The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water is a beautiful, beautiful film. I initially wondered about what I’d encounter in a “monster” movie by Guillermo del Toro, his Pan’s Labyrinth and The Devil’s Backbone notwithstanding, as I enjoyed both of those films. I loved it even more than I could those two films, and I feel that The Shape of Water is his masterpiece to date. The writer/director has stated this is a fairy tale for troubled times, an apt description. The film is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, violence and language.

Taking place in Cold War era 1962, an Amphibian Man (Doug Jones) from the Amazon is brought to a secure government facility in Baltimore for testing and observation. The humble cleaning crew, Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) and Zelda Fuller (Octavia Spencer), are tasked with wiping up the messes that occur in the lab where the creature lives in a deep pool of water, or in an upright tank.

Elisa is mute, and communicates through sign language. She lives in a building above a cinema, as does her friend Giles (Richard Jenkins), who understands her silent language. Zelda can also read her sign language and is her confidante and friend at work.

In charge of the lab is Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), a hard, no nonsense and cruel man who has a hatred for not just the creature under his jurisdiction, but it seems everyone else as well. Also deeply involved with the Amphibian Man is Dr. Robert Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg), who comes to see that the wild creature everyone is afraid of is intelligent and capable of learning.

Elisa is not at all afraid of this unusual life form, and befriends him. When his fate is determined to be certain death by the hands of government officials, she mounts a daring plan to abscond with him from the lab so he can be free again.

The Shape of Water won Best Director for Guillermo del Toro at the Golden Globes, as well as Best Original Score for Alexandre Desplat. The music beautifully sets the scene, whether it is during a tender moment between Elisa and Amphibian Man, or during the white-knuckle scenes where she seeks to free him. I felt that Sally Hawkins should have been awarded Best Actress in a drama at the Golden Globes, and I can only hope that is rectified at the Academy Awards, her performance is so strong. The cinematography of the film is excellent with beautiful colors and shapes throughout what could often have been just a stark and antiseptic setting within the lab. The building where Elisa and Giles live with the cinema below is filled with color and mystique. It was a delight to watch.

How will this fairy tale end? You’ll have to watch it to see. I’ll watch this film again once it comes out on streaming, I admire it so much. If you’ve seen the film already, why do you think it is named The Shape of Water?