Film Review: The Shape of Water (2018)

I'd like to be, under the sea . . .

The Shape of Water (15)

Starring: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins

Director: Guillermo del Toro

The Plot: America, the 1960s. Elisa Esposito (Hawkins) is a mute woman who works as a cleaner alongside her friend Zelda (Spencer) at a government facility that performs top-secret research to try and get the edge in the Cold War. Cruel new director Richard Strickland (Shannon) arrives and brings with him a remarkable specimen for the scientists to study - a sentient, amphibian man capable of breathing in and out of the water. Elisa begins visiting the creature in secret, forming a bond with it that quickly turns to love. When she learns it is to be killed and dissected, she turns to her neighbour and close friend Giles (Jenkins) to help her break the amphibian out of the facility. But it can only survive away from the water for so long, and Strickland will soon be on their tail . . .

Review: You may have heard about The Shape of Water - it's already won two Golden Globes, has an incredible twelve nominations for tonight's BAFTA awards and thirteen nominations for the forthcoming Oscars. It's all the more remarkable considering that this is, essentially, a love story between a woman and a fish. If you're a fan of director Guillermo del Toro though, as I am, a story like this really comes as no surprise: he's had a long fascination with the fantastical and the paranormal, and I count 2006's Pan's Labyrinth among my top ten films of all time, its stunning tale of dark fantasy amidst a violent civil war both wonderful and heartbreaking. With The Shape of Water GDT has produced another masterpiece, an astonishingly beautiful film filled with love, humour, darkness, violence, and even a tinge of the erotic.

Now, we should probably talk about the story first, as I'm sure the thing that's stuck out the most about what I've written so far is this film being a love story between a woman and a fish. The concept of this will be too far-fetched for some, but, believe me when I say it's done in a way that's completely believable and effective, despite its fantastical nature, and it's a testament to both the writing and direction of GDT. As well as the central love story the film explores themes of loneliness, prejudice and obsession, and features some moments of quite brutal violence, but there's humour to help break up the darker elements of the story. This isn't a bleak film though, far from it, as the romance dominates and there are even moments that verge on the erotic - yes, there's a sex scene between Elisa and the creature, or rather the precursor to one, and it's both well-handled and believable. It also leads to one of the film's funniest moments where, being questioned by Zelda as to whether it has a penis, Elisa uses sign language to demonstrate how it works.

The look and feel of the film have an important role in why the story works so well. This is an absolutely gorgeous film to look at, with some beautiful cinematography throughout - the opening title dream sequence is particularly wonderful, as we see Elisa sleeping underwater in her apartment while the water level gradually drops and she floats down to land on her sofa. A great deal of care and attention has been given to the sets and costumes and props to make it believably in the 60s, and while there are some CGI effects, the amphibian (played by Doug Jones) is largely achieved by some fantastic prosthetics and costuming, which gives an extra layer of reality to it. The music is also fantastic, composed by Alexandre Desplat and heavily influenced by music of the 50s and early 60s, and provides a perfect accompaniment to the gorgeous visuals.

Sally Hawkins drives the film with an incredible performance. The British actress will be recognisable to many from her recent appearance in both Paddington films, but I know her best from Richard Ayoade's brilliant 2010 film Submarine. Here she sheds all inhibitions (the opening scene of the film shows her masturbating in the bath) and gives a truly honest performance of a mute woman struggling with loneliness, despite her friendships, only to find a kindred spirit in a creature that isn't human. She handles the sign language flawlessly and her character is completely believable, at times incredibly funny (one hilarious moment sees her slowly signing "FUCK YOU" letter by letter to Strickland, who angrily demands to know what she's saying) and utterly delightful, even in the films saddest moments. Her stand-out moment was, for me, a sequence when Elisa is sitting at the kitchen table with the creature, knowing their time together is almost up, and tries to express her feelings to it by signing a heartfelt song ("You'll Never Know", an original song by the film's composer Desplat). This transitions into a black-and-white dream sequence where she and the creature dance together in the style of a classic musical and Elisa gains a true voice for the first time, able to sing the words, only for it to seamlessly transition back to her at the table and her voice fades away as she returns to sign language and the slight vocalisations she's able to make. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking moment.

The rest of the cast is also excellent. I'm a big fan of Michael Shannon, and he's on top form here as facility's new director Strickland. A seemingly heartless individual who's incapable of showing affection even to his wife and children, he has a grudge against the creature (which, we learn, he had a hand in capturing) and he's both violent and obsessive to the point where he begins to lose his grip. Shannon plays this gradual destruction of the character with finesse and is a suitable villain for the story. Octavia Spencer is, unsurprisingly, fantastic here even though her role as Zelda isn't a big one. She's a dear friend to Elisa and, while initially against her decision to free the creature, ends up playing an important part in its success. I was impressed with Richard Jenkins as Giles, Elisa's artistic neighbour and close friend (who also doubles as the film's narrator) who's struggling to accept the loss of his job and, as a homosexual in the time period, struggling to find acceptance as well. He clearly cares for Elisa and, like Zelda, is initially against her plan but, after seeing how happy it makes her, finds his own life changed for the better as well. Praise must also be given to Doug Jones as the amphibian, who has previously worked with GDT on both Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. Despite not having any dialogue and being buried under the prosthetics, Jones is able to use his physicality to give a great performance, clearly putting across both the creature's animalistic side and its emotional one.

None of my words here can really do the film justice, and there's so much more to it than I've talked about. This stands amongst GDT's best work, and I can't recommend it enough.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
A mesmerising, utterly gorgeous fantasy that tells the most unusual of love stories in a completely believable way. Funny, dark, violent and erotic, it features a spellbinding performance from Sally Hawkins and deserves every single accolade that it's gained, and is sure to garner more. One of the most beautiful films I've ever seen and a triumph from Guillermo del Toro. Outstanding.