"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The Shape of Water (2017, R)

I had to get a reassurance from another interpreter before I could see this movie, but I’m glad I did.  While the signing is super stilted (more on that later,) the film itself is gorgeous.  I really loved it and am happy I felt able to see it.

At the height of the Cold War, a government facility in Baltimore acquires a mysterious “asset,” an amphibious man discovered in South America.  While the facilitiy’s scientists study the creature (and the sadistic head of the project tortures him,) one of the cleaners, a kind mute woman named Elisa, finds herself drawn to him.  She relates to his loneliness and begins teaching him sign language to communicate with him.  But to the facility, he’s just a thing, a possible means of getting a jump on the Soviets, and so Elisa begins coming up with a plan to break him out.

First, I have to give a huge shoutout to the production design.  The sets are uniformly amazing (I especially love the side-by-side apartments of Elisa and her best friend Giles,) and the prosthetic work on the amphibious man looks great.  Add in lovely music and excellent cinematography, and you get a movie that looks and sounds stunning.

Even better, it’s backed up by a good story.  I see a lot of similarities with Pan’s Labyrinth, a dark fairy tale set against the backdrop of an even darker real world (in this case, the paranoia/mistrust of the Cold War and the glossy sheen of Americana juxtaposed with ableism, sexism, homophobia, and racism.)  Both films involve fantastical creatures that can cause a lot of harm if they choose, but in both instances, the “real monster” is a human.  The love story is darkly whimsical, yet also beautiful and grounded in a lot of honest emotion, and there are a number of rich friendship scenes that make me feel very warm and fuzzy.

The characters and the acting are all wonderful.  I like Octavia Spencer’s pragmatic but caring Zelda, although, while Spencer does fine work, the character herself seems a bit lightweight for a supporting actress nomination – Zelda doesn’t offer a whole lot for Spencer to sink her teeth into.  But on the supporting actor side, I love Richard Jenkins as Giles, very nice, pretty insecure, and a sweet friend.  I’ve appreciated him since The Visitor, and he’s fantastic here – Giles’s scenes with Elisa are some of my favorites in the film.  (Side note:  I also like that Giles being gay is understated without being underwritten; while the film never specifically says it, there’s no doubt that that’s what’s going on.)  Michael Shannon (as Strickland, the vile guy heading the project) and Michael Stuhlbarg (as Dr. Hoffstetler, the conflicted lead scientist) do great work as well, and Doug Jones is very effective as the amphibious man.

Then, we have Sally Hawkins as Elisa.  I maintain that, even though Elisa is hearing, they should have gotten a native signer for the role.  There’s not enough signing in the movie for it to really bug me – most of the time, Elisa just listens to other people talk and gives one- or two-word replies – but any time she has to do a full sentence or more, it’s ridiculously choppy and stilted.  To be fair, there are other characters in the movie who speak Russian, and I would imagine the same is true for them.  However, I don’t notice it there, but I can’t not notice it with Elisa.  Signing aside, though, Hawkins is very good – wonderfully expressive, and she does a nice job selling the connection Elisa feels with the amphibious man.

Warnings

Strong violence, language, sexual content, smoking/drinking, and strong thematic elements.

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