By Theda Kleinhans Reichman
Guillermo del Toro’s imaginative, romantic sci-fi fantasy “The Shape of Water” entered this year’s Oscar race with 14 nominations and walked away with four golden statuettes: an Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design and Best Original Score.
Set in Baltimore in the early 1960s, the storyline for “The Shape of Water” focuses on a young, mute woman, Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins, “Blue Jasmine,” “Happy Go Lucky”) who works as a cleaning lady in a government facility and a creature from the Amazon that is half man, half fish (Doug Jones).
The Aquaman, found by an American team of scientists headed by Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), was captured and brought to America for future research. In the Amazon, it was considered a god, but to Strickland “it” is only a creature to be studied and then destroyed.
As a small boy, Del Toro was fascinated by the 1954 film “Creature From the Black Lagoon” and wondered, even at that young age, why the creature never got the girl. With his award-winning feature “The Shape of Water,” the creature finally gets his chance. However, Del Toro’s highly imaginative fairy-fish-tale, co-written by “Game of Thrones” producer Vanessa Taylor, has lots more on its mind.
Not only does it focus on an unusual love story, it also takes a look at American life in the early 1960s, a time when many people were doing very well financially and many others were not. As Charles Dickens might say, “It was the best of times and the worst of times,” depending on your social status.
For example Elisa’s neighbor, Giles (Richard Jenkins), is a commercial artist who is having a very hard time finding work because photographs are rapidly replacing art in advertising.
Giles keeps painting, hoping his circumstances will change. But will they? In the evenings he and Elisa watch old movies on TV. Both are big movie fans and their adjoining apartments are situated over the little movie theater below.
At work, Elisa has another very close friend, Zelda Fuller (Octavia Spencer). They sweep and clean together and Zelda is very protective of her speechless co-worker.
When Aquaman is placed in a special section of the facility no one seems to notice that Elisa often comes in and eats her lunch with him. She soon befriends him and teaches him sign language. He is a quick study.
She is horrified when she learns that Strickland plans to kill and dissect this sensitive, intelligent creature. At this point, she is willing to do anything in her power to save him. But what can she do?
“The Shape of Water” may not be for everyone, but for those who enjoy science fiction blended with romance, this is a thoughtful, unique piece of storytelling.
“The Shape of Water” is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, violence, and language. Running time: 2 hours, 3 minutes.
