Review of The Shape of Water (2017) by Frame R — 28 Mar 2018

Screwing with amphibians for dummies.

THE SHAPE OF WATER.

Truly original movies, or at least the utter feeling of novelty when watching a film is very hard to come by. Guillermo del Toro's proves himself again as one of this generation's most visionary filmmakers constructing a film that feels as refreshing as a swim in the lake*. This movie is one of the most fascinatingly intelligent of this year, it's a daring and historic endeavour in the movie industry. And look, it isn't by chance that this movie has flushed away* the competition when it comes to Oscar noms, the film is the most lavishing technical masterpiece of this year: the resplendent production design is pushed to perfection, building not only a space that is so removed from us both chronologically and visually, that it's exaggerated to create a distinct world where such a creature is justifiable; the French-inspired score by Desplat who compliments the story making them indissociable; the murky and unwonted cinematography with bold stylistic/ colour choices which makes every shot a underwater dream; and the impeccable sound design. However, I don't agree with the editing nom as I find that it's the movie's biggest blemish because it's moderately overcut, there are many tone shifts across scenes where there should be none and the way that conflict is carried out throughout the runtime is not at all balanced. It's also lacking way more care when to spend time with our characters to develop their relationship to the longest extent (instead of jumping over some days at a time). Conversely, the Academy failed to nominate one of the best visual effects of the year, striking a dashing balance between practical and digital effects. When they're on full display, you don't doubt the creature's credibility and when they're not so flashy, you can't even notice their presence and that's what that craft is all about. It also features immensely successful actor-character pairings as Michael Shannon taps again into his ability to play a sociopath creating a menacing antagonist and Richard Jenkins serving as the protagonist's partner in crime alongside Octavia Spencer who doubles as a comic relief. Of course, Sally Hawkins is mouth-watering* in her portrayal of a mute woman who is not tamed by her disability but rather strength by it. She complements the quiet nature of the monster who, like her, can't talk, reinforcing that communication can be dissociable from speech and does not imply it, which in turn allows the director to adhere to one of cinema's biggest lessons: show, not tell. By giving the mute woman the spotlight and by placing the black woman and gay man as the voices of conscience that can actually talk, del Toro gives expression to the voiceless, those fish out of water* who are pushed away by society and are thought to be inferior. That contributes and is interleaved with the movie's theme of unconditional love, a love that disregards the societal anger towards a different skin tone or species, that fear of the other, of what we don't understand which continues to contaminate the world today. The creature is the only one who sees Elisa despite of her disability. Also, Elisa is treated as an independent and highly intelligent woman who is unapologetically shown masturbating (which is rare) and shifts the role of damsel, being the one who saves her lover. All that makes the movie unimpeachable from an ideological point of view but it's so much more than that. Del Toro wears its references crystal clear and his love for misunderstood monsters from his childhood is evident (he wants to rewrite the faith of the creature of the Black Lagoon). It's a love letter to Classic Hollywood films combining the ideas of B horror movies with the grace of Golden Age musicals. It's the most musical-like film of the year without even being a musical as it borrows the essence of Astaire and Kelly's movements to imprint the film with a dream-like fluidity. At the end of the day, this adult fairly tale is one of the most captivating films of the year, it's an all-inclusive, female-empowering musical feature that isn't shy on showing sexuality or violence. A fascinating film to watch and a kiss on a monster's slimy cheek. *Warning: FrameReel apologizes for the overuse of bad water-related puns.