The Shape of Water
The Shape of Water
Directed by: Guillermo del ToroWritten by: Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
Starring: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer,
Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon,
Doug Jones & Michael StuhlbargRating: 14A
Release Date: December 22, 2017
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| Michael Shannon interrogates Sally Hawkins & Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water Image Source |
The premise sounds like the setup for a bad joke; a mute woman and a man with 8 fingers walk into an aquarium - one of them f**ks a fish! The film couldn't be more antithetical to such crass bastardizations. It's a truly intelligent, original and moving film. The Shape of Water follows Elisa Esposito, (Sally Hawkins), a mute woman who lives above a cheap movie theatre. She gets by through helping her neighbour Giles, (Richard Jenkins), by popping over with some food now and then; he returns the favour by making sure she doesn't get lost in fantasy. They each miss some important social conventions, (at least for the time period), and have a symbiotic and friendly relationship. At work, too, Esposito has a similar relationship with Zelda Fuller, (Octavia Spencer), as they clean and help maintain a mysterious government facility five days a week, from dusk until dawn. Overseeing all of this are two oppositional characters, a compassionate and ethical scientist, Dr. Robert Hoffstetler, (Michael Stuhlbarg), and a rabid-dog of a man, Richard Strickland, (Michael Shannon). All of these characters are forced to confront one another, and the proverbial abyss inside each of them when an Amphibian Man arrives at the facility and serves as a catalyst for justice. To explain or discuss more of the film would be akin to telling you the end of a great novel - it's worth getting there yourself.
Without spoiling the end, it's transcendent moviegoing to see del Toro's use of visual metaphors, (the motif of green and red sets is striking throughout), cinematic as well as musical cues, and allusions to grand biblical stories, all which serve to hammer home the explosive final frames of the film. Is The Shape of Water a Christ allegory? A statement on the treatments of immigrants in America? The dangers brought on by a cold war-psychosis? Or a statement on race in America; so much has changed, but so much remains the same. That's the genius of del Toro's script - it's all of these things; open ended enough to interpret in ones own way, yet meaty enough for the audience to find evidence for each of the above themes within the film. Even the framing of the film - a recollection as told by Jenkins' Giles - suggests we may not have a reliable narrator. At face value the film is a grand fantasy with important themes on responsibility to others, as well as the power love and hate. If one wants to look deeper, the depths of Water are seemingly endless.
The Shape of Water is truly a masterpiece, and a cinematic landmark. Although a lot of credit goes to the writer and director, the team effort behind the film shines through. The cast, led by an exemplary Hawkins with little to no dialogue, is fearless. Hawkins' is tasked with showing a massive range of emotion without speaking, as well as forced to be violent, angry and loving sometimes within the same scene. Her scenes of nudity as well, mark one of the few times in a film where I've seen a naked woman on screen and it wasn't explicitly sexual. At no time does it feel as if her character is being exploited, rather, it seems as the nude scenes showcase how protected she makes herself outside of home, and how little time she has for self care; by effect emboldening her character. Jenkins, one of the greatest actors of his generation, is fantastic as a gay-artist forced into a heroes role that he might not be ready for. His character doesn't fall into many traps of straight men 'playing gay' but rather just shows an actor putting forward a great performance, his character just happens to be gay. Even Spencer's role as Hawkins' best friend, doesn't comment on the racial tensions that were reaching a boiling point in the 1960's setting of The Shape of Water, but the feeling of tension is there. The characters and writing of the film are refreshing; it really seems as if care and thought was put into removing 'the male gaze' within the film, and instead showcases a variety of real, unique and valid perspectives. Overall, the performances are what nail down the ability for an audience to suspend it's disbelief over the fantasy elements of the film, and Doug Jones as the Amphibian Man walks the fine line between performance and embodiment perfectly. As well, Michael Shannon shines as a villainous war vet, who has lost all sense of right and wrong. He's up there with Anthony Hopkins for playing compelling villains.
Aside from the acting, nearly everything else pays off - the lighting, set design, (an opening scene that transitions from underwater to an arid apartment is absolutely breathtaking and mesmerizing), and the superb makeup. Doug Jones' Amphibian Man, part man, part crab, part fish, is a wholly believable design that doesn't over or under do it. The cinematography is transcendent, and the script itself, makes the two hour run time fly by like nothing. The Shape of Water is a truly great film for the ages.
In closing, not only was I ashamed to have thought I'd hate the film, but surprised to find I've fallen absolutely in love with it. Throughout his career as a writer/director, del Toro has shown flashes of brilliance; the art direction in Hellboy, or the story that lied beneath Pan's Labyrinth, but never really saw his visions realized. In Shape of Water, all of his creative impulses, cinematic knowledge and eye for beauty come together for a cinematic revelation. Using a fantastical story about a humanlike creature that lives underwater; who can only talk with a mute woman, (via signing), del Toro has created a story that exemplifies heroism, sacrifice, good and evil, and captures the current broken hearted zeitgeist of an America torn apart by partisan discourse. If this is the type of water del Toro continues to serve, I'm looking forward to another glass.
GRANT'S RATING: 5/5 STARS
Octavia Spencer, Sally Hawkins & Michael Shannon in
The Shape of Water: "Weakness in Character"
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