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The Danish Girl’ tells the story of a transgender milestone

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Lili Elbe made enormous sacrifices to live her life authentically.

Three stars

The Danish Girl Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Matthias Schoenaerts. Directed by Tom Hooper. Rated R. Opens Friday.

It would make sense to assume that the title of The Danish Girl refers to Lili Elbe (born Einar Wegener), the first person to undergo a documented gender reassignment surgery (in Germany in 1930). But the movie is equally interested in Gerda, Lili’s wife, whose life is changed just as drastically by the revelation of her husband’s gender dysphoria. As played by breakout star Alicia Vikander (who’s in seemingly half the movies released in 2015), Gerda is a passionate, iconoclastic artist who supports Lili’s efforts even as she struggles to understand them. Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) makes less of an impression as Lili, whose struggles are more internal.

Given the recent expansion of transgender themes and characters in movies and TV, director Tom Hooper could have taken this story in a bolder direction, but instead he tells it with the same kind of tasteful restraint he brought to The King’s Speech. That allows for some gorgeous costumes and locations and occasional emotionally rich moments between Lili and Gerda, but overall the story feels a little lifeless. Lili made enormous sacrifices to live her life authentically, but the movie about her remains disappointingly timid.

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