Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysLGBTQ+ Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Danish Girl

  • 20152015
  • RR
  • 1h 59m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
183K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
954
462
Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl (2015)
Watch a new trailer for The Danish Girl.
Play trailer1:09
13 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Biography
  • Drama
  • Romance
A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey ... Read allA fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
183K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
954
462
  • Director
    • Tom Hooper
  • Writers
    • Lucinda Coxon(screenplay)
    • David Ebershoff(book)
  • Stars
    • Eddie Redmayne
    • Alicia Vikander
    • Amber Heard
Top credits
  • Director
    • Tom Hooper
  • Writers
    • Lucinda Coxon(screenplay)
    • David Ebershoff(book)
  • Stars
    • Eddie Redmayne
    • Alicia Vikander
    • Amber Heard
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 330User reviews
    • 276Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 31 wins & 79 nominations total

    Videos13

    Online Trailer
    Trailer 1:09
    Online Trailer
    Trailer #1
    Trailer 2:38
    Trailer #1
    Clip
    Clip 0:58
    Clip
    Clip
    Clip 1:45
    Clip
    Its Lili
    Clip 0:43
    Its Lili
    Who Is The Danish Girl
    Clip 1:45
    Who Is The Danish Girl
    Costume Party
    Clip 1:40
    Costume Party
    Director Tom Hooper Discusses 'The Danish Girl'
    Featurette 2:49
    Director Tom Hooper Discusses 'The Danish Girl'
    Interview
    Interview 2:21
    Interview
    What Roles Has Alicia Vikander Been Considered For?
    Video 3:16
    What Roles Has Alicia Vikander Been Considered For?
    B-roll
    Video 4:53
    B-roll
    Tom Hooper and Alicia Vikander Take Fan Questions
    Video 1:56
    Tom Hooper and Alicia Vikander Take Fan Questions

    Photos215

    Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Matthias Schoenaerts in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Tom Hooper in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl (2015)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Eddie Redmayne
    Eddie Redmayne
    • Lilias Lili
    Alicia Vikander
    Alicia Vikander
    • Gerdaas Gerda
    Amber Heard
    Amber Heard
    • Ullaas Ulla
    Ben Whishaw
    Ben Whishaw
    • Henrikas Henrik
    Tusse Silberg
    • Older Womanas Older Woman
    Adrian Schiller
    Adrian Schiller
    • Rasmussenas Rasmussen
    Emerald Fennell
    Emerald Fennell
    • Elsaas Elsa
    Henry Pettigrew
    Henry Pettigrew
    • Nielsas Niels
    Claus Bue
    Claus Bue
    • Man at Windowas Man at Window
    Peter Krag
    • Stage Doormanas Stage Doorman
    Angela Curran
    • Dresseras Dresser
    Pixie
    • Hvappeas Hvappe
    Richard Dixon
    Richard Dixon
    • Fonnesbechas Fonnesbech
    Pip Torrens
    Pip Torrens
    • Dr. Hexleras Dr. Hexler
    Paul Bigley
    • Man in Galleryas Man in Gallery
    Nancy Crane
    Nancy Crane
    • American Womanas American Woman
    Nicola Sloane
    Nicola Sloane
    • Brothel Madameas Brothel Madame
    Sonya Cullingford
    Sonya Cullingford
    • Striptease Artistas Striptease Artist
    • Director
      • Tom Hooper
    • Writers
      • Lucinda Coxon(screenplay)
      • David Ebershoff(book)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    Alicia Vikander Through the Years

    Alicia Vikander Through the Years

    Take a look back at the career of Alicia Vikander on and off the big screen.
    View image
    View image
    View image

    More like this

    The Theory of Everything
    7.7
    The Theory of Everything
    Call Me by Your Name
    7.8
    Call Me by Your Name
    I Do... Until I Don't
    4.3
    I Do... Until I Don't
    Brokeback Mountain
    7.7
    Brokeback Mountain
    Her Smell
    6.0
    Her Smell
    One More Time
    5.0
    One More Time
    The Adderall Diaries
    5.1
    The Adderall Diaries
    Gully
    1.8
    Gully
    Titanic
    7.9
    Titanic
    Les Misérables
    7.5
    Les Misérables
    Black Swan
    8.0
    Black Swan
    The King's Speech
    8.0
    The King's Speech

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Lili consulted two physicians, both of whom diagnosed her as homosexual, a third physician diagnosed her as intersexed and claimed she had rudimentary female sex organs. In fact, when the sex reassignment surgery commenced, the surgeons found shrunken female ovaries. Hormonal assays taken just before her first surgery indicated more female than male hormones present. It is likely that she had XXY sex chromosome karyotype (Klinefelter's Syndrome) a condition not medically recognized until 1942. The fact that Lili was Intersex is not mentioned in the film.
    • Goofs
      During the last scene, when Gerda and Hans are standing by Vejle Fjord, mountains are in the background. Denmark has no mountains. That scene was filmed at the Mount Mannen in Norway.
    • Quotes

      Hans Axgil: [to Lili] I've only liked a handful of people in my life, and you've been two of them.

    • Crazy credits
      Eddie Redmayne as credited as Lili in final credits, probably respecting the trans identity. He actually plays 2 characters Einar Wegener and Lili Elbe.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Will Ferrell/Alicia Vikander/Twenty One Pilots (2015)
    • Soundtracks
      Roses of Picardy
      by Frederick Edward Weatherly (as Frederick E. Weatherly) and Haydn Wood (as Haynd Wood)

      Performed by Marie-Christine Desplat, Sylvette Claudet, Shona Taylor, Nathalie Renault, and Claude Jeantet

      Arranged by Marie-Christine Desplat

      Courtesy of Certains L'Aiment Chaud

    User reviews330

    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    "The Danish Girl" is a very touching, but controversial and oversimplified story.
    "He's comfortable in his own skin," is usually seen as a compliment. It means that the person in question knows who he (or she) is and is content with that sense of identity. I dare speculate that it's a condition to which we all aspire. Unfortunately, many people around the world lack that inner peace because of a question of gender identity. Regardless of what others think about such an existential situation, people who feel uncomfortable with the biology with which they were born often suffer greatly over this conflict within their hearts and minds. They cannot be comfortable in their own skin, because they don't feel that their skin is really theirs. Before the somewhat more enlightened times of the 21st century, people who identified with a gender other than that to which biology assigned them suffered even more than some do today. In ages past, those people had little opportunity to make changes that would make themselves look on the outside as they felt on the inside. "The Danish Girl" (R, 2:00) is one such story.

    Inspired by the true story of early 20th century married Danish painters Einar and Gerda Wegener, like David Ebershoff's 2000 book on which it's based, "The Danish Girl" is a fictionalized account of Einar's physical transition to Lili Elbe. Neither the book nor Lucinda Coxon's screenplay makes any claim to absolute historical accuracy. This story changes many of the facts for dramatic purposes. The real-life situation of Lili and Gerda's life was much more complicated than we see on screen. The result is a film that tells a simple story in a way that elicits empathy for the protagonists and enlightens the audience.

    Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne plays Einar/Lili, and Alicia Vikander, his wife, Gerda. The couple lives in a large apartment in Copenhagen, Denmark, where they both make a living painting. At first, Einar's landscapes are more in demand and more respected than Gerda's portraits. One day when Gerda was in a hurry to finish a portrait of their mutual friend and ballerina, Oola (Amber Heard), Gerda asks Einar to stand in as a model by putting on Oola's stockings and heels and holding up Oola's dress in front of him. Although the scene is played with a combination of humor and awkwardness, it's obvious that Einar likes the clothes. He starts trying on his wife's clothes which gives birth to an idea. Gerda is a bit conflicted, but being the open-minded person she is, she suggests that her husband dress up as a woman to attend an art world function that he had been trying to avoid. And just like that, Lili is born.

    The thing is that Einar had always felt like a female and being Lili was the first opportunity that he had really had to express what he felt was his true gender. Einar wears women's clothes and make-up more and more often, both at home and out in public. Lili even begins secretly seeing a local man named Henrik (Ben Whishaw). Gerda is understandably upset by all this, but she never criticizes her husband's inner turmoil or its outward manifestations. She wants to understand, and the more she does, the more she mourns her marriage, which she sees as slipping away. However, as all this is happening, her art career begins to take off. She paints Lili more and more, in fashionable clothes and in little or no clothes. As Gerda's style develops, increasing demand for her paintings soon leads the couple to move to Paris.

    In Paris, Lili blossoms as a person, even as she seeks a more permanent solution to her feeling that her biology doesn't match her identity. She sees doctors whose diagnoses are wide-ranging, but are mainly focused on Einar/Lili having some sort of mental deficiency. Hans Axgil (Matthias Schoenarts), a childhood friend of Einar, tries to help, but he can do little more than offer moral support to the couple. Finally, Lili and Gerda find a possible solution in the person of German doctor Kurt Warnekros (Sebastian Koch). Dr. Warnekros offers to perform practically unprecedented sex reassignment surgery on Lili.

    "The Danish Girl" is a very sensitive portrayal of a very tumultuous experience in the lives of two real people. Whether you sympathize with the situation of the two main characters or not, you're likely to empathize with them as people. While presenting a story about the controversial topic of gender identity, Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper also tells a very human story within the framework of the movie's plot. At its core, this is a tale of love and loss, of tolerance and devotion, of… feeling comfortable in one's own skin. Although some Movie Fans may find some of the situations, images and the brief but graphic nudity (both female and male) to be disturbing, and the plot does drag at times, one of the main reasons to see this movie is for the award-worthy performances by the two leads. With impressive emotional range and depth, both Redmayne and Vikander make this story surprisingly rich and relatable. Hooper draws even more focus (literally) to the characters' feelings by choosing especially significant moments to bring his camera in very close for a tight focus on the characters' faces, while allowing everything beyond their necks to go out of focus. "The Danish Girl" deserves credit for its honesty, its emotional power and its succinct presentation of a very complicated story. However, some of the changes in the story seem designed to increase the impact of the story, a move I would call emotionally manipulative. For that and other reasons, I just wish that this otherwise excellent film had been more historically accurate. "B"
    helpful•61
    31
    • dave-mcclain
    • Dec 21, 2015

    FAQ1

    • Is "The Danish Girl" based on a true story?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 22, 2016 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Germany
      • Denmark
      • Belgium
      • Japan
    • Official site
      • Working Title Films (United Kingdom)
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Cô Gái Đan Mạch
    • Filming locations
      • Nyhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark
    • Production companies
      • Working Title Films
      • Pretty Pictures
      • ReVision Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $15,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $11,114,018
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $187,318
      • Nov 29, 2015
    • Gross worldwide
      • $64,191,523
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 59 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl (2015)
    Top Gap
    What is the streaming release date of The Danish Girl (2015) in Canada?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    The Best Movies Coming This Summer
    See the full list
    Image caption not available
    2:02
    LGBTQIA+ Movies and Shows to Watch This Summer
    Watch the video

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.