A sexy, sexy fish man.

Alternate Release Poster

The Shape of Water (2017)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Written by Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor
Edited by Sidney Wolinski
Music by Alexander Desplat
Cinematography by Dan Laustsen
Starring Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Doug Jones,
Richard Jenkins, Micheal Shannon, Micheal Stuhlbarg


Originally released August 31st, 2017.


      Within the first 5 minutes, this film manages to achieve a rare and elusive feat in American cinema; a woman claims and normalizes her own sexuality, and it sets the tone for the rest of the story. It's just a quick shot. An egg timer in the foreground, showing the main character, Elisa Esposito, out of focus in the background. She's masturbating in her bathtub. It's not sensational. It's not darkly lit. It's not particularly sexy. It's staged as a normal part of Elisa's morning routine. And with that quick shot, they declare that this character's sexuality is not present in the narrative to serve the men in the film, nor the men in the audience. They have sexualized Elisa in service to herself (pun intended?). I can't remember ever seeing a movie that presented a woman as a sexual being without that sexuality being a plot point; a device to further the narrative. Needless to say, I was impressed with this thing right off the bat.

   

Left to right: Elisa (Sally Hawkins)
and Zelda (Octavia Spencer)

     The story follows Elisa Esposito, a night shift cleaning woman at a government testing facility. She was born mute and communicates through sign language. Her demeanour subsequently comes off as quiet and meek. Weather or not that's really the case, it's how the world has chosen to interpret her silence. It's only when she meets a new addition to the lab, a sort of human/fish hybrid, that she seems to find someone who is interpreted by the world in a similar way. As her lack of speech is seen as a hindrance, a quality that most find problematic, so is his (perhaps in addition to one or two other things). As her relationship with the creature grows, so does a fight to keep him alive and out of reach from a vengeful ex-military investigator who's in charge of it's case. Ultimately, it's the story of a woman finding love, friendship and belonging without ever compromising who she is.

 

 Yikes what a gorgeous piece of fan art...

     The Shape of Water uses color expertly and exhaustively. The film conceives a lush, dynamic and consistently engaging palette. This achievement is all the more impressive when one considers that most of it is green. Everything is green. I don't even think I'm exaggerating. Virtually all the things are green. That being said, when a shot or scene is decidedly not green, and there are a couple, it is representative of a shift in tone or reflective of a character's specific experience. A scene that shows us a little more of Micheal Shannon's character is a wash of oranges and yellows. As the principle antagonist, it's important to understand his motivation. Along with the performances, the colour in the scene depicting his bright, cheery, loving and picture-perfect home life helps us to understand that what he truly yearns for. It is not picture perfection or even the love of a loyal family, but rather someone he can control, dominate and silence, making Elisa a particularly appealing target. The use of strong and decisive colour is one of the many things that make this film stand out.

   

Left to right: Guillermo del Toro, Sally Hawkins,
and Richard Jenkins on set

     Lucky for us, Richard Jenkins is in this film. We have the pleasure of watching him deliver a subtle and nuanced performance in his portrayal of Elisa's closest friend and neighbour, Giles. Giles works as an advertising illustrator and makes weekly trips to the pie shop across the street to flirt with a young waiter there. Watching him journey through the later part of his life as a gay man living in the early part of the 20th century is both melancholic and uplifting. We see him show both regret for what he's missed by not living as a truer version of himself sooner and an appreciation for what he's learned while living holed up in the closet. It's this gained perspective that enables him to accept Elisa, first for who she is and later for who she loves. In a particularly poignant scene, he apologizes to Elisa for not immediately agreeing to help her free her aquatic companion when it becomes clear that his life is in danger. As he tearfully explains that Elisa is the only real friend he has, and to deny her help when she is need would be a grave error, Jenkins beautifully and deservedly secures his Oscar nomination.

   
     I quite like a lot of del Toro's previous films. In many of them, however, I often get the impression that he has struggled to instil his passion for a wildly specific vision in the rest of the cast and crew. He has occasionally found the right group of collaborators in the past. People who get it and are able to pull off something that is totally unique and special and also a good film. Pan's Labyrinth (2006), for instance, is as quintessentially del Toro as it gets, but without sacrificing film making in the name of artistic vision. But this not always being the case, as with Crimson Peak (2016), which starts strong but ultimately buckles under it's own weight by the end, results in a often incongruent body of work. There is a common thread running throughout, however. That thread being a love of and compassion for the outcasts, the freaks, the monsters of our world. And it is in The Shape of Water that Guillermo's magical, wondrous style meets a group of colleagues worthy of telling the story. It is a fully realized and beautifully portrayed piece of film making and story telling, and it's well deserving of it's many accolades.


***

     Thanks for reading, gang. I had a mighty good time watching and reviewing this film. Who'd have ever predicted that 90 years in, the Oscars would give the Best Picture award to a movie that allows a woman to own and normalize her sexuality and then express that sexuality with a sexy, sexy fish man?! What a time to be alive.

This is Emma signing off. Until next time, folks! Keep watching movies, keep petting dogs, keep doing you.


*DISCLAIMER: I don't own the rights to any of the images used in this article. I've provided my sources for them throughout, but if there are any copyright conflicts please let me know!