I thought I'd do a post today about a movie I can't recommend enough. An absolutely beautiful picture, THE SHAPE OF WATER is just magical. The story, the relationships, the drama, they all work seamlessly to tell the story of solitary individuals who connect because of their very loneliness. There are several love stories interwoven, with the prominent one being between a mute cleaning woman and a humanoid fish-creature. Yes, in the simplest terms, it's a monster love story. But the movie is so much more than that.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth--one of my all-time favorites) and written by Vanessa Taylor, the all star cast boasts some amazing talent: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer. The characters are so much more than two dimensional figures taking up space.
The main character, Elisa (Hawkins), is mute and communicates using sign language. Her neighbor, Giles (Jenkins), is a gay artist struggling to connect and to find work. Her co-worker, Zelda (Spencer), is an African-American woman who also helps interpret for Elisa at work. I mention Zelda's African American because this story takes place in the early 1960s during the Cold War, in a secret government laboratory in Baltimore. (Racial tension swims in the background.) The cleaning women find something decidedly not human and dangerous during the course of their work. And then there's the head security advisor, Colonel Strickland (Shannon), a law unto himself and a foil for the intrepid heroes.
I won't give the whole story away, but there are Russian spies, an odd romance, and the sad realization that sometimes doing the right thing has terrible consequences. Comparing Elisa's love to Zelda's marriage and Giles's hope for romance provokes a deeper insights into what love means to different people, and to what lengths they'll go to get it.
The acting and the pacing are so spot on! The filmography is beautiful, almost a love story in itself the way the cameras capture the fluidity of the characters' lives through water and the drifting shadows in the laboratory. Humor plays a large part in the story, as does passion. The beginning scene had me laughing despite being surprised at how it starts.
This is a thoughtful film, and it makes you question what real love and acceptance are. Michael Shannon's colonel is so devoid of humanity yet frustratingly trying to hold onto it in the wrong ways.
If you want a movie to make you think, laugh, and want to see it all again after it's over, watch THE SHAPE OF WATER. You won't be disappointed.
Marie :)
marieharte.com
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