Based on the life of the world's first transgender person, the film tells the story of one of the world's earliest Danish painters to undergo gender reset surgery and his wife. The film shows us the psychological struggles of a transgender person and his family, as well as the criticism and misunderstandings encountered in that era.
Transgender: Transgender usually refers to a person who is psychologically unable to identify with their innate biological gender and believes that they should belong to another gender. - Encyclopedia
The protagonists and husbands in the film are both painters, and the landscape paintings of husband Enne are very popular, while the portraits of his wife Goda are not popular.
During a creation, the model who was his wife Goda missed the appointment, and in order to catch up with the schedule, Goda asked her husband to help try on the shoes and socks and dresses of the female model.
But when Ena looked down at the skirt under his own perspective and the legs under the stockings, a strange look grew in his heart, he reached out his hand to caress the satin skirt like an elegant woman, he was short of breath, but there was a trace of uncontrollable excitement in the panic, which was the first appearance of The female personality of Ena "Lily".
One day, out of a game mentality, his wife Goda proposed to let Ena dress up as a woman to go to a dance, And Enna felt incredible, even a little crazy, but he could not hide his heartbeat, excitement, and yearning.
In the process of dressing up, Enna showed a higher makeup talent than Goda, he posed in a variety of elegant poses, learned women's walking postures, behavior and movements, and showed a more unique vision than Goda in selecting clothes. Throughout the dress-up, Ena was in it and enjoyed it, like a fish back in the water, cheerful, comfortable, and unrestrained.
Accompanied by Goda, Aina blends into the ball, and in order to hide her eyes, they call her husband in female costume "Lily". The men at the ball were deeply attracted by "Lily's" beauty and temperament, and even an infatuated man, Henrik, pestered "Lily", expressed his love to her and asked to kiss her. At this time, "Lily" had tears in her eyes and responded to Henrik's show of love, which happened to be seen by Goda, who came to look for her husband, and she was shocked and angry.
After the dance, Goda felt that she could not let the situation continue like this, she hoped that "Lily" would not appear again, AndEna agreed, but at the same time, he also confided to Goda that he could not ignore the existence of "Lily", and "Lily" had completely awakened at this time.
Sitting in front of the canvas, Enne could no longer concentrate on painting, he could not control the trembling of his hands and the movement of his heart, and in the face of Goda's concern, he just repeated "I'm fine" over and over again.
Godard looked at the portrait she had previously painted for the sleeping Aina and fell into contemplation, and she suddenly burst into inspiration and created a series of paintings based on "Lily". When she brought the paintings to the dealer the next day, she received unexpected feedback and praise, and "Lily" became Goda's muse of inspiration.
As time went on, "Lily" not only did not disappear, but instead had a stronger and stronger sense of existence, and Ena even began to dislike the male body that rejected him.
Goda's paintings became increasingly popular, but Hena could no longer afford to pick up a brush due to the frequent appearance of "Lily". Her husband's torment suppressed Goda in her eyes, so she went to seek the help of her husband's childhood friend Hans.
It turns out that "Lily" has appeared once as early as Aina's childhood, when Lily is full of admiration for the teenager Hans.
Goda introduces Hans to Lily, Goda looks at her husband's split "Lily" and expresses his admiration to Hans, Hans watches his former friend become like this, "Lily" or Enne struggles between the two identities, Enna loves his wife Goda, but "Lily" loves Hans...
Her husband's pain, suffering, and depression were all in her eyes, and her love and tolerance for her husband prevailed, and Goda gradually accepted Aina's "Lily". Unable to continue painting, Aena modeled Goda, whose paintings became increasingly popular.
But living in such a situation, Goda finally collapsed one day, she could not face all this alone, could not keep this secret alone, she needed her husband's care, she needed her husband's embrace, but these "Lily" could not do it. Equally devastated was Enne, who loved his wife but longed to be the real "Lily".
On his way back, He was harassed by two men, who teased him about his gender, who called him "gay" or "lesbian," and Enne's rebellion provoked them to beat him up.
An injured Aina appears in front of Hans, he does not want his wife to see him like this, at the same time, he also came to seek an answer, to seek a way out. Hans brought in various doctors for him, and in Enne's own words, "I don't know what kind of help I need, but I can't keep living without knowing who I am", and he struggled in that era, searching for his identity, whether he was a man or a woman. But doctors thought he was crazy and wrote "schizophrenia" on his diagnosis to lock him up.
Fortunately, his wife Goda stood firmly by his side, protecting him and protecting "Lily". The next day, his wife took him to see a professor. The professor confessed that he could help Enacher become a woman completely, and his wife Goda was worried about the safety of the operation, but Ena could not hide his inner excitement, he said, "This is my only chance."
Eventually, with the farewell of his wife Godard and his friend Hans, he leaves with the professor and embarks on the path of becoming a woman through and through.
The operation was painful, but at the most difficult time his wife Goda came, she knew that "Lily" needed her own company, and although the man in front of her would no longer be her husband, she still loved him. After the first stage of surgery, they returned to Denmark together, where Lily became a perfume salesman and had a brief happy time as a woman.
Soon, Enna found the professor again, hoping to do the second stage of surgery quickly, hoping that he would soon become a woman. This time, Hans and Goda were with him.
The surgery was successful, but unfortunately, Lily contracted an infection after the operation. But at the moment she had become a real woman, correcting God's mistakes from the beginning. Eventually, she left the world as a full-fledged woman.
Postscript: Lily. Elber's diary became a blueprint for the subversive tradition of "masculine women" published in 1993, and her bravery and avant-garde spirit still inspire the transgender movement today.