Dir. Guillermo del Toro (2017)
Rated R Set during the Cold War, The Shape of Water is about a mute woman, Elisa (Sally Hawkins) falling in love with a sea creature (of sorts). The creature was found in the oceans near South America and brought back to a top secret US government laboratory, where Eliza works as a cleaner. The Americans are holding it to use it against the Russians, the enemy at the time. Everyone there tortures and treats the creature like a monster to see what it is really capable of, but Eliza soon befriends it and they make a connection. She eats lunch with him and offers him eggs, and she seems to be the only person the creature is amiable towards. Later in the movie as tensions progress, the government officials decide to kill the creature, because it cannot communicate and they don't think he/it holds any purpose in the war against the Russians. This news devastates Elisa, and she decides that she is going to rescue the creature and house him in her own apartment. She does this with the help of her co-worker (Octavia Spencer) and her next door neighbor and best friend (Richard Jenkins). When the creature is in her home, they develop a deeper connection and eventually fall in love. I went into this movie expecting not to like it. First, the director. The only other movie I've watched directed by del Toro is Pan's Labyrinth, and you can read my review on that if you want to know how I feel. In short: didn't love it, WAY too weird. I don't even want to get started on the eyeballs-in-hands guy. That being said, I was expecting this movie to be just as weird and disturbing. Second, the idea of a sea creature and a human falling in love was.... not unthinkable, but close. It just seemed to be too deep into the realm of bestiality. As I was watching it, I also had these same thoughts. There are scenes that leave nothing to the imagination: Elisa and the sea creature have sex. And it's not implied, it is seen. So just get the thought in your head, it's gonna happen. You can also kinda guess it in the trailer, so you are pretty much expecting it. I just couldn't get over it for a while. For me, I didn't love this movie from the get go. The more I think about it and the longer it's been since I've seen it, however, the more I love it! Once you get past the sex parts, this movie is good. Or if that doesn't bother you at all, then you'll probably love this. This movie is more than just a sea creature romance, I see it now as more of a metaphor. Elisa, being a mute, and the creature are both outcasted. Elisa is pretty much ignored by society, except for her friend at work and her best friend in the apartment next to her. No one pays her any mind simply because she cannot speak. The only other time she gets any attention, it's from the slimeball misogynist government agent Strickland (Michael Shannon), who just wants to take advantage of her. Elisa partly fell in love with the creature because he saw her for who she was, one of the only people to do so. She made that pretty clear to Giles (neighbor) when he almost refused to go along with the rescue operation. Simply put; if you're disabled in any way, you're not treated the same. You're ignored and looked down upon and devalued. That made a big point in this movie. When you take the layers away, this movie is a romance and connection between two outcasted beings. I admired that part. This movie also showcases heartwarming friendships, the ones between Elisa and Zelda (co-worker), and Elisa and Giles. These two supported her through everything and saw her connection with the creature. This was also a really beautiful movie, for the most part. There is great cinematography and beautiful colors. There were some scenes I felt were pretty gross and unnecessary too, though. There's a scene where Strickland has sex with his wife that serves no other purpose than just to show how misogynistic and slimy he is. There are also some scenes regarding separated fingers that I won't go in depth about. They just didn't really have a purpose. That's just del Toro I think, though, because there were some pretty gruesome scenes in Pan's Labyrinth, too. They didn't worsen the movie anyways. In short, this movie really grew on me. I'm glad it's nominated, and I'm glad I saw it. It really is a beautiful film with a deeper meaning.
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AuthorCasey Land Archives
January 2018
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