Danny Cohen’s (DOP) work on The Danish Girl is some of my favourite cinematography, probably ever. One of the rare films in which the cinematography is so informed by character. At it’s core, The Danish Girl is about two married artists that have to grapple with their relationship as Einar transitions to Lily, a transgender pioneer. The film is set against the backdrop of early 20th century Copenhagen and the art of the characters is such a profoundly important ‘character’ in the film. Einar’s landscapes and Gerda’s portraits are seen everywhere in the film in both the background and the foreground.

One of the extraordinary things about this scene is the softness of the light. Tom Hooper, the director became incredibly inspired by the paintings of Vilhelm Hammershøi, a danish artist from the same time period as the principal characters. The production design team replicated Hammershøi’s apartment from his paintings and Cohen attempted to replicate the lighting characteristics of many of his paintings within the space that was constructed. Hooper explained in a documentary that they were, “trying to capture this incredible softness in the light you get in these long summer evenings in the north.” What makes the cinematography of the apartment even more breathtaking is the way it is so often seen in wide shots.

Cohen’s framing is also important in this scene. Early in the scene, framing Redmayne off axis and without speaking room, this creates a sort of tension in the way the composition relates Lily and Gerda. The edit appears a little jumpy because they appear on the same side of frame and Lily is at first framed wider than Gerda which again, highlights the distance between the characters. When the camera eventually does move in, it becomes evident that there is at least some fill from the ceiling that adds a really beautiful highlight to Lily’s hair as well as obviously the copious amount of soft key from the window. The colour in the scene is rather measured and feels a little bleached, as does most of the film. I think this is most likely because of the historical nature of the film but also the way the film feels so much like a painting. So many of the images, especially later in the film with the night scene by the window or the scenes at the end of the film where a little more colour is present, feel like Hammershøi’s paintings and this is a testament to the way they so elegantly blend story and character through lighting.