Predictably and understandably, this film about one of the first known people to undergo a surgical sex change has been criticised for tweaking the historical record and, more sophisticatedly, for its heteronormative approach to a transgender story.
One reviewer slated it as "part of a trend of queer and trans films that are actually about straight people".
It's true that Vikander, who plays Gerda, the wife of the transgender title character, is a central figure and her Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category is more tactical than reflective of her dramatic significance.
But, like the accusation of historical licence, it also misses the point. Director Hooper played fast and loose with the facts in The King's Speech, too, and it would not have been the film it was if he had not.
This film, based on a novel, not a biography, is aimed at a mainstream arthouse audience; and it consciously construes the story of Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe, as an extraordinary love story, not a polemic on sexual politics. Read that way, it is a triumphant success.
