The Shape of Water (2017)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Shape of Water (2017) – G. del Toro

Director Guillermo del Toro is really a master craftsman and this film shows him to have reached something of a peak – you can see the beauty onscreen.  Yet it is surprising that this won the Best Picture Oscar because it is still a “weird tale” in keeping with del Toro’s oeuvre (which includes The Devil’s Backbone, 2001, and Pan’s Labyrinth, 2006, alongside other more overt genre fare).  A bizarre mix of The Creature from the Black Lagoon and an odd couple romance that harkens back to the creature double features of the 1950s/60s while still including enough content that is strictly adults only (nudity/sexual references, swearing, bloody violence, etc.).  Sally Hawkins plays a mute cleaner at a high security scientific facility at which a humanoid river monster has been locked up; she shows him compassion and, being lonely herself, soon falls in love.  Her only friends, played by Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins, help her to rescue her “man” who is in danger of being vivisected under orders of a tough security guy played by Michael Shannon.  The Russians also have an interest in these proceedings (since it is the Cold War era).  I tried to resist but the film gradually won me over; despite its heart-warming romance, it stays weird, champions the outcasts, and has lots of little touches done well.  Del Toro and his team seem not to have ignored any detail on screen, everything seems fondly chosen on purpose to fit with a “vision” with very little attempt to cater to mainstream tastes, save only for the high production values, beautiful art design, and tasteful blend of CGI and costume/make-up/prosthesis. Certainly worth your time.