One Of The Best Of 2018!

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2018)

To paraphrase one of this film's quotes: "If I told you about THE FILM what would I say?' It's beautiful, enchanting, moving, gripping but it's also strange and quite odd, like some brilliantly bizarre poem. However, the really great thing about THE SHAPE OF WATER, as well as the acting and script is how fresh and new it is. It REALLY IS something you don't see everyday. The concept, story and delivery really dazzle. The scope is awe-inspiring and this film has certainly earned it's Oscar in my opinion.
Director Guillermo Del Toro has TOTALLY delivered with this movie in both his writing and directing. The script is genius frankly, smart, sharp and very original (whatever some say). We get a deep and emotional look at each character and each story. Though the film is obviously about Elisa (Sally Hawkins) and her romance with the Amphibian Man (Doug Jones), this film has many backstories and additional plot lines, and the film becomes brilliantly and complexly multi-layered. Del Toro directs brilliantly too, getting the uttermost from his stellar cast, but also grafting a brilliant and authentic 60s world. GREEN is something that features almost everywhere: the walls, the floor, the water, the food, and of course the Amphibian Man himself. The visual effects in this film are pretty much second-to-none (except BLADE RUNNER 2049) and the animated Amphibian Man is beautiful and vibrant, like a great painting.
Now, onto the story. The plot is simple and uncomplicated but still grips and makes you feel for the characters. It is also authentic to the attitudes and paranoia of the times with racism, homophobia, sexism and the "Red Scare", all portrayed unapologetically. However, the main event of course is Elisa and her peculiarly amorous relationship with the Amphibian Man. Many people have said that the film's concept is rather creepy and weird and I must admit I was a little skeptical about the spectacle of a woman falling in (and making) love to a fish man, but the romance is told in such a beautiful and graceful way that you end up not minding at all. I WAS, however, rather glad that their love life was not explored too graphically. Almost as soon the two met I was rooting for them. I felt pity for Amphibian Man and the brutal way in which he was treated but I also fell in love with Elisa "the princess without voice". The only problem was, (and call me a cynic) I didn't get the emotional connection from their romance that I would get from that of a man and a woman. I DID care about their romance but it wasn't the same as the romance between human people.
I should warn that this film is bloodily violent at times and may shock, it's certainly not some kid's fairy tale...
However, the whole story was of course carried by the cast and I have (as usual) chosen a few standouts (4 to be precise): Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins. Hawkins was BRILLIANT! Totally different to what we know her for (PADDINGTON anyone?) as Elisa, the mute heroine. Hawkins gives such a convincing and strong performance and though her character can't speak, we still know exactly what she's thinking. Hawkins facial expressions are portraits of pain, sorrow, joy and raw emotion and Elisa becomes a heroine you can TOTALLY fall in love with. Richard Jenkins is also brilliant as Giles, a repressed homosexual and a real father figure to Elisa. He's emotional, a little vain but charming and Jenkins character is one you can really grow fond of. Octavia Spencer certainly earns her Bafta as Elisa's friend and confidant Zelda. She's a strong, independent woman, putting on a brave face for all the racism she suffers, but she has a very emotional centre and Spencer really does the character justice. Michael Shannon is monstrously magnificent as Mr. Strickland. Unfeeling and uncaring, he's a brutal villain you grow to hate as he brutalises the creature and terrifies other characters, driven with a powerhouse performance by Shannon.
The charming vintage soundtrack and gorgeous dream sequences along with all of the above, REALLY moved the film along to it's tense ending. Del Toro ties it up beautifully, like a classic fairytale romance with a twist.
As always, I ask myself, did I enjoy it? Yes! I really did enjoy THE SHAPE OF WATER. The cast was outstanding, the story was brilliantly strange and fresh, but most of all the film delivered and really deserves it's Oscar (and even my Dad enjoyed it)...