It’s no secret of the fact that Guillermo del Toro is one of the greatest visionaries of modern cinema, taking the fantastical and mythological and taking them to a whole new level in exciting, emotional and thought-provoking ways. Cronos and The Devil’s Backbone demonstrated that back when he was just getting started, and then came along Pan’s Labyrinth, which truly felt like as if del Toro’s imagination was fully unleashed, giving us a groundbreaking fairy tale that tackles real-world themes and horrors, yet is also both magical and wonderful and still remains as one of the greatest movies ever made. With each new film, whether it focuses on horror, Gothic mysticism, gigantic sci-fi or adaptations of comic books, del Toro still manages to generate a powerful emotional charge into each of his films, showing us how the power of love can break away at any barriers. Through his imagination that is realised in his beautiful imagery and wonderful creatures, they all are used to show sometimes intelligent creatures can understand the true value of strong connections between those you love.
The director delved into this notion when he made the Hellboy movies where we have two kindred spirits, Hellboy (a demon) and Liz (a woman with pyrokinetic powers), who form a deep connection and become a couple that ends up having twins together by the end. In the case of The Shape of Water we see him tackling those same ideas again while also delving into the notions of isolation and emptiness where we have a mute cleaner forming a deep emotional connection with an ‘amphibian man’, she rescued from a military facility. As she forms a deep connection with him, the void within her is filled because the amphibian creature does not perceive her as a woman with a disability like everyone else does and views her as a completely normal person. Each and every character in this film feels as though they are incomplete and have a deep longing for something that they have been unable to grasp and acquire, so in a way, this is sort of a metaphorical story about being unfulfilled and desiring someone or something to fill that void in our lives.
The whole idea for the movie came to del Toro after seeing Creature from the Black Lagoon as a child and feeling sympathy for the Gill-man, so the idea to use that concept and turn it into a love story, though whilst not completely original in concept, is still a fascinating idea to translate to screen. The design and execution of the amphibian creature itself is one thing of absolute beauty, and the way Doug Jones, who is a long-time collaborator and friend of Del Toro, uses both makeup and his physicality to perform and bring the creature to life is a marvel to behold. However, the real soul of the film lies with the exceptional Sally Hawkins, whose journey of emotions are totally captivating to watch; her performance is very nuanced, grounded, confident and full of pathos and complexity that makes Hawkins such an amazing screen presence to watch. The rest of the cast give highly credible performances with the feisty yet loyal Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon once again creeping us out with his death stare, and, as always, Richard Jenkins’ performance is brilliantly powerful yet understated and his subplot says a lot about not just living in the ‘60s, but also today as well, sadly.
Whatever you may think about this film, there is no denying that The Shape of Water is a remarkable feat from a truly visionary filmmaker. It is, in some ways, a dream come project for him as he is able to bring the romance between creature and human that he always wanted to the silver screen. He takes a fantasy love story and has it address real issues of love, trust, emptiness and tolerance, as well as what it’s like to be an outsider (whether you’re a mute, a closeted gay person, a black person, or an amphibious creature) in a harsh world. The end results earned the film a Best Picture Oscar, and, frankly, del Toro earned it after years of dedicated hard work and passion. He has stated that this movie was a healing experience for him, and you can definitely tell that on screen, and here’s hoping that the legendary Mexican filmmaker still finds new and exciting ways to mesmerise us in the future.
THE SHAPE OF WATER / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: GUILLERMO DEL TORO / SCREENPLAY: GUILLERMO DEL TORO, VANESSA TAYLOR / STARRING: SALLY HAWKINS, MICHAEL SHANNON, RICHARD JENKINS, OCTAVIA SPENCER, MICHAEL STUHLBARG, DOUG JONES / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
