Movie Review: The Lady in the Van

Biography/comedy/drama

Rated – M

Duration –1 hour 44 mins

Release – March 2016

Director –Nicholas Hytner

Writer - Alan Bennett

Cast –Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim broadbent
 
Mr Knight

I’ll start by proudly stating that I don’t mind a good Maggie Smith movie! Known to the younger crowd for her role in Harry Potter as Professor McGonagall, one of my personal favourites featuring her is a dark humoured murder mystery, Keeping Mum. So I had high hopes for this one coming into the cinema.

The Lady in the Van is the true story of a transient senior citizen, Miss Shepherd (Maggie Smith), who shifts her beat up van up and down Gloucester Street, Camden Town, in the UK choosing random spots sporadically to park and settle in to live. The whole street is accustomed to her antics and enjoy to gossip about which house she chooses to park in front of next.

She is bitter, hates music, snappy to the residents and as they soon learn by her yelling in their faces “I’M A BUSY WOMAN!” The newest resident to the street that quickly meets this mysterious hobo, is playwright Alan Bennett (Alex Jennings), who narrates the story and has a strange way of telling it through an imaginary version of himself. The imaginary form whom he considers the writer, whilst he considers himself as the living resident. He continues to debate with his imaginary self throughout the movie which after a while seems quite normal.

This true tale spans over twenty years with Miss Shephard sharing a strange bond with Mr Bennett resulting in her eventually parking and living in his driveway. The relationship they share is challenging and at times sweet, but I felt the movie could have been directed to be a little more fun.

The movie itself was full of little jokes here and there with Miss Shephard spitting out some hilarious lines, but I never got the fun music it needed to lift some moments and bring laughs instead of simple smiles. I wanted to be uplifted at times but instead many scenes fell flat, where I thought they would have had a lot of potential!

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. It had its moments. The story had a good history bringing some closure to Miss Shephard’s character and how she got to where she was but I really wanted to enjoy it more and I simply couldn’t get there. A good one to take your mum, or gran to. Mrs Knight and I were the youngest in the cinema by 20 years! Enjoy. 



 

Mrs Knight

The only thing I knew about this film was that it’s a chalkie (old person) flick with Professor McGonagall, aka Maggie Smith. In hindsight, I suppose that is all you really need to know. It’s also worth noting that it’s based on true events, which usually gets me over the line with movies.

Set in London, the opening scene involves a car crash which introduces to the audience their first mystery. Followed by the second mystery, who is this quirky homeless lady set years later who lives in her van? The lady, is Maggie Smith’s character, Ms Shepherd who continuously parks herself outside various houses of the neighbourhood. She is a stubborn old lady, who is very rude to her neighbours despite their best effort to give her kindness.

Over time she ends up forming an unlikely friendship with playwright, Alan Bennet who is constantly battling his own issues and sorting the thoughts in his head. He is split between being a writer and being himself.

The movie had some LOL moments, with light-hearted comedy provided by Ms Shepherd. Such as her quirky characteristics of painting her van bright yellow and acting like it is perfectly reasonable to live out of a van outside someone else’s house. I found her character and little face that looks like she’s sucked on a lemon quite cute.

Despite being the youngest person in the cinema, I really wanted to enjoy the movie. As I do love a good chalkie flick with chalkie humour. I’m married to Mr Knight after all (dad jokes central). However, I found it quite boring and was far more interested in my popcorn. If you’re 30 years older than me you might enjoy it, or if you’re looking to take your parents to the movies. But for me, unfortunately this one will remain unmemorable and a bit of a nothing film for me. 

Movie Review: BATMAN V SUPERMAN: Dawn of Justice

Action/Adventure/Fantasy
 
Rated – M

Duration –2 hours 31 mins

Release – March 2016

Director –Zack Snyder

Cast –Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Jeremy Irons
 
Mr Knight

After a long wait, Mrs Knight and I finally walked into the cinema to see for ourselves whether this new DC instalment was up to standard. When I say that, it’s fair to say the latest Superhero flicks have been getting better and better. The first Avengers, X-Men: Days of Futures Past, and Deadpool come to mind. When it comes to Batman v Superman however, trying to up the standard of Chris Nolan and Christian Bale’s Dark Knight Trilogy is a hard task!

Now there will be haters out there, but since The Town, Argo and Gone Girl, I’ve become a Ben Affleck fan. It was actually Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel that I found the weakest aspect of the movie. Ben Affleck took the character and I think set the foundations for more Batman movies to come. His Batman was massive, where Bale was lean, he didn’t sport a lisp, and he had just the right amount of anger and ruthlessness, stating to Jeremy Irons’ Alfred, that he had accepted that he was considered a criminal when Alfred questions his deadly methods.

The story cleverly puts Gotham just over the harbour from Metropolis to explain the separation from each characters individual movies and the film starts from Bruce Wayne’s perspective, watching Superman and General Zod turn Metropolis into their plaything, leaving twisted metal, bricks and dead bodies along with one of Wayne’s massive offices and close friends. What follows is a deep loathing from Batman which I think made a lot of sense. I remember watching Man of Steel with Mrs Knight and commenting on how Superman, to kill Zod, trashes a whole city leaving probably thousands dead, without batting an eye… Strange. So I’m glad common sense prevailed and Zack Snyder used that issue!

Throughout their grudge (as Clarke Kent doesn’t like Batman’s brutal methods) this franchise introduces Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luther, the movies true villain, who I’ve never liked, but I think it’s because Eisenberg plays that annoying, nasal, a-hole so well. Luther uses his money and influence to obtain alien items in which he shouldn’t which no doubt brews some trouble.

Women’s rights and comic book fans can now rejoice with beautiful Gal Gadot’s mysterious Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) stepping into the scene, but I have to criticise the way Zack Snyder played this card. She is actually in the film quite a bit, and she speaks with Bruce Wayne, much like the Dark Knight’s Cat Woman (Anne Hathaway), but she never introduces herself and you never hear her name with the exception of a stewardess on a plane calling it out. I found that very weird! If you didn’t know from the hype that she was Wonder Woman, how would a new fan find out?

If you compare this epic to the Nolan Trilogy I don’t think it quite matches it, but it’s very, very close. The minute you put an animated monster in a movie it loses its realism like the Dark Knight movies. It had great moments of cinematography, music, direction and acting, creating truly enjoyable scenes to watch, however there were others that felt a touch cheesy bringing it down a level from what this movie could have been. I ended up walking out as a remaining Batman fan and found my time for Superman is less and less. Have a look for yourself and you decide who you prefer. A good hero flick with promise of an exciting Justice League to come… PS don’t wait for the end of the credits like a Marvel fan. DC don’t seem to share that bit of fun!

 

  

Mrs Knight

There’s no denying there’s a lot of hype around this ‘Man of Steel’ sequel. Especially when Ben Affleck was revealed to play the iconic Batman. A lot of people were disappointed with this choice, but I was immediately excited. I think he’s a good actor and I had faith he could pull it off. Luckily, I wasn’t disappointed with his portrayal.

If you’re anything like me then you weren’t too impressed with the trailer, I found it a bit weak. Especially the banter when Wonder Woman arrives and Superman and Batman look at each other and do the whole “Is she with you?” “I thought she was with you”. I cringed every time. Rest assured the movie is better than the trailer and this scene is far less awkward and lame than the trailer will have you believe.

The movie opens quickly bringing you up to speed with how Batman is a part of the Man of Steal story and why they are fighting against each other. It also gives you background on the familiar tale of how Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. I really liked how the bat sequences were shot. The whole film, was visually very beautiful. There are some great shots later in fight scenes with Superman’s red cape draped over dark grimy rubble as he is dragged along.

The costumes of Superman, Batman and Wonder Women were all great. They all managed to make sense in today’s world which is a bit of a challenge for superhero movies. Batman/Bruce Wayne was the stronger character of the movie and I found Superman/Clarke Kent a little weak. He didn’t really have any personality or do anything cool or interesting, he was just there to fly around and use his strength. Gal Gadot played the character of Wonder Woman. I found her believable. She’s so incredibly beautiful she didn’t have to do much other than just be there in all her glory and kick ass when required.

As a set up film it did what it was required to do. It introduced us to the relationship between Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. It also gave us a glimpse of what’s to come in the Justice League movies. Since it was more of an introductory film it was a little slow in parts, I got a bit restless half way as it felt clunky the way it kept flipping back and forth between the characters with nothing much happening. But it drew me back in at the end.

A few side notes worth mentioning, when Alfred came on the screen. Who is this babe? He is way too young and good looking to be Alfred. IMDB later told me he is actually 67 years old. Another side note while we’re on the topic of babes, well done Ben Affleck, well done.

I can’t believe I have gone through my whole review without mentioning my favourite part. Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luther! This excited me more than Affleck playing Batman as I thought it was a perfect role for him. He was everything I hoped he would be, to the point where he was a little predictable. I think they need to dial down the crazy a little, but now that his part has been introduced I think his character will evolve and be better in the next one.

Don’t go in with too high hopes as it’s just a bit of a nothing, background movie. The story line isn’t super engaging and as a whole it feels a little long. I didn’t walk out of it on a high or raving about how great it is, but I’m still looking forward to the next one. Just enjoy it for what it is, a different way of telling a familiar story. 

 


 

Movie Review: Spotlight

Drama

Rated - M

Duration - 2 hours 8 mins

Release - Feb 2016

Director - Tom McCarthy

Cast - Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, Live Schreiber

Mr KNIGHT

This is a movie that I heard was nominated for awards… but that was all I had heard. After a little bit of intrigue from the Oscar buzz I looked a little deeper. I was happy to find a stack of first class actors featuring in Spotlight. Ruffalo, McAdams, Keaton, Schreiber to name some biggies, along with some other familiar faces like John Slattery the silver fox from Mad Men, the Devil Wear’s Prada’s Stanley Tucci and Watchmen’s bright blue Doctor Manhattan, Billy Crudup.

Spotlight follows a small investigative team (named after the films title) of the Boston Globe, a popular newspaper, who write exposés on local scandals. The team is run by Michael Keaton’s Robby and it is business as usual until the globe hires new editor from Time Magazine, Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber). Baron tasks the Spotlight team to delve into a suspected scandal in the Catholic Church and the possible abuse of children by the priesthood.

Based on true events set in the early 2000’s, this film really raises the veil on the corruption and misdeeds of the Catholic Church back from the 70’s all the way through to when the movie was set in just the Boston area alone. The Spotlight teams’ investigators headed by Mark Ruffalo’s persistent, bulldog-like Mike Rezendes chases the story through a small time lawyer gutsy enough to take on the Church, Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci). Rachel McAdams Sasha Pfeiffer in the meantime finds the victims and discovers their stories.

I found the entire cast gave brilliant performances. Ruffalo was passionate and wore his heart on his sleeve. Schreiber was focused and driven. Keaton was contemplative and refused to make the same mistakes of the past. I enjoyed how each actor did their bit without trying to steal the show and that made the story flow and feel more genuine.

Besides the performances, the actual content of this movie gave me an uncomfortable feeling as the scandal and cover-ups grew and grew. My advice for viewers is prepare yourself for a great movie, with an upsetting theme. As one chalkie unknown to me said on the way out of the cinema, “That was a powerful movie.”

 

Mrs KNIGHT

For those of you who don’t know, Spotlight won Best Picture at the Oscars this year. I feel like I’m throwing around a lot of 4 Star ratings these days, however, I agree this Award is well deserved.

The film is based on the true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese. This story comes into view upon the appointment of a new editor, Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber). Once he joins the team, he mentions to the team of Boston Globe’s ‘Spotlight’ investigative team that he thinks there is more to this case than what has previously been revealed.

Once the team, led by Michael Keaton’s character Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson, begin to investigate more and more secrets are revealed. The reporters working on the story are played by a strong cast including Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo and Brian d’Arcy James.

The movie kept me engaged as it reveals different sides of the story, while profiling a couple of different victims and their experiences. I liked that the whole film focused on them uncovering the investigation and the feelings this evoked within the reporters rather than their personal lives. Each character equally contributed to the investigation. There was no one stand out performance from the actors, the entire ensemble performed strong as a whole.

How the scandal is uncovered is very well written. Overall, it was interesting, engaging and at times shocking. It made the audience feel uncomfortable with communal sighs and groans as more was revealed. There is not much lightness or anything uplifting about it, however this wouldn’t have been appropriate given the subject matter and content. This is a good one, I highly recommend it for all.

 

Movie Review: Deadpool

Comedy/Action

Rated - MA15+

Duration - 1hr 48 mins

Release - Feb 2016

Director - Tim Miller
 
Cast - Ryan Reynolds, T.J. Miller, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein

 
Mr KNIGHT
 
Comic book fans rejoice. Finally the big screen has delivered us a not so super hero movie that has the action, the laughs and the freedom to not be held back with the restrictions of an M rating for the kiddies, splattering the cinema with blood, limbs and flippant coarse language.

Ryan Reynolds stars as the merc with the mouth, Wade Wilson, a former special ops assassin, turned mercenary, who gets struck down without warning by natures true nasties, cancer. In comes a sneaky, untrustworthy suit, who proposes an offer to Wade to make the sickness go away and add to it some super mutant perks.
 
As often most problems start with this, Wade decides to take on this experimental treatment for one main reason… the love in his life, Vanessa, the pixie looking (and in my opinion never aging vampire) Morena Baccarin.
 
Wade soon discovers the treatment isn’t all it's cracked up to be and despite it making him take on a super healing factor (much like Wolverine), it leaves his entire body, head to toe heavily scarred, looking as he describes himself “like a testicle with teeth.”
 
With the promise that he can have the damage reversed Wade hunts down his maker, with some gory kills and clever remarks along the way. The humour was intelligent and refreshing and throughout the movie, Wade, self-named Deadpool, talks to the audience as the story unfolds, adding an extra sliver of humour and ensuring the audience stays engaged.
 
Having seen Reynolds play Deadpool in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine with his role being somewhat different, Reynolds has stated to fans out there to pretty much erase that character from your memory and watch this movie with a untainted perspective. And that is exactly what I did.
 
The only flaw I really found with this movie is that I watched so many previews, clips and promotional material leading up to its release that a lot of the jokes weren’t new to me so the laughs didn’t come as strong and as often as it might have to someone who had never heard of this movie.
 
Despite that flaw in marketing and my over eagerness, I couldn’t find too much I didn’t like. The best friend Weasel, played by T.J. Miller also brought the laughs with some great descriptions of Wade’s post-experiment look.
 
Ed Skrein, seen in the latest and not very popular Transporter and as Daario Naharis in season 3 of Game of Thrones, plays Ajax our very nasty villain. I feel Skrein has potential but if he isn’t careful he may get typecast in this sort of role and might not get very far in Hollywood playing B-Grade roles. But I digress…
 
If you like the Marvel and DC franchise and you don’t mind a bit of dark humour and blood and guts get into the cinema and catch this one. This was the shake up the super hero movie world needed to get some real action, violence and laughs. No more deaths without blood and angry comments from heroes like “asshat!” 

Bravo Ryan Reynolds and bravo Deadpool. Stick around after the previews for two funny snippets at the end. Treat yourself.





 

Mrs KNIGHT
 
You don’t need me to tell you there has been A LOT of hype around the release of this film. The marketing started a year ago at least, possibly even longer. Deadpool is set in the Marvel Universe, specifically in the X-Men world. It tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who is played by Ryan Reynolds. After being used for an experiment to combat his cancer he is left with the ability to heal himself, which is where his alter ego Deadpool is born.
 
I know what you’re thinking, it sounds like every other superhero movie, so why is everyone raving? It's because this is the anti-hero movie. He is violent, crude and hilarious. This one is definitely an adults only comic-book movie.
 
The mood of the film is quickly established in the opening credits. It's very much a comedy as much as it is an action movie. The writers also did Zombieland which will give you an example of the type of gruesome and quick witted humour to expect, just amplified!
It is very quick paced with Green Lantern and X-Men Origins: Wolverine jokes scattered through it. So make sure you’re paying attention. It is in no way a sequel so even if you haven’t seen these previous movies, you will still enjoy it. Especially the Hugh Jackman references. 

I’m sure you have heard people say Deadpool is the role Ryan Reynolds was born to play. I would have to agree. I have always been a big fan of his, but he played this part perfectly. He was likeable and funny, while still being believable in the action scenes. His girlfriend Vanessa is played by Morena Baccarin who apparently has found the fountain of youth or as Mr Knight says is a vampire as she hasn’t aged a day. All the nerds out there will remember her from Firefly/Serenity or more recently the rest of you may have seen her in Homeland, as Brody’s wife. Either way, she also played her part extremely well and is a major babe.

I know this is a movie review, but may I take a moment to appreciate how damn good the marketing and publicity was. For example Hugh Jackman did a press tour being interviewed by media and by Ryan Reynolds himself, with only vague reference to the film. Let me just point out, Hugh Jackman isn't actually in the movie!  There were also Australia specific video footage, e.g. on Australia day and clever Valentines Day references. 

Overall, two thumbs up for Deadpool. I highly recommend you go see it if you don't get offended easily and can handle some gore. Now let's begin the countdown for Deadpool 2 in 2017!

Movie Review: Zoolander 2

Comedy

Rated – M

Duration –1hr 42mins

Release – Feb 2016

Director – Ben Stiller

Writer – Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux 

Cast – Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Penelope Cruz, Will Ferrell


Mr KNIGHT

Prior to seeing this one I watched its predecessor, Zoolander, which was released in 2001, starring much of the same cast. The first Zoolander follows the story of Derek Zoolander (Ben STILLER), the world’s most famous male model at the end of his game, his immediate competition and up and comer Hansel (Owen Wilson… he’s so hot right now), Time magazine’s reporter Matilda (Christine Taylor) and crazy fashion designer Jacobi Mugatu (Will Ferrell).

The original despite its silliness and stupidity is set in today’s world keeping some relative realism, with the exception of Zoolander stopping a ninja star with a magical look, Magnum. As a result it was light hearted, littered with famous celeb cameos and delivered many laughs and famous quotes by its incredibly dumb male models.

Zoolander 2 was not any of these things. The sequel takes us to 2016, 15 years after we left off with Derek in hiding as a result of his “The Derek Zoolander Centre for Kids Who Can’t Read Good” collapses and kills people, and Hansel is in hiding as a result of a disfiguring facial injury (which actually isn’t disfiguring).

The basic plot is celebrities are being assassinated and are posting selfies with Zoolander’s famous looks. As a result a cringe-worthy entry of Penelope Cruz as Interpol’s Fashion Police in Rome investigates the murders and needs Derek and Hansel to help (insert intense shudder of disgust).

The movie was a horrid mixture of The Da Vinci Code, Austin Powers, any Bond film and the original Zoolander, turning into this vile secret spy agency adventure with a blend of ridiculous moments which even include magic! Some parts actually reminded me of the ridiculous scary movies, epic movie and all the other parody spin offs taking the piss of their inspired themes. For example, Derek riding Penelope Cruz’s back like a dolphin as she swims like a submarine from a coastal island prison to the mainland, all because she was a swimsuit model. Are you FUCKIN' kidding me?!

To mention another ridiculous part of this film, Owen Wilson’s Hansel has run away from his secluded dessert home because a new “orgy group” whom he is in a relationship with, are all pregnant including a male sumo wrestler, a male midget and Kiefer Sutherland as himself. All this sort of humour wasn’t in line with its far better original and just made me think… how dumb! Which is ironic considering that dumb humour was the backbone of the original.

In the end Zoolander 2 was simply trying too hard. I did laugh out loud in various moments, but it was all jokes made in the same fashion as its former, and I suppose that’s why it was funny. Otherwise, it was quite possibly the worst movie I have seen in a long time, and that includes Mockingjay Part Two (and we all know how much I hated that one!)

Mrs Knight

Like many of us I was a huge fan of the original Zoolander, but with all sequels and re-makes I tried to go in with low expectations. The challenge of remaking a film like Zoolander is the first one is filled with silly humour that was popular at the time e.g. Austin Powers era. However, comedy has progressed and changed over the years. The original was a cult film that didn't do well in cinemas but was a huge hit afterwards and is funny for people who grew up loving it. This same humour just didn’t translate 15 years later. It was so overly stupid it felt forced and like it was trying too hard to be funny. That said, it does still have some LOL moments.

The original has Ben Stiller playing the world’s number one male model Derek Zoolander, who is at the end of his career and being beaten by Hansel, played by Own Wilson. It points fun at the fashion industry playing on the 'dumb model' stereotype and ridiculous fashion campaigns. The second film used much of the same formula, but should have focused more on the fashion industry today and having a laugh at it. For example, social media, Instagram fashion bloggers, the Kardashians, reality TV etc.. Instead, it went off on a strange tangent, trying to uncover a conspiracy theory. There was only really fashion related skits at the beginning.

To get a laugh it just jam packed as many celebrity cameos into the film as possible. They did this in the original too, but in a more skillful way. However, I did enjoy the contribution of Bieber, I thought his part was clever. The funniest parts were the recycled skits from the original, but all the new bits were just too far fetched and unnecessarily silly.

Will Ferrell's character Mugatu was definitely a highlight and without him it would have been a complete mess of a film. Overall, my advice is to go in with low expectations and try to enjoy it for what it is. Yes, it's silly, yes the marketing campaign was better than the actual movie, but it still produces a few laughs.

Mr KNIGHT'S list of TV's best Supporting Characters

 

Omar Little - The Wire

 "You come at the king, you best not miss."

The Robin Hood of the streets. The dealers fear him. He fears no one.

 Ari Gold - Entourage
 "Nobody's happy in this town except for the losers. Look at me, I'm miserable... That's why I'm rich."
The best, angriest and most effective agent in Hollywood.

 Boyd Crowder - Justified
 "I've been accused of being a lot of things. Inarticulate ain't one of 'em."
The most intelligent hillbilly in all of Harland County. He loves money, guns and blowing shit up!

 Crowley - Supernatural
"This isn't Wall Street, this is Hell! We have a little something called integrity."
This fast talking, whiskey swilling Scott was a demon with big aspirations. Now he's the King of Hell. The best thing to happen to Supernatural since Cas.

 Mr Harrow- Boardwalk Empire
 A war veteran with half a face, a scratchy drawl and the deadliest shot in Atlantic City. The most loyal man in the bootleg business. His moment is the last episode of season 3. Epic!

  
Lorne Malvo  - Fargo (season one)
" Mister, we're not friends. I mean, maybe we will be someday. But I gotta say, if that were me in your position... I would have killed that man."
The driest, sarcastic, funniest assassin in all of Minnesota.

Captain Raymond Holt - Brooklyn Nine-Nine
"What are you talking about? My hair is a mess."
 A man who loves statistics, flavourless foods, facts and a lack of emotion. The image above is him smiling. A very funny character.

Sandor Clegane/ The Hound - Game of Thrones
"Any man dies with a clean sword, I'll rape his fucking corpse."
The most badass, half burnt man in the seven kingdoms. Some of the best things said in Game of Thrones comes from his mouth.

 Michonne - The Walking Dead

"Anger makes you stupid. Stupid gets you killed."

The deadliest woman with a Samurai sword. Michonne is as tough as they get, but just as smart.

Hank Schrader - Breaking Bad

"Yeah right... and Shania Twain is gonna give me a tuggy."

Persistent, tough and a tongue as quick as his trigger finger.

Ethan Chandler - Penny Dreadful
"We are not like others. We have claws for a reason."
A sharp shooter from the USA, escaping from his past in London and killing monsters on the side. But Chandler doesn't just have his past to worry about. He has other secrets...

Root  - Person of Interest
"God is a little girl named the machine."
From cyber terrorist, to super spy, Root, with the assistance of the Machine, executes missions with a precise, deadly skill.

Movie review: The Danish Girl

Drama/ Biography

Rated – M

Duration –119mins

Release – Jan 2016

Director –Tom Hooper

Writer – David Ebershoff, Lucinda Coxon
 
Cast – Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Ben Whishaw

 
Mr Knight

I only had a mild interest coming into The Danish Girl. That interest being seeing Alicia Vikander again on the big screen! Set in Copenhagen, 1926, we are introduced to a young married couple, Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander) and Einar Wegener (Eddie Redmayne) who appear to be truly in love. Both successful artists, Einar being talented at landscapes and Gerda at portraits.

A short way into the movie, Gerda needs her husband to assist her in one of her latest art works and has Einar pose for her, wearing stockings, ladies heals and a white flowing dress draped over himself. Immediately you see Einar’s brain ticking and his body adjusting the feeling of being someone else.

Not long after the posing, both Gerda and Einar decide as a joke, to have Einar dress as a woman to a party, acting out to be Einar’s cousin, Lili. What seems like harmless fun to Gerda, turns out to be an awakening for Einar and soon he finds himself no longer comfortable in his own skin and Lili is his true self.

In no time at all Gerda realises she has opened Pandora’s Box and in doing so, destroys her marriage to Einar. As Einar slowly transforms into Lili more and more, Gerda does the only thing she knows best. She paints. A collection of Lili’s begins to form and those artworks quickly bring Gerda fame and with it Paris.

The story continues to slowly develop with Lili having some painful experiences with Doctors finding her sexuality to mean she is insane, and the general public being unaccepting. However, as I watched I found Lili in fact did receive a lot of support, from friends, old acquaintances and especially, which I couldn’t fathom, his wife Gerda.

Although Lili is the one finding herself and going through such massive change, it was Gerda who stuck by her the whole time. Always caring, supporting and never leaving her. I just couldn’t get it. All the while Gerda was slowly breaking inside. I felt more pity for her, than Lili.

The Danish Girl, was interesting, but the whole while I found Einar completely selfish. Not selfish because Einar shouldn’t be happy, but simply the way he treated his wife of seven years as he went through his transformation. I also found I didn’t feel as emotionally connected to Einar as I did Gerda. The trials and tribulations Einar came across as Lili, were few and far between and easily overcome, and I didn’t feel she had the challenges others may face in her shoes, especially in the 1920s.

All in all it was not bad but I didn’t feel emotionally drawn in. Well acted by both Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander.

Mrs Knight

I was very curious about this one. There has been a lot of Oscar talk in regards to Eddie Redmayne winning for the second year in a row. Last year he won for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Of course there has also been a lot of talk about this film given the subject matter. 2015 seemed to shine a spotlight on people who are transgender with everyone talking about Caitlyn Jenner, Cate McGregor and Laverne Cox. So the timing couldn’t have been better.

The Danish Girl is a biopic, set in the 1920’s, and based on the life of Einar Wenger (Eddie Redmayne), a Danish painter and his painter wife, Gerda (Alicia Vikander). They seem to be a happily married young couple, filled with laughter and passion. This slowly changes as Gerda encourages Einar to pose for her in stockings and heels so she can finish a painting. One thing leads to another and they decide he should dress as a woman at an event for a ‘bit of fun’. While we see glimpses of his fascination with women’s clothing prior, this is really the tipping point and each day following he becomes more and more himself, a woman named Lili. With this transition it puts a strain on their relationship as Gerda comes to terms with the fact that she has lost her husband.

The film is told from the point of view of Gerda, which I found interesting. It was clear the transition was hard for Lili, but Gerda was the one who had to come to terms with the ‘death’ of her husband. As Mr Knight said to me towards the end of the film, ‘Alicia Vikander should win an Oscar for Best Supporting Wife’ (she’s nominated for Best Supporting Actress). I couldn’t agree more. Alicia Vikander played this part brilliantly and I believed every minute. The same goes for Eddie Redmayne. A clear sign of great acting and a well-made film was how uncomfortable I felt at times. I actually found some scenes quite confronting.

I think this is an important story to tell as it promotes awareness and knowledge for the transgender community. The film was well made, but as I said it does have some confronting content so it may not be for everyone. Overall, I found it very interesting and it provoked a lot of different emotions as I followed her journey to becoming Lili.