Directed by:
Guillermo del ToroCinematography:
Dan LaustsenComposer:
Alexandre DesplatCast:
Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, Octavia Spencer, David Hewlett, Nick Searcy, Nigel Bennett, Stewart Arnott (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
From master story teller Guillermo del Toro, comes The Shape of Water – an other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1963. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of silence and isolation. Elisa's life is changed forver when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment. (Fox Searchlight Pictures US)
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Reviews (14)
Del Toro is on his best ever form. He has turned the story of the origin of Abe Sapien to an Oscar-winning picture that plays with the rules of the genre. Sally Hawkins is fantastic and convincingly falls in love with the creature from the black lagoon. We even get some full-frontals. The perfect, period socio-political commentary (he even dares to claim that some Communists can be good) is slightly disrupted by gay/feminist offerings that somewhat divert from the story. The stylization, the music, the make-up… just perfect. A fairytale for adults in the very best sense.
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I was hyped for the new movie by Guillermo del Toro. A bunch of Oscar nominations only strengthened my excitement. But I really didn’t expect a fantasy premise to turn into a fantasy zoophilic romance. I don’t think this is the first time this idea has occurred to somebody in America but each time it only pissed me off. I can’t wrap my head around why Guillermo himself would waste his time on a story like this.
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A beautiful cinematic caress that delighted me both with a beautifully told sci-fi story from a time when there was no need to overwhelm the viewer with special effects, and with a creative stylistic hand that manages to upgrade the story effortlessly to the demands of modern audiences. Weak on the emotions and with a slightly overwrought script, but excellent actors and top-notch direction referring to the film formulas of the fifties.
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A loose sequel to Guillermo del Toro’s beloved classic Creature from the Black Lagoon with a subtle retro look and a unique
and, I’d dare say, beautiful monster. It cannot be compared to Pan’s Labyrinth, as the older movie was more surreal,
cruel, sad and less Hollywoodish. The Shape of Water is a charming American genre movie with a simple, even
predictable premise, but created with love and with a load of lovely references for movie geeks. "Beauty and the Beast"
meets "Romeo & Juliet". A fairy tale for adults in which the heroine no longer reads a fantasy book but masturbates in the
bath. Given that it was made by Guillermo, there is a relative lack of of blood and violence. We get to see a black
woman, a gay, a Trump-like American general and a secret Russian scientist with his heart in the right place. All decently
written and directed, with everything is as it should be, though the runtime is slightly too long. One hundred minutes
would have been ideal.
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An utterly unique and bizarre retro-futuristic fantasy, an original mix of childish naivety, teenage infatuation and adult sexuality, combined with occasional brutality. Michael Shannon and his black fingers are so over-the-top. I get the Oscars, it's "something different" than what’s usual in the film medium, but I didn’t get a proper film experience.
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