a magical romance

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2018)

The Shape of Water is grounded in magical realism, a genre which combines elements of magic in an extremely realistic environment, but in essence is a twisted monster-fairy tale. Most monster stories have featured infatuations with things of beauty, only to end sadly with the monster protagonists, ala King Kong. The Shape of Water though is progressive-it follows through to a happy ending for both it's monster/god central character and it's human lover. And unlike the human converting the monster into another human (Beauty and the Beast) , it has the monster converting the human to, well, it's type.
The story is set at the height of the Cold War, 1962, where everything that every American used to do was looked through the filter of being pro-communism. Elisa Esposito, played to Academy award nominated perfection by Sally Hawkins, is a mute cleaning lady working at a top secret research institute in Baltimore. An amphibious creature (called The Asset), and played emotively by Doug Jones, is brought from the Amazon to the lab by Strickland, played in perverse style by Michael Shannon.
"The natives in the Amazon worshipped it. Like a god. We need to take it apart, learn how it works"
Merman or god, he is not in for a good time at the research institute, and typical of del Toro movies, humans are more monstrous than conventional monsters. Elisa's lack of speech helps form a bond with the Asset. Speaking of whom, he is curiously similar to del Toro's other amphibious character from Hellboy- Abe Sapien. Love for eggs, and classical music is all there. Understanding the finality of the creature's fate, Elisa, with her friends, hatches a plan to take it away from the institute.
"When he looks at me, the way he looks at me... He does not know, what I lack... Or - how - I am incomplete. He sees me, for what I - am, as I am. He's happy - to see me. Every time. Every day. Now, I can either save him... or let him die."
Soon the bond translates to love, but the creature is dying, and needs open water to survive. After that the plot focuses on racing against the Communists and Strickland to set it free in the sea. The ending is deliciously open ended too- does Elisa survive in the end or that is what the narrator wants us to think? Was she a mermaid in human guise? Does the story have a happy ending, however improbable it may be?
Guillermo del Toro is at his best in The Shape of Water. His love for monsters shows in his body of work (Hellboy, Pacific Rim, Pan's Labyrinth, Crimson Peak), and The Shape of Water is no different here. Del Toro creates a fascinating world, full of relatable characters, and drily so, takes digs at today's environment. The central human character is probably a Mexican, the villain is a gun-loving white man, and if a love story between an animal and human isn't awkward enough, there is an old man in the movie who is secretly gay! What would Trump say about that last bit?
If the first ace for The Shape of Water was the characters, the next ace is the script. It is delightfully funny, even for those who do not talk and communicate only through expressions and signs. The third ace though is the real deal- he manages to extract superb performances from all the actors. Be it Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, or Michael Shannon.
Nominated for 13 Oscars, with 93 wins and 263 other nominations- is the hype real and is The Shape of Water the best film of 2017? Might not be, but seriously, who could have thought that something so unconventional could be so romantic? Here is raising a glass to Elisa Esposito's groundbreaking romance!