What did we ever do to deserve Guillermo Del Toro? The man is willing to crack his head open and allow his most beautiful dreams to spill out, onto the big screen, for our viewing pleasure. The Shape of Water, a delicious period piece with fantasy elements, is just about as sumptuous and satisfying as it gets at the movies.
Sally Hawkins, an inspiring casting choice, plays Eliza, a mute woman working as a cleaner at a top secret government facility. She and her cleaning partner Zelda (Octavia Spencer in a role she was born to play, because between Hidden Figures and The Help, she already has) stumble upon agent Strickland’s (Michael Shannon) latest capture, a humanoid sea creature reportedly worshiped as a god by the Amazonians. Set against the Cold War era, the Americans hope this scaly curiosity will give them a leg up against the Ruskies are and prepared to torture the secrets out of their prisoner – and worse. But sweet Eliza spots the creature’s humanity and her kind heart urges her to save him. She enlists a scientist at the facility (Michael Stuhlbarg) and her neighbour Giles (Richard Jenkins) in her daring escape plan, but Strickland isn’t going to let this career-defining prize slip through his rotting fingers.
The Shape of Water is poetic and beautifully stylized. I fell in love during the opening shot, an ethereal scene that establishes the fairy-tale quality of the story. The whole film is richly textured; it feels like a story book you’ll want to step inside. Full credit to production design and art direction for creating a living, breathing piece of art that feels grounded in reality but often has this other-wordly, heightened reality feel to it that you just don’t find in your average film. The script, a Guillermo-Vanessa Taylor hybrid, is a phenom. It so smartly sets up all that is to come with careful, quiet nods. This is a movie with many small pleasures, many delights to savour. Because our heroine is non-speaking, the score plays a major role, and composer Alexandre Desplat is more than equal to the task. Del Toro weaves magic into threads of monster movie – love story – musical – spy thriller – comedy. I’m not sure which of these is more surprising, but all are very welcome. You may hear from others that this is Del Toro’s best since Pan’s Labyrinth, but they’re lying. I believe this is his best, full stop.
The Shape of Water wouldn’t be nearly so special without Sally Hawkins’ grace and measured precision. She’s wonderful, full of light, communicating much with little. Eliza is a woman of small parameters. Her life is ordered and banal. She’s suffering in her loneliness when she meets her merman, and her outsider status allows her to view him not as a monster but as a kindred spirit. Richard Jenkins meanwhile is restrained as the starving artist next door. Michael Shannon is anything but as the man who gets the job done at any cost – unless his vanity gets in the way. He’s awfully fond of the trappings of success. You might be starting to get an idea of what makes this script so lush: all the characters are brought fully to life. This is the clown car of movies, a film filled to the gills with interesting ideas and perfect little moments and scene-stealing details.
You don’t just watch a movie like The Shape of Water, you feel it, you experience it. We saw its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival this week but it’s coming to a cinema near you this December, and you won’t want to miss it. Hawkins’s name will be on the Oscar ballot and I’m guessing Del Toro’s will be too – maybe even twice.
I’ve been hearing great thing about this film. I really want to see this. Anyone here going to see Zama by Lucrecia Martel? That is a film I want to see as I’m a fan of her work.
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This wasn’t on my radar but it is playing here. I’ll see if I can fit it in! Sounds like it’s pretty challenging.
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Well, it is polarizing due to its pacing as it’s about a man exploring the land that would become Paraguay.
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Now I only wish Del Toro would make some trashy, ugly B movie. Because it will still look like His Movie. And it will be fucking beautiful.
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The man is a genius! I can’t wait for this!😊
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Looking forward to this one, cheers Jay.
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Really looking forward to this one. Definitely gonna get out to see it. Definitely.
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Jay Jay Jay – you are bringing us with you in your review. Thank you!
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Looking forward to this because you’re right – we aren’t worthy of Del Toro.
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Sounds interesting. Always hesitant when a movie uses the U.S. vs Soviet formula however.
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Wow! High praise indeed! I’ll have to see this one.
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Sounds great. Thanks, Jay.
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gotta check this out, Del toro’s the man.
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Joining the chorus of, ‘soooo looking forward to this one’. 😀
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Let the hype begin!
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It’s going to be a critics’ darling!
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Sounds like one I’ll have to check out.
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Yes, it’s on this year’s must-watch list.
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Oh noo, now I am even more excited to see it. Damn, December.
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I am pretty excited for this one. Love everything that Del Toro does and December seems far away.
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Del Toro himself says this is his best.
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A merman, huh? I’ve been trying for ages to get my younger one to watch The Secret of Roan Inish with me, maybe I’ll just go see this instead.
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This looks wonderful, I can’t wait to see it. But December is so far away. This is going to be like La La Land was for me last year.
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The truth is, it’s also torture to see these films so much in advance – I can’t talk to you about them! C’mon, December!
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So jealous you already got to see this and all these wonderful movies! This looks so magical and I loved the most recent trailer
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Lovely expressed
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But December is so far away. gotta substantiation this out, Del toro’s the military man.
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Just got home from seeing it and came to WordPress to find reviews. Yours, of all read so far, does the film justice. It’s a work of art, from the first shot to the last.
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Thanks! It really is so dreamy and lovely and I can’t wait to see it again!
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I’m swimming against the tide here but IMO this is the most over-hyped movie of 2017. It is an example of auteurism gone mad. Words like entertaining, charming, and whimsical come to mind; the label ‘masterpiece’ debases the medium of film.
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