Scattered thoughts on âThe Shape of Waterâ:
1. I saw a trailer for this film before âThree Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri,â and it revealed, no kidding, *every* key plot point in the movie. I knew or could easily guess what would happen at any key moment. And you know what? I still had a great time. While suspense can be important and fun, any good film will be enjoyable because of *how* things happen, not just because of *what* happens.
2. I love director Guillermo del Toro for his lush, carefully designed visuals, and this film does not disappoint! The 60s are evoked sensuously throughout the film, in dark apartments populated by wood-framed televisions; greenish, fluorescent-lit, linoleumed science labs; a classic diner with a smooth-talking counter boy; and a creaky theater with too much red velvet and not enough paying customers. The unnamed amphibian man is also beautifully crafted, of course, evoking wildness and menace, timidity and vivacity and humanity all balanced against one another. (I looked it up, just to be sure, and the effects on him are practicalâitâs not a motion capture performance.)Â
3. Doug Jones (no, not that Doug Jones), the man in that carefully crafted monster makeup, really is the best. His physical presence is electric; heâs at once believably alien and authentically personal. I wish he got to do more mainstream film stuff; Iâve really only seen him in his collaborations with del Toro (he was Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies and the Faun/Pale Man in âPanâs Labyrinthâ). Apparently heâs on Star Trek: Discovery, which, uh, yeah, I would love to be able to watch that sometime!Â
4. The main character is Eliza Esposito, played by Sally Hawkins, who cannot speak due to an injury to her vocal cords, and instead speaks American Sign Language. Though not a native signer, Hawkins does a fine job with ASL and delivers a terrific performance overallâengaging and lovable throughout. That makes this the second movie Iâve loved this year with a central ASL performance, the first being âBaby Driverâ.Â
5. The movie presents Eliza as a whole person. Sheâs aware that other people mostly donât see her that wayâmany characters ignore or even degrade her, while one fetishizes her silenceâbut is shown from the very start to be fulfilled and happy, with friends and a good life. I think it would be easy to present Eliza, a person with a rare but still challenging disability, as fundamentally alone and broken and in need of a fishman (or, you know, whoever) to rescue her and fix her, and I think the film avoids falling into that trap, presenting us instead with two characters who come to care for and even need each other.Â
6. I made the mistake of reading a review right before I wrote my own, something I try never to do (unless Iâm on the fence about a film and need to be talked into/out of it), and the reviewer criticized the film for being too comfortable, a message movie about widely accepted liberal values (most notably, tolerance). Some time ago, I read a review of the movie âIn the Heat of the Night,â maybe the quintessential liberal message movie (itâs about how racismâŚis bad!), which pointed out that such movies are generally condescending and annoying; the only thing that can redeem a liberal message movie is for it to be *really good*. (âIn the Heat of the Nightâ is really good.) While âThe Shape of Waterâ is unusually dark, sexual, and violent (though, note, not sexually violent) for a liberal message movie, I think you can still call it one. But the thing is, itâs redeemed by being really good: the performances are thrilling, not just Hawkins and Jones, but everyone, from Michael Shannonâs scenery-chewing villain, to Richard Jenkinsâ humble put-upon roommate, to Michael Stuhlbargâs empathetic scientist, and Octavia Spencerâs plucky and loyal friend and coworker. The plot is predictable but winning, well-paced and exciting throughout, with few if any missed opportunities or loose threads. Add del Toroâs exquisite visual sense from scattered thought #2, and you get a movie that is beautiful and good. If some frank sexuality and occasional but visceral violence wonât bother youâŚsee it! Itâs out in some US cities now, and will be in wide release this weekend.Â
