The Danish Girl
When Gerda Wegener asks her husband Einar to fill in as a portrait model, Einar discovers the person she's meant to be and begins living her life as Lili Elbe. Having realized her true self and with Gerda's love and support, Lili embarks on a groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.
Despite a moderate budget of $15.0M, The Danish Girl became a financial success, earning $64.2M worldwide—a 328% return.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
The Danish Girl (2015) reveals meticulously timed story structure, characteristic of Tom Hooper's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 59 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.9, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Einar Wegener paints his signature Danish marshland landscapes in Copenhagen, 1926. He and wife Gerda live as successful artists in apparent domestic harmony, their marriage defined by artistic partnership and bourgeois respectability.. Of particular interest, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 15 minutes when Gerda asks Einar to model as a woman when her female model Ulla cancels. Einar puts on stockings and women's shoes, and the touch of feminine fabric against his skin triggers something profound - the awakening of Lili.. At 13% through the film, this Disruption is delayed, allowing extended setup of the story world. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 30 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This shows the protagonist's commitment to Einar makes the choice to go out publicly as Lili, not for a costume event but simply to exist as herself. This marks the irreversible crossing from private experimentation to claiming a female identity in the world., moving from reaction to action.
At 60 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Significantly, this crucial beat Einar is diagnosed by multiple doctors as mentally ill - schizophrenic, perverted, homosexual. The medical establishment offers only radiation therapy and institutionalization. This false defeat reveals the hostile world Lili faces and raises stakes: she may lose her freedom or life pursuing her truth., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 89 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Lili undergoes the first surgery. The operation is dangerous and experimental. Gerda must confront that even if Lili survives, Einar - her husband - is gone forever. The whiff of death is literal: Lili may not survive, and metaphorical: their marriage has died., shows the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 96 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Lili decides to undergo a second surgery to complete her transition, despite the extreme risks. She synthesizes her journey: she would rather die as her true self than live any other way. Gerda supports her decision with unconditional love., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
The Danish Girl's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping The Danish Girl against these established plot points, we can identify how Tom Hooper utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish The Danish Girl within the drama genre.
Tom Hooper's Structural Approach
Among the 2 Tom Hooper films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 6.8, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. The Danish Girl represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Tom Hooper filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more Tom Hooper analyses, see Les Misérables.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Einar Wegener paints his signature Danish marshland landscapes in Copenhagen, 1926. He and wife Gerda live as successful artists in apparent domestic harmony, their marriage defined by artistic partnership and bourgeois respectability.
Theme
Gerda remarks on the feminine quality in Einar's landscapes, asking "What do you see when you paint them?" - hinting at the hidden feminine identity within Einar that even his art cannot fully suppress.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of Einar and Gerda's artistic life in Copenhagen. We see their creative partnership, social circle including Hans Axgil, and the world of 1920s European art society. Gerda struggles to sell her portraits while Einar's landscapes succeed.
Disruption
Gerda asks Einar to model as a woman when her female model Ulla cancels. Einar puts on stockings and women's shoes, and the touch of feminine fabric against his skin triggers something profound - the awakening of Lili.
Resistance
Einar debates his feelings internally while "Lili" becomes Gerda's muse. They attend the Artists' Ball with Einar dressed as Lili, treating it as a game. Gerda's portraits of Lili gain attention. Einar becomes increasingly drawn to expressing his feminine self, while Gerda initially treats it as artistic inspiration and playful experimentation.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Einar makes the choice to go out publicly as Lili, not for a costume event but simply to exist as herself. This marks the irreversible crossing from private experimentation to claiming a female identity in the world.
Mirror World
Hans Axgil, Einar's childhood friend, reconnects with them. He represents authentic acceptance - he knew Einar as a boy who kissed him, and will come to recognize and accept Lili. His presence introduces the possibility of being loved for one's true self.
Premise
Lili emerges more fully. Gerda's paintings of Lili become sensations in Paris. The couple relocates to Paris where Lili can live more freely. Einar and Lili begin to feel like separate people sharing one body. Gerda's art career flourishes while she watches her husband transform into someone else entirely.
Midpoint
Einar is diagnosed by multiple doctors as mentally ill - schizophrenic, perverted, homosexual. The medical establishment offers only radiation therapy and institutionalization. This false defeat reveals the hostile world Lili faces and raises stakes: she may lose her freedom or life pursuing her truth.
Opposition
Lili faces persecution from the medical establishment and society. Gerda struggles with losing her husband while trying to support Lili. Their marriage strains as Einar increasingly becomes Lili full-time. A sympathetic doctor, Kurt Warnekros, finally offers hope through experimental gender confirmation surgery in Dresden.
Collapse
Lili undergoes the first surgery. The operation is dangerous and experimental. Gerda must confront that even if Lili survives, Einar - her husband - is gone forever. The whiff of death is literal: Lili may not survive, and metaphorical: their marriage has died.
Crisis
Recovery from surgery. Lili awakens as legally and physically female. Gerda processes the grief of losing her husband while celebrating Lili's survival. The marriage is officially dissolved. Both women must reimagine their identities and relationship.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Lili decides to undergo a second surgery to complete her transition, despite the extreme risks. She synthesizes her journey: she would rather die as her true self than live any other way. Gerda supports her decision with unconditional love.
Synthesis
Lili undergoes the second surgery in Dresden. Complications arise. Gerda stays by her side. Hans visits, accepting Lili fully. In her final days, Lili expresses no regrets - she lived authentically, even briefly. She dies from surgical complications but at peace with who she became.
Transformation
Gerda and Hans stand at the Danish marshland that Einar once painted. A scarf - Lili's scarf - blows free in the wind and soars over the landscape. The image transforms: where the Status Quo showed Einar painting these marshes while hiding his true self, now Lili is free, her spirit released into the landscape she always loved.