The danish girl designers create visual harmony with style the. Oscar nominee eve stewart of the danish girl reveals how she evoked the emotions of a. The danish girl is a delicate, elegant novel about the search for ones true self when ones body, as an external encasement, doesnt mirror what is on the inside. His book is based on the reallife story of einar wegener, a danish. How the danish girl made it to the screen after a 15. The danish girl tells the story of painter einar wegener, the. The danish girl may cater to stereotypes of femininity, but at least the feminine self that lili adopts, all obvious signifiers, in search of objectification feels credibly rooted in the storys time period. The production designer eve stewart explains the process that. Step inside the oscarnominated sets of the danish girl. Paco delgado, oscarnominated costume designer for the danish girl, feels that personal statements made by the clothing in a film are just as important as period authenticity.
The danish girl is nominated for production design for oscars 2016. Ebershoff, executive editor at random house, tells the story of a man who gets turned into a woman. This was after approximately two decades of believing that he was a woman trapped in a mans body, a feeling that grew stronger as the years passed. The danish girl by david ebershoff the danish girl, by david ebershoff opens in copenhagen in 1925 with a wonderful enigmatic four word sentence his wife knew first. Lili and gerdas marriage and work evolve as they navigate lilis groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer. The novel is a fictionalized account of the life of lili elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery. The oscar nominees alicia vikander and eddie redmayne portray the married. The first script was done in 2004 and ultimately the production spent 15 years in development before filming began. To put the lives of two artists on film for the danish girl, the production designer used. In fact, oliver has edited everything for hooper with the exception of the oscarwinning film, the kings speech 2010.
Set in copenhagen between 19261931, the danish girl stars eddie redmayne as einarlili and alicia vikander as einars wife, gerda. Production designer eve stewart notes, i was struck by the tenderness with. How do you think greta will react when she hears the news. The danish girl, although with an admirable production behind it, does not do much to help the transgender community. Admittedly, theres some striking imagery that will surely grab you. The film stars eddie redmayne as elbe, one of the first known recipients of sex reassignment surgery, alicia vikander as wegener, and sebastian koch as kurt warnekros. The danish girl movie set starring eddie redmayne and.
How does a production designer express a characters state of mind through the look of a scene. Here is a book that truly makes the reader stop and question one of our most rigidly held fundaments of identity, gender. Although the film the danish girl seems to have tapped in to the current lgbt cultural zeitgeist and is very of its moment, the movie was actually in development for over 10 years. Greta asks her husband einar to wear silk stockings and feminine shoes to pose for her, so that she can continue painting a portrait in the absence of the female model. The story of transgender pioneer lili elbe is stripped of complexity and danger in favour of slick, sumptuous. She lost her life to the risk of the surgery, but for 14 months she lived as her true self for the very first time. Based on david ebershoffs novel of the same name, the film tells the story of. The danish girl 2015 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Before we get into this book, wed like to pause to make sure were all on the same page.
In researching the danish girl true story, we learned that einar even chose the date that he would kill himself, may 1, 1930 einars desire to commit suicide is only briefly hinted at in the movie. Lili and gerdas marriage and work evolve as they navigate lilis groundbreaking journey. Everything you need to know about the danish girl movie 2015. Get the latest updates, photos and videos for the 88th academy awards. The danish girl vs the true story of lili elbe, gerda wegener. He is also the author of the novel pasadena and the. Paco delgado, oscarnominated costume designer for the danish girl, feels that personal statements made by the clothing in a film are just as. The costuming will be spectacular, but not try overly hard to present itself as such. The films writer lucinda coxon last wrote the little stranger and crimson peak.
His book is based on the reallife story of einar wegener, a danish artist who 70 years ago became the first man to be medically transformed into a womanlong. The danish girl production designer eve stewart variety artisans. With eddie redmayne, alicia vikander, amber heard, ben whishaw. Inspired by the true story of early 20th century married danish painters einar and gerda wegener, like david ebershoffs 2000 book on which its based, the danish girl is a fictionalized account of einars physical transition to lili elbe. How the danish girl costume designer made eddie redmayne a believable woman it was a huge responsibility and i hope we have achieved something positive, paco delgado tells thewrap.
Paperback published in 2015, 0140298487 paperback published in 2001, 0143108395 paperback published in 2015, kindle. The two begin the movie as husband and wife in what seems to be the most picture perfect 1920s european relationship. Both actors delivered powerful performances of two very heroic characters. The french trailer bandannonce for the danish girl, starring eddie redmayne nominated for best actor, alicia vikander for best supporting actress, also nominated for production design and costume design. Contender production designer eve stewart, the danish girl. The danish girl, from book to the big screen david ebershoff on writing his debut novel, the danish girl, which has been adapted into a major motion picture starring eddie redmayne. Tom hooper interview about the danish girl popsugar. A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of danish artists lili elbe and gerda wegener. The danish girl production designer eve stewart variety. To put the lives of two artists on film for the danish girl, the production designer used their art as inspiration. In the danish girl, lilis last words were, last night i dreamt about mother. But the preternaturally sympathetic way with which the world responds to her is precious fantasy.
The danish girl is a fascinating example of a wellmade and timely moviethat took 15 years to get made that makes some people just a tad uncomfortable. The movie was released to critical acclaim and an academy award for best supporting actress alicia vikander with nominations for best actor redmayne, best costume design, and best production design. David ebershoffs debut novel, the danish girl, won the 2000 lambda literary award for transgender fiction and has been adapted into a major motion picture starring academy awardwinner eddie redmayne. The movie itself, again, based on a fictionalized account, is an extremely condensed version of that period and if the viewer isnt familiar with the story, can get. This change resulted from the art directors branch of the academy of motion picture arts and sciences ampas being renamed the designers branch. They are both artists and really help support each other through their art. It is also about what makes a marriage and how far a woman will go to let her husband find his true self, knowing that she will likely lose him in the process. We had his books and paintings around for the team to reference constantly. The danish girl movie set starring eddie redmayne and alicia. The book s stunning selection of scandinavian design ranges from individual products to skillfully staged living spaces.
But speaking of the heart, the danish girl is more likely to appeal to the head. The academy award for best production design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. Contender editor melanie oliver, the danish girl below. The producers he says a production company name, but i cannot hear what he says. The films english production designer eve stewart and spanish costumer designer. A year after eddie redmayne proved his incredible capacity for reinvention in the theory of everything, the frecklefaced brit pulls off the ultimate identity overhaul as the danish girl. The film received four oscar nominations, including best production design, best costume design, best actor in a leading role redmayne and best actress in a supporting role, which. Lili and gerdas marriage and work evolve as they navigate lilis groundbreaking journey as. The danish girl ist eine usamerikanischbritische filmbiografie aus dem jahr 2015. The danish girl is not a novelization of an amazing historical anecdoteit is a beautifully written, senstivelyhandled, and deeplyengaging novel that it absolutely one of the best i have read in recent years.
In 2000, neil labute and gail mutrux optioned david ebershoffs book the danish girl, with plans for labute to write and direct. Going back to the novel and the diaries, stewart says, there was an odd. Nominees in the category for period films include bridge of spies whose production designer, adam stockhausen, won an oscar last year for the grand budapest hotel, crimson peak, danish girl, the. Director tom hoopers the danish girl tells the story of danish artist einar wegenerlili elbe eddie redmayne and his journey as a transgender pioneer in the early 1920s.
The danish girl is just as much about greta as it is about lilieinar. The danish girl is a 2015 biographical romantic drama film directed by tom hooper, based on the 2000 novel of the same name by david ebershoff, and loosely inspired by the lives of danish painters lili elbe and gerda wegener. The danish girl, which is up for four academy awards, including best achievement in production design, tells the story of a transgender pioneer eddie redmayne, who begins the transition from. The remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists lili elbe and gerda wegener, portrayed by academy award winner eddie redmayne the theory of everything and alicia vikander ex machina, and directed by academy award winner tom hooper the kings speech, les miserables. Caitlyn jenner should always be referred to as caitlyn, no matter which era of her life. A look at the the danish girl behindthescenes crew and production team. Academy award for best production design wikipedia. Director tom hooper and editor melanie oliver have been collaborating just as long. The best actress category had a starstudded lineup with cate blanchett, carol, jennifer lawrence, joy, charlotte rampling, 45 years, saoirse ronan, brooklyn and brie larson, room, who took home the oscar. The danish girl revolves mainly around two characters, einar wegenerlili elbe eddie redmayne and gerda wegener alicia vikander. The film the danish girl is a remarkable love story inspired by the lives of lili.