Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”) transforms himself yet again in the superior drama “The Danish Girl”, playing Danish painter Einar Wegener, who became an icon in gender-reassignment surgery back in the 1920’s. Everything adds up perfectly well in Tom Hooper’s dazzling film, which profiles not only Lili Elbe, the woman who emerges from Einar, but also his loving wife Gerda (Alicia Vikander), who is an impressive woman in her own right. Although the story feels contemporary, director Tom Hooper never lets us forget that this is a period piece, set at a time when transgender-reassignment was something difficult to comprehend and such matters were never discussed in public. One can also applaud Danny Cohen’s beautiful cinematography, Alexandre Desplat’s haunting score and Paco Delgado’s astonishing costume design. These first rate elements are so perfect they never call attention to themselves. This allows us to focus on the actors onscreen, who are both incredibly convincing. “The Danish Girl” held me spellbound from start to finish. It’s an exquisite movie.

Rating: 3/4