in dresden. The danish girl is a delicate, elegant novel about the search for ones true self when ones body, as an external encasement, doesnt mirror what is on the inside. The danish girl, as ebershoff stated, does not try to tell a true story. The danish girl is a 2015 biographical romantic drama film directed by tom hooper, based on the 2000 novel of the same name by david ebershoff, and. The danish girl on dvd march 1, 2016 starring eddie redmayne, alicia vikander, matthias schoenaerts, ben whishaw. Both movies are known for their powerful human element in their stories and the reliability of the characters.
Einar wegener played by eddie redmayne and his wife gerda alicia vikander are a. The ending to the danish girl is actually very vague. I love to hear from readers, book groups, and students and i will do my best to respond to everyone. They read jan morriss landmark memoir of transitioning. Last night, i came home from watching the danish girl in a quite troubled state.
The danish girl by david ebershoff book club discussion. In a film industry where everyone is pushing to make more edgy, dramatic, cutting movies, the danish girl has a special type of softness to it that makes it stand out in a new way. The danish girl is the story of lili elbe born einar wegener, played here by eddie redmayne and artist gerda wegener. Everything you need to know about the danish girl movie. The danish girl featurette love story 2015 eddie redmayne drama hd duration. Dec 22, 2015 the characters evolution or liberation, as mr. The danish girl tells the story of the painter einar wegener, who had the worlds first genderreassignment surgery and became lili elbe. Now a major motion picture starring eddie redmayne and directed by tom hooper, the danish girl is a shockingly original novel about one of the most unusual and passionate love stories of the 20th century. Second, please also post your thoughts on your favorite social media platforms andor etailer sites. He pieced together the role from books about the historic couple and. The act of einar posing as a female figure unmasks what turns out to be a lifelong identification on the part of einar as a female, named lili elbe. I fell in love with the danish girl seven years ago when i read lucinda coxons extraordinary script. The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of lili elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery.