well, how that won best picture is a mystery!

Rating: 3/10 (25 March 2019)

I was so looking forward to this as I really like Guillermo del Toros body of work. I'm torn as there was far more about this film that I didn't like. The kindest I can be is ambivilent. I don't really understand why this was as successful at the Oscars as it was.
First the likes -
Visually this was very interesting, I liked the style of the visuals, the greenness was apt and the injection of red into Elisas life was a clever visual clue to the change in her outlook.
The portrayal of the waterman was beautifully done, he looked real, regal and worthy of being worshipped as a special entity.The rest of the casting was good, particulary the two female leads, but I have yet to see anything with Michael Shannon in which he doesn't portray a sadistic, cruel and misogynistic evangelical nutjob! He does it very well, and came across as a vile human being, but as far as my limited knowledge goes, it seems he is in great danger of becoming typecast.
Now some of the dislikes-
The story could have been told in 20 minutes, I'm not great with metaphors but I assume it was intended as a comment on how society is so judgemental about anything that might be percieved as 'different'. I have no problem with sex scenes on screen as long as there is some context to the overall story, I feel that the scene with Strickland and his wife was utterly superfluous and uneccesary, as were there straight in there masturbation scenes!!, none of which added anything to the narrative. Then, the addition of the 'Fred and Ginger' scene nearly knocked me off my sofa, and NOT in a good way, where the hell did THAT come from? Then there is the bit where the waterman runs away and just stands there watching a film in a cinema without any one seeing him go in?? Why, oh why, couldn't they just get him in the van and take him directly to the canal, why wait on the rains, the water was there the whole time? or take him a few yards further to the sea, which was obviously a stones throw from his intended entry into the canal.
I could go on but sadly it's not really worth the effort.