
He finds that he actually enjoys being the substitute model and although he initially just dons the women's stockings and shoes, he soon finds himself graduating into wearing her dress too. Gerda is pleased because what she captures on her canvas is better than anything she has ever painted, and Einar is more than happy to oblige as it is awakening thoughts about his gender identity that have laid dormant for years.

The fact that the Wegener's enjoy a very full and regular sex life together is very much stressed throughout the developing story and even as Einar recedes and Lili takes over, they still consider themselves as a happily married couple. When Lili asks to wear one of Gerda's nightdress one night, she explains "it doesn't matter what I wear in bed, it's what I dream about" which is enough to appease Gerda.

Questions have been raised about the political correctness of having a cisgender man play this role, but that aside, it is hard to imagine any other actor of Redmayne's generation nailing the part so utterly convincingly and so compellingly. It is nothing less than a tour-de-force and I would even go to say that it surpasses his Oscar winning turn as Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything" last year.
Redmayne has the support of the only Scandinavian in the entire movie the beautiful and very talented Alicia Vikander as Gerda the loyal wife who loves Einar so much that she is prepared to let him go so that he can claim his real identity. Her fierce loyalty right to the very end adds an heart-touching emotional strand to the tale that ensures that you need to reach for the Kleenexs more than once.
The movie reunites Redmayne with "Les Miserables" director Tom Hooper (who picked up an Oscar for "The Kings Speech") but even with Redmayne's magnificent performance plus a great visual look and a lush soundtrack by Alexandre Desplat, it somehow still lacks the excitement that one would expect from such a potentially powerful story.
However judged as a showcase for Redmayne's talent alone is reason enough to add "The Danish Girl" to the list of unmissable Oscar-potential movies this season.
P.S. By far the best line of Lucinda Coxon's script is spoken by Einer's oldest friend Max played by Matthias Schoenaerts in response to Lili apologising for being a nuisance. He tells her not to worry : "I have liked very people in my life, and you have been two of them."
★★★★★★★★