Just Dip Your Toes Here As We Enter The Shape of Water

 reviewed by Shaun Lawton for the Oscillating Oculus 

                                         image courtesy of Fox Searchlight 

    Finally a movie comes along in 2017 made in the old Hollywood style that does justice to the clipped, effective acting and gripping set pieces of the classic age of film, this new version presented as one of those same popular movies from a bygone era which drew crowds in out of the rain to witness the glorious spectacle of Cinerama. From the inventive opening shot of an ordinary tenement's hallway underwater you already know you're in for an interesting ride. (Ok so I'm only spoiling the very beginning, that's it, and only a little bit.) Just a few minutes into it and that feeling of awe began expanding in my chest with a sense of wonder, instilling its icy fingers shivering through me. The movie does not disappoint after the total flow of events and even manages to capture a sense of relevance between secondary and tertiary characters enough to add to the wonderful nuances which ultimately lift the film and help it reflect deeply on the many associations with its spiraled-out-of-control outcome and how it parallels where we currently seem to be headed in real life. When people throw the word 'masterpiece' around it's not to be taken lightly, and I believe that's exactly what this movie is, a masterpiece of fusion between the old and the new. Because it's so good at speaking for itself, I feel I should keep this review as free of spoilers as possible. Or to put it another way, to keep it at a bare minimum (say, for example, within the threshold of assuming most reader's will have seen the trailers) for the courtesy of those who have yet to see the movie. In this review I just want to share my initial impressions from a first viewing with you.

   I think this film reaches the heart of many people due to its particularly thoughtful approach to a variety of subjects. While managing to be a distillation of many tropes across Hollywood history, the introductory narration mentions something about "the monster that came to ruin everything," and you already know its referencing the Michael Shannon character from having seen the trailers, which is when you begin to get the idea The Shape of Water is the perfect inversion of the classic Hollywood monster movie. And what finesse does Mr. del Toro put on it! The movie's a pure joy to watch and listen to. With a remarkably adept soundtrack to help take you back to that era, the early sixties, and to peer into its post-industrial depths with stark clarity and honesty, what more could one ask for? I think The Shape of Water delivers more than one should expect.

   It's no secret that del Toro, sort of like his contemporary Tarantino, has enough of a deep love, admiration and respect for older movies to withdraw what he could from the classics and project them into the present tense to keep that spirit of the silver screen alive, its why we continue to flock to the theater to see films like this and why these directors are driven to fulfill their need to make them for us. Thank you Guillermo, for this celluloid love letter. It's a beautifully executed drama with a lot of heart and character. The tense and funny moments are pulled off effortlessly, and there's a flow to the course of events that may have been intended to reflect that of water's, because the more you think about this movie after seeing it the more rewards it has to reveal. It's just that kind of a film. The character Giles, for instance, is presented courtesy of a splendid performance by Richard Jenkins. It's a real pleasure to finally see Michael Shannon back in a role he can really sink his teeth into again. And bite down he does. He slips into his character of Richard Strickland with such deadly ease, dare I say it's a delight to watch. Considering the interesting set of characters we meet along the way, including a terse and effective performance by Michael Stuhlbarg as Dr. Hoffstetler, as well as several tense scenes which eventually culminate in a small helping of del Toro's signature visceral violence. This is a movie you could easily watch again because it has great heart and character, besides being subtly filled with lucid allusions to keep audiences rapt and thinking. I really enjoyed watching it and got a sense the rest of the audience did, too. It's likely to improve with multiple viewings which is another way of saying survive the test of time. 

   I found The Shape of Water to be no less than poetry expressed on celluloid. I don't think I'm implementing hyperbole when I suggest it's cast by a pretty experienced magician holding us spellbound in the dark. It's not a huge stretch to observe that we already know we're all comprised of at least sixty percent water, and the manner in which the theme of this undercurrent presents itself throughout the film becomes at times astonishing (at least once forcing our suspension of disbelief to its limits in a sequence which turns out to be worthwhile) while managing to be engaging and hypnotic during others.  Guillermo del Toro's tenth motion picture is a tightly coiled narrative which doesn't waste a single frame, and a throwback to a time when auteur filmmakers shone forth their headlamps through the smoke swirling antechambers of darkened theaters all across the world. This is the mature work of an American treasure to cinema. It's age old themes of power and control, class-struggle and faith paving governing and bigotry all work well together woven into the cultural motifs of our own day.  At once topical and nostalgic, it nonetheless avoids coming across pretentious but instead with a realistic immediacy which never wavers into melodrama. The movie's a lot of things, a post coldwar neo-noir thriller disguised as an homage to the classic Universal monster movies of a bygone era, certainly; but it's also a tantalizing tale pushing the boundaries of the traditional beauty and the beast love story into a better developed urban technological setting. 

   Hey, forget about what reviewers have to say. This movie's more than all that. It's the thinking person's Humanoid From The Deep. I suggest you go see this one to find out for yourself how good it is. It's the sort of movie only one of a very few dying breed of filmmakers could make, today. I wouldn't expect anything less from Guillermo del Toro, and this movie remains as proof positive that he's one of the greats when it comes to fantasy filmmaking.

art by Chet Phillips