Image credit: Poster of "Danish Girl"
"Danish Girl" is a delicate oil painting film based on danish real events from the 1920s, the protagonist is one of the world's first recorded transgender people, the script is adapted from David Ebershoff's novel of the same name, which is a classic that tells the story of transgender people. A story about identity and exploration, a chance, the female personality Lily who is sleeping in the protagonist's heart is awakened, begins to dislike her body as a man, and gradually discovers that Lily is not only an artistic existence, but also a real self, and the lives of the two have also undergone earth-shaking changes, the protagonist Lily has finally become her true self after painful struggle, with the understanding and help of the people around her.
The film tells the story of the legendary Danish painter Lili (formerly known as Einor Wegener) who bravely underwent gender reassignment surgery with the encouragement of his wife and became the true story in his mind. His wife, Gerda Wegener, was also a painter.
On the left is the Einar of the historical men's wear, and on the right is the Eina in the movie
Please don't worry about me, I didn't drown in that swamp, I became my true self in your paintings.
Aina and Gerda, who had been married for six years, had been living happily together, Aina was a very famous landscape painter, but Gerda could not paint a satisfactory portrait because he did not have a suitable model.
On the left is Lili Elbe, who is already wearing women's clothes, and on the right is Lili Elbe in the movie
In addition to bringing a transgender story to the big screen, "Danish Girl" also took a lot of effort in the visual film. Whether it is the changes before and after their living environment, and the difference from men's clothing to women's clothing, it can reflect the protagonist's mental journey, which can be described as a point of view.
From the use of the lens to the presentation of the characters, the intuitive feelings given to me by "Danish Girl" are similar to the "Overlord Farewell". The two dedicated actors, Zhang Guorong and Little Freckles, both vividly interpret the femininity of women.
Wife Gerda Gottlieb's Lili Elbe
In the film, from Aina to Lily, the touch of the hand becomes more and more bold. The first time he modeled for his wife, he carefully hugged the skirt, gently rubbed it, felt the texture of the skirt, and slowly opened a smile on his face.
Cramps are slowly melted by smiles, and the contact between hands and body becomes more and more relaxed and natural. Her palm slid over her body, and under the feminine and even feminine movements, a newborn girl carefully explored her body and identity.
Image source: The movie "Danish Girl", for the first time, she held a skirt and put on stockings to model for her wife
In the two films "Danish Girl" and "Farewell to the King", the use of the image of "mirror" has a deep meaning. Lily and Cheng Diyi both looked in the mirror, or painted makeup and dressed up as the one they loved the most; or erased all the colors on their faces and faced the gray defeat of reality.
They all stare at themselves in the mirror when they disagree with their loved ones. As she fled Henryk's house in a hurry, Lily stopped three times and looked at herself in the glass.
People look in the mirror to see themselves. But for them, who is reflected in the mirror?
In the mirror, they had a dream, one unwilling to wake up, one willing to sleep.
Image credit: In the movie "Danish Girl", Lily looks at Gerda through the mirror
At the beginning of the film, according to the trajectory of Aina's life, the environment in which they live in the two cities also represents their attitude towards life. Enna lives in Denmark with his wife, Goda. In the house where they lived, the walls were light blue with gray tones, and the sloping roof looked from the interior as if there was an invisible pressure hanging over the people in the room. A grid of windows cuts through the light that shines in, and gives people a feeling of bondage like a cage.
Their home has a large space to serve as a studio, the windowsill is filled with paint and brushes, the walls are layered with line drawings, the painted oil paintings are lined up against the corners of the wall, the easel hangs unfinished works, and even the sink is dyed with colorful brushes because of the frequent washing, which is very painting atmosphere.
In another corner of a studio, unlike the big battle of his wife's paintings, Ena painting occupies only a small corner. Only four drawings are pasted on the wall, paint brushes are placed on a small coffee table, and easels are perfectly stuck in the corners. Next to the huge work of his wife next to him, When Aina paints, there is less of a messy enthusiasm and more introvertedness.
There was not much furniture in the whole home, and the walls were neat and tidy, making the room look empty. There are many doors in his home, and these doors become the boundaries between each room, so that the rooms contrast with each other, and it gives me the feeling that There are many layers of unopened secrets hidden in the hearts of Ena and his wife who live in this house.
Unlike the cool gray of the Danish house, after they moved to Paris, the entire decoration of the home was warm. A huge floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, always sunlight pouring in, so that the whole room lights up. The curtains embroidered with large flowers, the soft carpets, the pillows on the sofa, and the desk lamps lit with warm yellow light all make people feel more at home.
Of course, there are still many large-scale paintings and utensils in the room, so that people have not forgotten their old profession - painters.
Unlike the clean white doors of Danish houses, the doors of the Parisian home are painted with medieval oil paintings, which makes the artistic atmosphere of the whole home stronger and more layered. I really like this little design, it feels like a different kind of beauty.
The difference in the layout of the two residences in Denmark and Paris makes us feel the change in the protagonist's heart very intuitively, and his life has changed from obscurity to light.
The protagonist, Enne, has a process of self-awareness from male to female, and in his exploration of his own way, his costume is also gradually moving from "confinement" to "liberation".
As Ena says in the movie, Lily didn't suddenly appear in his body, but always existed. So in the early days, Héna had been repressed and bound. So he often wore a stiff and dull color suit, which looked very hard and thick, with a high collar, and the lines were very stiff, and even felt like "armor" imprisoning him in his male identity, and at this time, The Man's Ena looked like a person in a suit.
As the plot progresses, after "Lily" appears later, Ena wears men's clothes again, and also exudes a weak feminine beauty, his shirt fabric is softer, the collar is no longer meticulously standing high, and he will also wear loose Oxford pants like wide-legged pants, and a silk scarf will be tied around his neck.
At this time, he was wearing clothes with smoother and softer lines, more able to move freely, and there was a sense of liberation in it.
The first time Heina wore women's clothes, it was a lightweight off-white lace dress. This gauze skirt is like a babbling brook, the thin water flows into the depths of his heart, and the gentle white veil is like a wedding dress, dreamy and beautiful, awakening the little princess in Ena's heart.
When Enna put on women's clothes and transformed into Lily, in fact, his heart was not immediately enlightened, and he was also entangled and afraid in his heart. So when he first became Lily, most of the clothes he wore were blue, black and gray.
When you just enter an identity, people will always have a transition period of "too much force", so Lily's appearance can be said to be very "hard" at the beginning. Her hairstyle and lip gloss are very bold, and her clothes will also choose to emphasize feminine elements such as cuts, lace, and tulle, as if trying to cover up The existence of Aina with a flamboyant style.
Just like all the trivial things in life need to be practiced and tried, over time, Lily gradually found herself, and her dress began to brighten, and the light blue and pink colors were very decent on him.
There are also many velvet, luxury prints and wool products in the clothing, allowing her to enjoy her charm while not losing her elegance and maturity. Her appearance is also more natural, which reflects her gradual adaptation to her feminine qualities, natural and not exaggerated.
Ayna had a lot of internal struggles before becoming Lily, and he came to a model's dressing room. Next to the beautiful dress, there was a mirror, and he stared at himself in a suit in the mirror, and the dirt on the mirror seemed to be a mystery that shrouded him in obscurity, and he examined himself quietly.
When he saw himself clearly, took off his men's clothes, and confirmed Lily's presence, the picture became warmer, and the skirt hanging on the hanger also shone with golden light, which was very attractive to him.
Having just become Lily, she passed the window of the street, and the figure reflected by the glass was blurred. She couldn't see clearly whether she should be Eina or Lily, and this ambiguity was a reflection of her not seeing the way forward. Her figure was framed into the boxy window, gently rubbing the fingers of the collar of the skirt, and carefully looking at the eyes of the stockings, all of which expressed the waves of Aina's heart, which also showed her inner insecurity and crampedness.
After making it clear that she is Lily, after accepting herself, Lily appreciates her beauty very calmly in front of the mirror, and she is very confident in facing herself, and her eyes are firm. The mirror is a very clean piece of glass, reflecting the openness of her heart after accepting Lily. But it was such a small attempt that caused a great touch in Aina's heart.
Enna, dressed in men's clothes, stood in the hallway of the room, layer after layer of door frames pressing hard against his head, along with the heavy walls pressing against him. A lot of heavy pressure hit him, heavy and breathless.
When he put on the silk nightdress, the same aisle, the windows on the wall and the open doors made the environment a little brighter, and also made his heart a little more brisk and open.
Some people think that Lily's dating and kissing with men is marital infidelity and betrayal, some people think that Gerda loves as a husband of a cisgender man, and some people think that she loves this person, no matter what gender he is...
In real life, we need to do things according to some rules. But when interpreting the film, we need to peel back the cocoon, behind the sound and the painting, to get our own interpretation.
There is only one 520 a year, but we have to spend several 365 days to interpret love. Lily's confusion about love is actually an exploration of herself. When kissed by a man, she hesitated for a long time, pushed back again and again, and finally fell into a hot kiss, but also fell into love - as a female heterosexual love.
Dating again and again, she not only lustfully sucks the excitement of fresh love, but also enjoys the calmness of "becoming herself".
Image credit: In the movie "Danish Girl", Lily stroked her cheek through the glass imitating the gesture of a prostitute
Yohji Yamamoto once said, "You are often invisible, and you have to hit something else and bounce back to understand yourself." Love and love is not only a hot emotion, not just an intimate relationship, but also the exploration of self and inner growth of two people in the collision.
In welcoming Lily's arrival, they also accept that Aina once existed and bid him farewell. In the end, they bid farewell to their former love and embraced each other's "Love is Love".
Will you still love me
when I'm no longer young and beautiful
when I got nothing but my aching soul
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will
Image credit: In the movie Danish Girl, Gerda hugs Lily, who has just completed gender reset surgery
"The Tight Seam of Life" made me feel calm and warmth; "Paris is Burning" let me see the entangled hope and despair. The most intuitive feeling that "Danish Girl" gives me is the contradiction and entanglement.
I'm happy that Lily is who I am, but I'm also sad for Gerda. Two people who love each other have to compete for the same happiness: when Lily chooses to be herself, Gerda will lose her husband; when Gerda leaves her husband behind, Lily can no longer be Lily, and will have to carry a burden that does not belong to her own body, and she will stagger to live.
When watching "Danish Girl", the general audience, while being moved by Lily's mental journey and firm choice, may have sympathy for the wife who has lost her husband, and may be more or less dissatisfied with the behavior of marital infidelity.
Image credit: In the movie "Danish Girl", Gerda puts makeup on "Elna" for the first time
They live strongly in that world and don't need to be sympathized with. They need to be respected. They deserve to be respected. So do we. It was nothing more than a confused decision by God to put a girl in the wrong body, and he was determined to correct that mistake. The film depicts Ena's state of mind change through ingenious sets and costumes, and his wife Gerda is the Gerda who still understands and supports Lily after experiencing pain and struggle, and Lily is the Lily who still firmly chooses to become herself after struggling exploration. Let us see the bravery of pursuing freedom and pursuing ourselves, which is touching.
Image source: The Danish Girl
I used to think Of Denmark Girl was a tragedy, but now I don't think it's exactly.
The last ten minutes of the movie are a tearful spot for me, Lily completes the last surgery, but her life also comes to an end. She said that last night she had one of the most beautiful dreams, in which her mother hugged her when she was a child and called her: "Lily." ”
After Lily's death, Hans and Gerda returned to Aina's hometown, the place where he had repeatedly sketched in his paintings, the place where Lily was really born, Vajle.