In a year when transsexuals were in the spotlight both in real life (Caitlyn Jenner) and in TV shows (Transparent), it’s no surprise to see that topic in movies too. And the story chosen to be told on the big screen couldn’t be more interesting: the story of the first surgery to change someone’s sex.

In Copenhagen in the 1920s, Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander) are a married couple of painters who are starting to think about having a family of their own. He paints landscapes while she does portraits and he is more successful than her. One day, when her model is late for her session, Gerda asks Einar to sit for her so she can finish the painting. That means wearing a dress and stockings. That is the moment when Einar unleashes Lili, the woman that was inside him all his life and who makes him feel truth to himself.

From this point on, we follow both Einar and Gerda’s struggle to accept Lili completely and that’s what I loved most about it: we don’t see just Einar’s process to become Lili, but we also see how Gerda stood by him as she also suffers when realizing she wouldn’t have her husband anymore. Credit is due to Eddie Redmayne who, after winning an Oscar earlier this year for The Theory of Everything, also transforms himself into Einar/Lili, and to Alicia Vikander, who gives a compelling performance as Gerda.

Directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables), The Danish Girl is a beautiful and delicate story about being yourself and supporting the ones you love.

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