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The Shape of Water: Late AF Review

The Oscars have come and gone and it’s that time of year where I have to catch up on the movies I missed and what better way to break into the list than the best picture winner itself, The Shape of Water. Now to those of you who were like me who have yet to see it might have heard through the grapevine that this is of the “Brokeback Mountain” type of stigma, whereas it is crudely, yet, accurately dubbed “the fish sex” movie, so expectations might be askew to say the least for the general public. I can say though with certainty that after seeing this movie it’s so much more than that, it’s more like “the fish…love…beautiful…profound thing”, okay, the movie is damn beautiful and haunting and I’m going to tell you why. For posterity, the movie centers around Eliza, played to absolute perfection by Sally Hawkins a mute woman who works as a custodian at the local military base, and her subsequent friendship, captivation, and romance with one of the assets brought in. This asset is for lack of a better title, a fish man, think of the Creature from The Black Lagoon paint him blue and give him some emotions and you’re in the general ball park of what we’re dealing with here. Michael Shannon plays Strickland, the man who brought in the creature, and is perfectly evil, whilst Richard Jenkins is Eliza’s older compatriot Giles and Octavia Spencer rounds out the key players in this fairy tale as Zelda, Eliza’s co-worker and friend. Now I say fairy tale, what I might have just described may not sound like one, but the movie does that work for me, for it only takes the first five minutes for the viewer to be entranced and welcomed into the movie, we awaken underwater, beautiful and blue, and we are beckoned into a grotto. Inside the grotto we move through what seems to be a hallway, then suddenly a voice, unsure where to start, frames the story with talk of princesses, monsters, and love, every frame of this scene is fantastical and wondrous, then the water recedes, everything falls into place, and the movie starts and I’m already captivated, and this scene is a template for the whole movie. By this time this might seem like something like you haven’t seen before, yet familiar as if from a dream, that’s because The Shape of Water is Written (along with Vanessa Taylor, Directed, and Produced by Guillermo Del Toro, if you’re not familiar with his work than this movie will give you a good idea of his style both behind the camera and on the pen. The story is enchanting and magical, though the blossoming romance between Eliza and the Amphibious Creature moves at a brisk pace, its entirely believable due to the chemistry between the two actors, and the fact that it is a completely silent affair is both a testament to Sally Hawkins and Doug Jones’ (Man Fish) physical prowess as actors, and Guillermo Del Toro’s direction. The challenge of having a speechless main character without disengaging the audience is averted by the very charming, and very engaging side characters with their own problems and arcs, with Richard Jenkins; Giles being a standout. This Movie is set in the 1960’s and very appropriately adds an extra layer of intrigue with a cold war espionage sub plot centered around a Russian spy played by Michael Stuhlbarg, whose own destiny interweaves with those of the main cast and drives the plot into its ultimate end. If I had to criticize one thing, it would be Michael Shannon’s character, though acted well, lacks a very clear and defined motivation for his actions and choices, whether its religion, patriotism, personal gain, prejudice, or general villainous insanity, though its inoffensive in the end, he does what he needs to keep the plot moving. Another important facet to the movie is the music, composed by the famed Alexandre Desplat, it gives off vibes off old horror movies from 1950’s with almost a groaning alien and otherworldly feel, yet its sweet, with its string accompaniment, combined into what just might be one of the most unique soundtracks in recent memory. Yet, it knows when to soar when the more action packed and suspenseful scenes arise. Now something I don’t think I’ve conveyed thoroughly, with talk of fairy tales and magic, is that this movie is absolutely not for children, there is blood, there is sex, fingers are bitten off, and people die. And these things aren’t meant to be explicit, its sexual, but not erotic, its violent, but not for the sake of violence, its normative, for these things are sometimes normative.  And this I think is where the true wonder of the movie glistens. As an adult, the movie brought back a sense of nostalgia for those formative years when fairy-tales had a profound and magical effect on me, though the premise may be weird, and controversial, this whole movie radiates love and sensation and I was left weeping at its conclusion because I could empathize more, it was a world that I was more familiar with. And I think it can have that effect on those who see it, and if you can give this movie a chance and let yourself be entranced and held captive under its spell, I think you’ll be transported to a magical place, where love and fascination can surround us, like water.-J