I never really thought of Guillermo Del Toro as anything other than a really cool sci fi director for a long time. And then I saw Pan’s Labyrinth. That movie is a near masterpiece, combining Del Toro’s penchant for misunderstood creatures with a really great period war drama. Del Toro has been chasing Pan’s Labyrinth and really never got close…until now. The Shape of Water is a perfect mix of subjects only Del Toro would come up with, but at it’s heart is a simple fable about star crossed lovers.
Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is a forgotten member of 1950s society, being unable to speak. She lives with a very old male roommate Giles (Richard Jenkins) who also has hidden secrets, and works as the help at a government research facility with her African-American partner in crime Zelda (Octavia Spencer). Elisa drifts by until one fateful day when FBI officer Strickland (Michael Shannon) brings to the facility a creature (played by Doug Jones) from the Amazon. Helped by Dr. Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg), Strickland seeks to prod and abuse this creature to find out if the Russians have any involvement with him. But Elisa’s whole life of trying to connect with other people makes her the perfect person to forge a connection with this helpless creature, and the two develop a deep affection for one another.
The choices Del Toro makes go a long way to making The Shape of Water special. Setting the story in the 1950s puts a Cold War paranoia over the proceedings, so Elisa’s desire to aid this creature could potentially frame her as a spy. Having a mute, a black woman, and a gay man help this creature is very inspired: these “undesired” people in society rising up to help another undesirable creature, just adds allegory and poignancy in a very subtle, clever way. Most of the people see the relationship between Elisa and the creature as grotesque and perverse. However, If you replace green sea creatures with “black man” or “another woman” in 1950, the reaction would be the same. But the movie’s biggest under the radar asset is its soundtrack and setting. Elisa and Giles live above a classic movie theatre, and the soundtrack gives the movie a feel of the early days of cinema. These little touches give The Shape of Water a timeless feel, and as the story draws to a close, you feel like you witnessed something truly special.
Aiding Del Toro is a murderer’s row of acting talent. Michael Shannon and Octavia Spencer are here to fire from their wheelhouse: Shannon seethes menance and terror with drawly expressions and looks, and Spencer preaches and dresses down people with effortless ease. Michael Stuhlbarg has the most interesting character, playing this scientist driven by many motivations. Stuhlbarg low key captures you emotionally and by the end of the movie you get a little choked up at even what might end up of him. With all the love going on around him, Richard Jenkins’s Giles might elicit the most emotional moments of the movie. As played by Jenkins, Giles is a lonely man just desperate for some sort of connection to people. He has the movie’s first truly great moment: a heartbreaking scene at a diner and helps keep the central romance alive. Finally, bravo Sally Hawkins and Doug Jones! Hawkins burst onto the movie scene with Happy Go Lucky where she charmed with her enthusiasm and speaking personality. Here, she’s mute, but I underestimated how much she can say with her eyes and body that I just didn’t see coming. And Jones, forever Andy Serkis, gives the creature a blank slate sweetness that makes you believe why Hawkins would fall for him. Also, without spoilers, kudos to the two of them for really going for it in a couple scenes.
My friends will occasionally ask me when I know I watched a special movie. I describe it like being in love; after spending some time together, you feel the love growing and just know it. The Shape of Water, about 45 minutes in, was going to become one of those movies I was going to love. And it’s about a woman falling in love with a sea creature; yeah, this movie is gonna be hard to pitch to older adults…