There is nothing ground-breaking about the plot of The Shape of Water since the story almost feels like it references several literary pieces from previous decades. However, the way the story is told, the visual grandeur of its cinematography, the superb performances of its actors, the flawless scoring, and its powerful conviction of a weird but not unheard love story are the recipes that make it an absolutely outstanding film. The Shape of Water is labelled by its director as both a fairy tale and a monster movie. But everyone who watches it soon figures out it's more than each of the two. It may not be perfect but it's hard to deny that it's already an instant classic.
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The Shape of Water feels like a childhood story book everybody grew up with andthrough the visionary talent of its director Guillermo Del Toro, it became a film everyone is required to delight with, regardless of age. Set in the 1960s Cold War in the US, the cinematography and the production design stand out. Especially for those who love films with dark tones. From the drops of water on the window glass the main character stares for too long when she is inside a crowdless bus, to the dark streets at night she walks going to work, to the design of the top-of-the-line cars we now consider vintage and to the corporate fashion the characters wear, it is hard to miss how transcendent this film is when it comes to making the audience experience the era. The scoring is very fluid, one would almost wonder if the movie was adjusted for the score and not vice versa. Having two main characters who can't speak, the emotions they convey through their actions are amplified by the score.
Without its actors, obviously, this film would have suffered from gaps it couldn't fill. Octavia Spencer, who plays Zelda, perfectly complements the dynamics she has with Elisa (Sally Hawkins), the main female character, as her only friend at work. Richard Jenkins, who plays Giles, an artistic, jobless gay man in his 50's, who has a father-daughter relationship with Sally who just lives next door, surely feels like a character many viewers would root for because of those who he represents even today. Michael Stuhlbarg, the Soviet Spy who plays Doctor Hoffstetler is also a valuable addition to the ensemble since he seems to neutralize the plot and the characters. Michael Shannon, the guy who plays Colonel Strickland, is the constant strong force in terms of performance with spoken script in this movie. His character, troubled and flawed at many points, has a depth the movie subtly exhibits. And finally, the two main characters, Elisa and the Amphibian Man (The Asset), who are incapable of speaking because the former is mute and the latter is not human, prove that words aren't always necessary to convey emotions.
An issue I have with Shape of Water is that the development of the love story of the two main characters seems rushed since the scenes transition too quickly from them being strangers to close friends. Yet this is something that could be filled in by the viewers' imagination and is easily forgivable considering what comes next in their story, after they form a bond.
It is true that this film is not free from tropes - there are scenes most people would perhaps predict since the story is straight-forward. But this doesn't take away a large portion of the entertainment value the film provides, not even slight. The beautiful ending everyone has been talking (and arguing) about clearly upended the tropes in this film.
The Shape of Water breaks the boundaries of genres and refuses to be more than just a fairy tale or a monster movie. It is a prime example of magical realism, where the settings are highly realistic but are infused with a certain character or matter that may or not be a product of fantasy. Guillermo del Toro seems to have found a formula to make movies like this a film-making masterpiece. He did it with The Shape of Water.#
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