The film was shown in the main section of the competition at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and in the "Special Ribbons" section at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015. The film was released in limited release on November 27, 2015 by Focus Features in the United States. In Russia, it was released a little later.
Recognition and rewards
The 2015 film “A Girl from Denmark” received some criticism for the inaccurate depiction of historical events, but the play of Redmayne and Wikander received widespread recognition and nominations for all the main current awards. Wikander won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Redmayne was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. They played the protagonists of "Girls from Denmark." The film was also nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best British Film. He has a very high rating on the largest movie sites.
"Girl from Denmark": the plot
Mid 1920s, Copenhagen. Portrait artist Gerda Wegener asks her husband, a popular landscape painter Einar Wegener, to replace a model that is late to pose for a painting she is working on.
Lily's invasion
The act of posing as a female figure evokes the latent self-identification of Einar as a woman who calls herself Lily Elb. This creates a progression, first preliminary, and then irreversible, gradually destroying the identity of Einar, which he struggled to artificially save his whole life. This happens when Lily and Gerda move to Paris; Portraits of Lily (Einar in a female appearance) attract the attention of art dealers, which has never been with Gerda's previous paintings. It was there that Gerda hunts down art dealer Hans Esgil, a childhood friend of Einar / Lily (whom Lily / Einar kissed when they were young). Hans and Gerda do not find a common language, but Hans nevertheless agrees to help, since childhood friendship with Einar is dear to his heart.
Gender change
Since the continued existence of Lily, replacing Einar, threatens the relationship of Einar and Gerda, she begins to turn to psychologists for help, but none of them gives any answer. In the end, on the recommendation of Hans, Lily and Gerda meet with Dr. Kurt Warnekros. Dr. Varnekros explains that he has met several people like her who are physically male but self-identifying as women, and offers a new, innovative and controversial solution - gender reassignment surgery. This will entail a two-step procedure, which includes first removing the external genitalia of Lily, and then, after a period of recovery, creating a vagina. He warns Lily and Gerda that this is a very dangerous operation that has never been undertaken before, and Lily will be one of the first to be affected. Lily immediately agrees and soon after that leaves for Germany to begin the operation.
Tragic ending
Lily eventually dies from complications after surgery. The film ends with a scene with Gerda and Hans on a hilltop in Denmark, in front of the five trees that Einar painted. The scarf that Lily originally gave to Gerda is carried away in the wind while dancing.
Development
In September 2009, Thomas Alfredson told Variety that the production of the project would precede his upcoming adaptation of the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, adding: “We have been negotiating for almost a year, and we are about to start production soon.” In December 2009, Swedish newspapers reported that Alfredson was no longer the director of Danish Girls and embarked on another film. Alfredson said he regrets the reports of his work on the tape so widespread. He also said that he still wants to make a film and could return to the project.
On January 12, 2010, the Swedish director Lasse Holström told the Swedish media that he was appointed Alfredson as a director.
Casting
In 2008, Nicole Kidman was originally approved for the role of Einar / Lily, and also produced the film through her company Blossom Films. Charlize Theron originally planned to play the role of Gerda Wegener, but after leaving the project, Gwyneth Paltrow was replaced. Paltrow then left the project due to location changes. According to rumors, Uma Thurman was also included in the cast for some time. In September 2010, Marion Cotillard was rumored to be a leading candidate for the role of Gerda Wegener. Despite the sharp change in the cast of “Girls from Denmark”, reviews on the tape did not disappoint in the end.
On June 11, 2010, The Hollywood Reporter announced that the film received € 1.2 million ($ 1.5 million) to finance a project from the NRW Board of Directors in Germany. The deal includes a planned 19-day shoot in Germany. In February 2011, Screen Daily announced that the film would start shooting in July of that year and that Rachel Weisz would play Wegener. In May, it turned out that both Weiss and Halstrom left the project.
On April 28, 2014, it was announced that Tom Hooper would lead the filming of Girls from Denmark, with Eddie Redmayne being the lead actor. On June 19, 2014, Alicia Vikander appeared in the cast. On January 8, 2015, Matthias Schonarts joined the cast.
Filming
Filming began in February 2015, where Redmayne was spotted on the set. Filming also took place in Nihavn, where the iconic promenade was transformed to look like Copenhagen in the 1930s. Kits for Danish and Parisian apartments were built at Elstree Studios in London, and additional surveys were conducted in Copenhagen and Brussels. All work on the set was completed on April 12, 2015. Filming took 44 days for 186 scenes in six countries.
Post production
Post-production ended in September 2015. According to composer Alexander Despl, post-production was very fast when the film was edited because Despl wrote the score, which was recorded just a week before the film’s premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Hooper showed Indiewire and After Ellen that the ending of the film was different from the novel (in which Gerda and Hans stay together) and real life (Gerda and Lily were not together in the last days of Lily), and he emphasized the importance of Hans because he did not want to feel that Gerda and Hans have the possibility of love, which in no way could compete with Lily's love. He saw Lily and Gerda as people created for each other. He worked out the scenario in this direction in order to substantiate the importance of his vision of history.
"Girl from Denmark": reviews
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film is rated 68% based on 222 reviews with an average rating of 6.6 / 10. The website’s critical consensus reads: “The film is yet another demonstration of Eddie Redmayne’s talent - he acutely senses a combination of a deep theme with a beautifully shot biographical drama.” On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 66 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
The independent film site FilmDebate recognized this tape as “the most important film of 2015”, stating that “it is not only the best film of the year, but also the most important; history and acting are combined in the best way to make a film that the whole world must see and understand. ”
Thanks to the acting, in particular, Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, “The Girl from Denmark” received significant recognition. Phantom Tollbooth’s Maria Asner stated that “acting makes this film,” and Impien's Gamer Damien Stracker wrote that “two games on the team give him an exciting emotional weight that greatly affects tape perception.” Redmayne's game was described as “another example of how deeply he can immerse himself in the role” by 3AW Jim Chambry and as “revealing, heartbreaking and believable” by Linda Cook of Quad-City Times.
Kyle Buchanan, who writes for Vulture, complained that it was part of the fashion for “gay and transgender films that are actually relevant to everyone,” while Paul Byrnes for The Sydney Morning Herald said it was “a lost opportunity,” in which "dresses are more convincing than emotions." Casey Plett, a transgender writer, criticizes the script in the dialogs as “brutally boring,” continuing to say: “It is like someone was inspired by the Shakespearean tragedy, then combined the verbosity of R. L. Steen with Brendan Fraser's subtlety.”
In reviews, “The Girl from Denmark” is often criticized for erotizing forced feminization, hiding the actual history of real people, and for being based on a fictional book that does not tell the true story of Lily and Gerda Wegener. All this did not prevent the film from becoming the sensational classics of modern times.
Acting Awards
The awards and nominations for "Girls from Denmark" were said at the beginning of the article, now it's time to talk about what awards the game of leading actors was noted. Alicia Wikander was awarded the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for her role in the film, the only victory of the four categories was the decision for which the academy was heavily criticized because Wikander had about 1 hour on the screen, although for eligibility " Oscars "requires a minimum of 50% of the film’s time. She was initially deliberately not included in the category of the best actress, because she would compete with Bree Larson, which would reduce her chances of winning, while the category of supporting actresses had little competition. Matthias Schonarts also received a number of awards for his work on Danish Girl.
At both the Golden Globe Award Ceremony and the British Academy Award Ceremony, Wikander's work in the film was nominated for Best Actress, and she was included in the Best Supporting Actress category for her work at Ex Machina. All this fell into the piggy bank of awards and reviews "Girls from Denmark." Next, talk about the director.
Film director
It's time to say a few words about the director of "Girls from Denmark." This is Thomas Hooper. Thomas George Hooper (born October 1972) is an English filmmaker of Australian descent. Hooper began making short films as a teenager and received his first professional recognition in 1992. At Oxford University, Hooper staged performances and filmed television commercials. After graduation, he directed episodes of the television series Quayside, Byker Grove, EastEnders, and Cold Feet on British television.
In the 2000s, Hooper directed BBC dramatic productions such as Love in a Cold Climate (2001) and Daniel Deronda (2002), and was selected to film a series for the legendary Prime Suspect ITV series. Hooper made his first high-budget feature film in 2004, it was the British drama Red Dust, starring Hilary Swank .
He continued to work on HBO, participating in the filming of the historical films Longford (2006) and John Adams (2008). Hooper returned to filming The Damned United (2009), a fact-based film about English footballer Brian Klau (Michael Sheen). The following year, the historical drama The King Says (2010) was released with the participation of Colin Firth and Jeffrey Rush, which was met with criticism. Hooper's next film was the Les Miserables (2012) based on Victor Hugo’s novel, which featured numerous stars led by Hugh Jackman. His 2015 film, Danish Girl, was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best British Film.
Hooper's work was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding directing in the films "Principal Suspect" and "John Adams", and he received this award for the film "Elizabeth I", which was also nominated for the British Academy TV Craft Award (BAFTA) . The movie King Speaks has received many awards, including an Oscar for best directing.
The youth of the creator: how it all began
Hooper graduated from school at the age of 16, then wrote the screenplay for his first professional short film, Painted Faces. He spent the next two years raising capital and chasing advertising directors whose financial dominance in the late 1980s was marked by Hooper. Director Paul Weiland invested in a short film that provided Hooper with the necessary equipment. After two years of financing and production, the Painted Persons were completed. Hooper wrote, directed, produced, directed and edited the film. It was sold to Channel 4 and aired on First Frame in 1992, screened at the 35th London Film Festival and had a limited theater release.
After spending an interim year to fund his debut film, Hooper studied English literature at university college, Oxford. He joined the Oxford University Drama Society, where he directed Kate Beckinsale in “View from the Bridge” and Emily Mortimer in “The Trial”. Hooper also earned his first paid job, earning £ 200 for a corporate Christmas video, and made his first television commercials, including one for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 featuring Right Said Fred. In general, the beginning of the director’s career was rather difficult, and there were no signs that he would remove “Girl from Denmark”. Ben Whishaw, Thomas Alfredson and other masters in this case will be left out of the project.