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The Shape of Water

January 01, 1970

This article is about the 2017 American film. For the unrelated Italian novel, see The Shape of Water (novel).

The Shape of Water is a 2017 Mexican-American romantic dark fantasy film directed and co-produced by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer. Set in 1962 Baltimore, Maryland, the film follows a mute custodian at a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature, and decides to help him escape from death at the hands of an evil colonel. Filming took place on location in Ontario, Canada, from August to November 2016.

The Shape of Water
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGuillermo del Toro
Screenplay by
Story byGuillermo del Toro
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDan Laustsen
Edited bySidney Wolinsky
Music byAlexandre Desplat
Production
companies
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates
  • August 31, 2017 (2017-08-31) (Venice)
  • December 1, 2017 (2017-12-01) (United States)
Running time
123 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United States
  • Mexico[2]
Languages
  • American Sign Language
  • English
  • Russian
Budget$19.5–20 million[3][4]
Box office$196 million[5]

The Shape Of Water was screened as part of the main competition in the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered on August 31, 2017, and was awarded the Golden Lion. It was also screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. It began a limited release in two theaters in New York City on December 1, 2017, before expanding wide on December 22, 2017, and grossed $195 million worldwide.

The Shape of Water was widely acclaimed by critics, who lauded its acting, screenplay, direction, visuals, production design, cinematography, and musical score. The American Film Institute selected it as one of the top ten films of 2017. The film was nominated for a leading thirteen awards at the 90th Academy Awards, winning four, including Best Picture and Best Director for del Toro, and received numerous other accolades. It was the second fantasy film to win Best Picture, after The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). A novelization by del Toro and Daniel Kraus was published on March 6, 2018.

Plot edit

Elisa Esposito, who was found abandoned by the side of a river as an infant with scars on her neck, is mute and communicates through sign language. In 1962, during the Cold War, Elisa works as a custodian at a secret government laboratory in Baltimore, Maryland, and lives a very routine life in an apartment above a movie theater. Her only friends are her closeted gay next-door neighbor Giles, a struggling middle-aged advertising illustrator, and her co-worker Zelda Fuller.

Colonel Richard Strickland has just captured a mysterious creature from a South American river and has taken it to the Baltimore facility for further study. Curious, Elisa discovers it is a humanoid amphibian. She begins visiting him in secret, and they form a close bond.

Seeking to exploit the Amphibian Man for a US advantage in the Space Race, General Frank Hoyt is eventually persuaded by Strickland to vivisect it. Dr. Robert Hoffstetler, a scientist who is secretly a Russian spy named Dimitri Mosenkov, pleads unsuccessfully to Strickland to keep him alive for further study, while simultaneously ordered by his Soviet handlers to kill the creature.

When Elisa overhears the Americans' plans for the Amphibian Man, she attempts to persuade Giles to help her liberate him. He refuses at first, scared of the consequences and ethics. After failing to get his job back, Giles is rejected by a pie restaurant worker, who he discovers is a racist and homophobe. Subsequently, he has a change of heart.

Hoffstetler stumbles upon Elisa's plot in progress and chooses to assist her. Though initially reluctant, Zelda also becomes involved in making the escape successful. Elisa plans to release the Amphibian Man into a nearby canal when heavy rain will allow access to the ocean. In the meantime, she keeps him in her bathtub. Strickland interrogates Elisa and Zelda, among others, but he learns nothing.

The Amphibian Man encounters one of Giles's cats, who reacts expectedly. Giles discovers the Amphibian Man devouring the cat. When he tries to stop him, he gets startled, slashes Giles's arm and rushes out of the apartment. He gets as far as the cinema downstairs before Elisa finds him and returns him to her apartment.

The creature touches Giles on his balding head and wounded arm. The next morning, Giles discovers hair has begun growing back on his previously bald head, while the wounds on his arm have healed. Elisa continues to develop her romantic relationship with the Amphibian Man, culminating in sexual intercourse.

General Hoyt unexpectedly arrives and tells Strickland he has 36 hours to recover the Amphibian Man, or his career and life will be over. Meanwhile, Hoffstetler is told by his handlers that he will be extracted from the US in two days. Although the planned release date approaches, the Amphibian Man's health begins to deteriorate.

Hoffstetler goes to meet his handlers, and Strickland follows him. At the rendezvous, Hoffstetler is shot by one of them and Strickland intervenes, shooting both handlers. Realizing that Hoffstetler is a spy, Strickland tortures the dying man into revealing the Amphibian Man's whereabouts. He is surprised to learn that Elisa and Zelda are involved.

Strickland threatens Zelda in her home unsuccessfully, until her husband Brewster, reveals that Elisa has the Amphibian Man. She immediately telephones her, warning her to release the creature. An enraged Strickland ransacks Elisa's empty apartment until he finds evidence in the bathtub and a calendar note revealing where she plans to release the Amphibian Man.

At the canal, Elisa and Giles are bidding farewell to the creature when Strickland arrives, knocks Giles down, and shoots both the Amphibian Man and Elisa. The Amphibian Man heals himself, and kills Strickland by slashing his throat. As the police arrive on the scene with Zelda, the Amphibian Man takes Elisa and jumps into the canal, swimming around her lifeless body. He applies his healing powers/ability to the scars on Elisa's neck, which open to reveal gills like his.

Elisa jolts back to life and they embrace and kiss. In a closing voice-over narration, Giles conveys his belief that Elisa lived happily ever after and remained in love with the Amphibian Man.

Cast edit

Production edit

Development edit

 
The Gill-man from Creature from the Black Lagoon was the inspiration for del Toro's concept.

It was co-produced between the United States and Mexico. The film was directed by Guillermo del Toro from a screenplay he co-wrote with Vanessa Taylor.[1] Del Toro formed the idea for The Shape of Water over breakfast in December 2011 with Daniel Kraus, his future collaborator on the novel Trollhunters.[6] It was primarily inspired by del Toro's childhood memories of seeing Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and wanting to see the Gill-man and Kay Lawrence (played by Julie Adams) succeed in their romance.[7]

When del Toro was in talks with Universal to direct a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon, he tried pitching a version focused more on the creature's perspective, where the Creature ended up together with the female lead, but the studio executives rejected the concept.[8] Additionally, the film also shows similarities to the 2015 short film The Space Between Us.[9]

In placing the film in the 1960s, del Toro said "the movie is a movie about our problems today and about demonizing the other and about fearing or hating the other, and how that is a much more destructive position than learning to love and understand [...] if I say once upon a time in 1962, it becomes a fairy tale for troubled times. People can lower their guard a little bit more and listen to the story and listen to the characters and talk about the issues, rather than the circumstances of the issues."[10]

Casting edit

A fan of her performances in Fingersmith (2005) and Happy-Go-Lucky (2008), del Toro wrote the script with Sally Hawkins in mind for the female lead and pitched the idea to her while he was intoxicated at the 2014 Golden Globes.[11] Hawkins prepared for the role by watching films of silent comedians Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Stan Laurel from Laurel and Hardy, the last of whom Del Toro told her to watch because he thought Laurel could "do a state of grace without conveying it verbally".[12]

Doug Jones was chosen to portray the Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water, having collaborated with del Toro on Mimic (1997), Hellboy (2004), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), and Crimson Peak (2015). In an interview with NPR, Jones said his initial reaction to learning the creature would also be a romantic lead was "utter terror" but trusted the director to expand the character's development. As Jones wanted to portray a creature distinct from others in monster films, he practiced a variety of movements in a dance studio. After del Toro told him to make the character "animalistic, but royal and regal", Jones decided to also portray the character as a Matador.[13]

The part of Giles was originally written with Ian McKellen in mind, and del Toro was inspired to do so by his performance in Gods and Monsters as the real-life closeted gay filmmaker James Whale, the director of Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933), and Bride of Frankenstein (1935), who found himself unemployable in his later years. When McKellen proved unavailable, del Toro sent an e-mail to Richard Jenkins, who accepted the part.[14]

Michael Shannon was cast as Richard Strickland, the villain of the film. Shannon and del Toro had early conversations about the notion that Strickland would have been the hero of the film if it had been made in the 1950s, something that fascinated the actor.[15] Octavia Spencer, who played the role of Elisa's co-worker, friend, and interpreter Zelda, found it funny that the people del Toro used to speak for the mute main character were people who represent very disenfranchised groups.[16]

Filming and visuals edit

 
Elgin Theatre, Toronto, the Orpheum cinema of the film

Principal photography began on August 15, 2016, in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario,[17][18][19] and wrapped on November 6, 2016.[20] The interior of the Orpheum (the movie theater seen in the film), is that of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres in Toronto, while the exterior of the building is the façade of the Victorian Massey Hall, a performing arts theatre not far from the other one. Elisa and Giles's old flats, which in the film are just above the Orpheum, were actually a set built at Cinespace Studios, West Toronto.[21]

Del Toro was torn between making the film in color or in black and white, and was at one point leaning toward the latter. Fox Searchlight Pictures offered del Toro either a $20 million budget to make the film in color or a $17 million budget to shoot it in black and white. Del Toro admitted he was in "a battle I was expecting to lose. I was of two minds. On one hand I thought black and white would look luscious, but on the other hand I thought it would look postmodern, like I was being reflective rather than immersed." As a result, he chose to shoot it in color.[22][23] In an interview with IndieWire about the film, del Toro said the project was a "healing movie for me", as it allowed him to explore and "speak about trust, otherness, sex, love, where we're going. These are not concerns that I had when I was nine or seven."[24]

Music edit

Main article: The Shape of Water (soundtrack)

Three years before The Shape of Water was released, del Toro met with composer Alexandre Desplat to talk about the film's premise. In January 2017, Desplat was shown a rough cut of the finished film, and finding it similar to a musical, he agreed to compose a score. As a result, Desplat tried to capture the sound of water extensively to have audiences experience a "warm feeling" that is also caused by love. In an interview, he said the melody from the opening scene was "actually made of waves. I did not do that on purpose, but by being completely immersed in this love and these water elements, I wrote a melody that plays arpeggios like waves."[25]

Writing the film score took six weeks; it was purposely composed to create the sense of immersion and to give the "sense that you, yourself, are floating". The two melodies, one titled "Elisa's Theme", are heard at the beginning of the film and later merge into a single piece of music by the end of it. To emphasize this effect and its final result, Desplat changed the sounds of the accompanying flutes, accordions, and whistles to "something blurred". On composing the score overall, he said that it was "a matter of sculpting the music and making it take the shape of the storyline." As a result, Desplat opted out of giving Shannon's character a melody.[25]

The music for The Shape of Water was released on December 1, 2017, by Decca Records. At the 90th Academy Awards, it received the Academy Award for Best Original Score.[26] Desplat noted that "when the movie's that beautiful—and I actually think this movie is a masterpiece—it makes your life much easier. You just have to put your hands on it and it takes you anywhere you want."[25]

Release edit

The Shape of Water premiered on August 31, 2017, at the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Golden Lion for best film.[27][28] It also screened at Telluride Film Festival,[29] the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival,[30] and BFI London Film Festival, among others.[31] The film was released in two theaters in New York City on December 1, 2017, and then expanded to several other cities the following week. It had its official wide release in the United States on December 22, 2017.[32]

On March 13, 2018, the film was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download.[33] Special features on the Ultra HD Blu-ray includes a making-of documentary, two featurettes, a MasterClass Q & A with Guillermo del Toro, an interview with artist James Jean, and three theatrical trailers.[34]

Thematic analysis edit

Construction of the Other edit

Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water (2017) is constructed to challenge society’s perception of the Other in both a literal and metaphorical sense. The monster of this film is a humanoid amphibian creature stolen from the Amazon by American scientists. While much of pop culture has dismissed this film as a monster-human romance,[35] the imagery and symbolism of this film go far beyond fantasy. Through del Toro’s characterization and intentional humanization of the creature, the creature becomes a metaphor to discuss the “beauty of the Other”[35] (i.e., those marginalized in society).

The sociopolitical context of the film becomes essential to understanding character dynamics; namely the interactions between those with power and those without. In the background of the Cold War and Civil Rights Movement, Black people, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people continually occupied a lower social class in the United States.[36] Therefore, those belonging to marginalized groups are likely to connect and empathize with the creature as they see their own experiences reflected through the creature’s interactions with the people of authority around him.[37]

As a mute woman and someone who is not visibly Other,[37] Elisa’s acceptance of the creature is interpreted as a testament to the human capacity for compassion and empathy. Her attempt to free the creature from government control, with help from Giles (a gay man) and Zelda (a Black woman), is evidence of solidarity among marginalized communities. Similar to Tod Browning’s Freaks, it is no surprise in this film that those who are also othered by society band together against the oppressive external powers. This may influence “viewers to consider how they too can resist oppression”[36] in the face of institutional monstrous brutality.[38]

Humanization of the Monster edit

For Alberta Adji, “monstrous entities help the audience perceive foreigners as something that is intimate, common, and invaluable.”[39] The film contrasts the two societal approaches to foreigners (e.g., immigrants, refugees, etc.) through the perspectives of Elisa and Dr. Hoffstetler. In science, the creature is a specimen, until the moment the scientist realizes that he is capable of understanding human speech.[40] This scene implies that acceptance relies simply on a person’s ability to communicate in the dominant language around them.[41] However, for Elisa, humanity moves beyond communication as she and the creature are “both without words, they're speechless, and [yet they are] loved.”[42]

The fairytale nature of the story is exploited as a means to humanize the creature; the viewer can look beyond his physically monstrous appearance and focus solely on his actions and behavior which we believe are synonymous with humanity. Stylistic choices, such as the romantic dream sequence between the creature and Elisa, exist as a parallel to Beauty and the Beast;[35] viewers remain in a state of heightened awareness and suspense as they wonder whether the creature will transform into a human. Unlike traditional monster-human romances, this creature “does not die, is not killed, and does not have to become human to be acceptable to others and to live happily ever after.”[41] This sentiment may offer hope to marginalized communities as it emphasizes that they do not need to assimilate in order to be accepted. Therefore, the acceptance of the creature symbolizes a “message of reflection, acceptance, and embracing otherness.”[41]

The film is structured so that we determine humanity through people’s treatment of the creature. If he is a symbol of the Other, Elisa views humanity as compassion and acceptance, regardless of visible differences. For Strickland, that which is different is a threat to his way of living.[39] Furthermore, this film delivers shades of gray through Zelda and Giles; they eventually grow to accept the monster, which can be parallel to an openness to learn and understand others to find that they are much more like us than we previously believed.

Emergence of a Moral Monster edit

By occupying a place in society as something Other, the creature becomes a “metaphorical device for investigating issues involving power, agency, and the boundaries that define and delineate what is human and non-human.”[39] Therefore, del Toro’s humanization of the monstrous is necessary to contrast Strickland’s emergence as the moral monster.[38] For example, in the scene where the creature is tortured by Strickland with the use of an electric cattle prod, viewers are disgusted by the gruesome act of violence perpetrated by the government official while also feeling sympathy for the creature. These sentiments are not only exacerbated by Strickland’s explicit indifference but are also influenced by the human-like behavior of the creature.[43] Immediately, the senselessness of violence demonstrated calls into question Strickland’s humanity and morality.

Viewers are left with a visceral sense of fear and discomfort with the animalistic nature and brutality of Strickland’s actions.[38] This recurring violence becomes a tool to emphasize his monstrosity and solidifies his place as a moral rather than a biological monster.[38] Moreover, Strickland’s monstrosity is a product of the dominant culture; his status in society (as a cisgender, heterosexual White man)  “prevents him from examining his flaws,”[39] thus allowing him to inflict violence without reproach. This violence and oppression in the film are synonymous with aggression and marginalization of populations in real life.

Critique of the Film edit

Though the film is lauded for its representation of a strong woman with a disability, its main criticism surrounds the romantic relationship between Elisa and the monster. While one can understand del Toro’s intention to find beauty in the Other,[35] viewers find it unfortunate that the messaging could also be seen as the person with a disability is so different from the rest of society that they are unable to gain respect, love, and admiration from anybody but a ‘monster’.[43] Activists with disabilities such as Dominick Evans believe that “[the film] says to [them] that without being cured, [they're] not going to be loved or worthwhile to another human being.”[44] This is furthered by the end scene of the film, as Elisa and the creature appear to leave our world behind. Critics emphasize that despite the romance of the fairytale, this film can be interpreted as “if [people with disabilities] don't fit into society, it's better that [they] leave.”[44] For many, the film is a beautiful take on a love story in which marginalized people find power, strength, and love, while for others, the film leaves them questioning their own place and humanity in the eyes of society.

Reception edit

Box office edit

The Shape of Water grossed $63.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $131.4 million in other countries, for a total of $195.2 million.[5]

After grossing $4.6 million over a three-week limited release, the film began its wide release on December 22, 2017, alongside the openings of Downsizing, Pitch Perfect 3 and Father Figures, and the wide expansion of Darkest Hour, and grossed $3 million from 726 theaters over the weekend, and $4.4 million over the four-day Christmas frame.[45] The following weekend, the film made $3.5 million.[46] The weekend of January 27, 2018, following the announcement of the film's 13 Oscar nominations, the film was added to over 1,000 theaters (for a total of 1,854) and made $5.9 million (an increase of 171% over the previous week's $2.2 million), finishing 8th.[47] The weekend of March 9–11, following its four Oscar wins, the film made an additional $2.4 million. It marked a 64% increase from the previous week's $1.5 million and was similar to the $2.5 million made by the previous year's Best Picture winner, Moonlight.[48]

Critical response edit

 
 
 
The performances of Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, and Richard Jenkins garnered critical acclaim, earning them Academy Award nominations for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor respectively.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 465 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Shape of Water finds Guillermo del Toro at his visually distinctive best—and matched by an emotionally absorbing story brought to life by a stellar Sally Hawkins performance."[49] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[50] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it positive reviews; audience members under the age of 40 gave the film an average grade of either "A+" or "A", while those over 40 gave it an "A" to "A−", on an A+ to F scale;[51] PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film an overall positive score of 80%.[52]

Ben Croll of IndieWire gave the film an 'A' rating and called it "one of del Toro's most stunningly successful works... also a powerful vision of a creative master feeling totally, joyously free."[53] Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film three and a half out of four stars, praising Hawkins's performance, the cinematography and del Toro's direction, and saying: "Even as the film plunges into torment and tragedy, the core relationship between these two unlikely lovers holds us in thrall. Del Toro is a world-class film artist. There's no sense trying to analyze how he does it."[54] For the Minnesota Daily, Haley Bennett reacted positively, writing, "The Shape of Water has tenderness uncommon to del Toro films. ... While The Shape of Water isn't groundbreaking, it is elegant and mesmerizing."[10]

Rex Reed of the New York Observer gave the film one out of four stars, calling it "a loopy, lunkheaded load of drivel" and that "the whole movie is off the wall". Reed's review was criticized for referring to Hawkins's mute character as "mentally handicapped" and for falsely crediting actor Benicio del Toro (spelled Benecio) as the film's director. Reed also stated Benicio was Spanish, whereas he is Puerto Rican; Guillermo del Toro hails from Mexico.[55]

Accolades edit

See also: List of accolades received by The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water received 13 nominations at the 90th Academy Awards, the most of any film in the 2018 race. It won in four categories: Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Director, and Best Picture. It was the second fantasy film to win Best Picture, after The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).[56][57][58] The Shape of Water was acclaimed by critics, who lauded its acting, screenplay, direction, visuals, production design, and musical score. The American Film Institute selected it as one of the top 10 films of the year.[59] At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, the film earned seven nominations, winning for Best Director and Best Original Score.[60] It received twelve nominations at the 71st British Academy Film Awards, winning three awards including Best Director, and fourteen at the 23rd Critics' Choice Awards, winning four awards.[61]

The film also sparked some debate about whether it should have been eligible for a Canadian Screen Awards nomination, as it was filmed in Canada with a predominantly Canadian crew and many Canadian actors in supporting roles. Under Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television rules, to qualify for CSA nominations under the rules for international coproductions, at least 15 percent of a film's funding must come from a Canadian film studio. Even the film's Canadian co-producer, J. Miles Dale, stated that he supports the rules and does not believe the film should have been eligible.[62] The Shape of Water also appeared on many critics' year-end top-ten lists, of which 25 critics chose it as their favorite film of that year.[63] A novelization by del Toro and Kraus was published on March 6, 2018.[64]

Plagiarism accusations edit

In February 2018, the estate of Paul Zindel initiated a lawsuit in United States District Court for the Central District of California against director Guillermo del Toro and associate producer Daniel Kraus, alleging that The Shape of Water "brazenly copies the story, elements, characters, and themes" of Zindel's 1969 work Let Me Hear You Whisper, which depicts a cleaning lady bonding with a dolphin and attempting to rescue it from a secret research laboratory's nefarious uses.[65] The complaint spends more than a dozen pages detailing alleged "overwhelming similarities" between the works.[66] Del Toro denied the claim of the Zindel estate, saying that "I have never read nor seen the play. I'd never heard of this play before making The Shape of Water, and none of my collaborators ever mentioned the play." Distributor Fox Searchlight also denied the claim and said that it would "vigorously defend" itself in court.[67]

In July 2018, Judge Percy Anderson dismissed the suit and stated that del Toro and Fox Searchlight were entitled to recover their legal costs.[68] On April 5, 2021, the following statement by plaintiff was released: "David Zindel, the son of Paul Zindel, author of Let Me Hear You Whisper, acknowledges, based on confidential information obtained during the litigation process, that his claims of plagiarism are unfounded. He acknowledges Guillermo del Toro as the true creator of The Shape of Water. Any similarity between the two works is coincidental."[69]

There have also been accusations that The Shape of Water plagiarised Amphibian Man, a 1962 Soviet film based on a 1928 novel of the same name by Alexander Belyaev.[70][71] Indie Cinema Magazine noted that both have a similar plot, the use of the name "Amphibian Man" in both films, the Soviet connection in both stories, and the 1962 setting.[70] Amphibian Man was one of the highest-grossing Soviet films of all time, with up to 100 million box office admissions in the Soviet Union.[72]

The film also received accusations of plagiarism by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the French director of the romantic comedy Amélie and the cult classic Delicatessen,[73] who claimed that del Toro plagiarized some of the scenes within his works Amelie, Delicatessen, and The City of Lost Children.[74] Other observers vehemently disagree with Jeunet's assertion.[75] Jeunet pointed out some of the similarities in the saturation of the colours, overall art direction and the use of anthropomorphic objects, as well as the music, which is reminiscent of Yann Tiersen's soundtrack on the former. Responding to Jeunet's accusations of plagiarism, del Toro cited the influences of Terry Gilliam's works as the inspiration for The Shape of Water.[74] Both composer Alexandre Desplat and del Toro have cited French composer Georges Delerue,[76] whose work predates Tiersen's by decades, as the inspiration for the musical score. Desplat has also emphasized the importance of water as essential to both the score and to the themes of the film itself.[77]

While covering the plagiarism accusations from Jeunet and Zindel, comparisons were also drawn between The Shape of Water and the 2015 short film "The Space Between Us", the latter of which was created as a student project at the Netherlands Film Academy.[78][79] Outlets reported that both films held a similar premise, that of a janitorial worker falling in love with an amphibious man held captive at a research facility, as well as other similarities such as the time period as well as "scenes in which the woman feeds the creature and dances to records in front of it; and rescue missions, both involving laundry carts, devised after plans to kill and dissect the creatures come to light."[80][81] After screening a copy of The Shape of Water, the Netherlands Film Academy and students issued a statement acknowledging the films as uniquely different and that "They have separate timelines of development and are not in any conceivable way interlinked or related."[82]

References edit

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External links edit

January 01, 1970
shape, water, this, article, about, 2017, american, film, unrelated, italian, novel, novel, 2017, mexican, american, romantic, dark, fantasy, film, directed, produced, guillermo, toro, written, toro, vanessa, taylor, stars, sally, hawkins, michael, shannon, ri. This article is about the 2017 American film For the unrelated Italian novel see The Shape of Water novel The Shape of Water is a 2017 Mexican American romantic dark fantasy film directed and co produced by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor It stars Sally Hawkins Michael Shannon Richard Jenkins Doug Jones Michael Stuhlbarg and Octavia Spencer Set in 1962 Baltimore Maryland the film follows a mute custodian at a high security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature and decides to help him escape from death at the hands of an evil colonel Filming took place on location in Ontario Canada from August to November 2016 The Shape of WaterTheatrical release posterDirected byGuillermo del ToroScreenplay byGuillermo del Toro Vanessa TaylorStory byGuillermo del ToroProduced byGuillermo del Toro J Miles DaleStarringSally Hawkins Michael Shannon Richard Jenkins Doug Jones Michael Stuhlbarg Octavia SpencerCinematographyDan LaustsenEdited bySidney WolinskyMusic byAlexandre DesplatProductioncompaniesFox Searchlight PicturesTSG EntertainmentDouble Dare You ProductionsDistributed byFox Searchlight PicturesRelease datesAugust 31 2017 2017 08 31 Venice December 1 2017 2017 12 01 United States Running time123 minutes 1 CountriesUnited States Mexico 2 LanguagesAmerican Sign Language English RussianBudget 19 5 20 million 3 4 Box office 196 million 5 The Shape Of Water was screened as part of the main competition in the 74th Venice International Film Festival where it premiered on August 31 2017 and was awarded the Golden Lion It was also screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival It began a limited release in two theaters in New York City on December 1 2017 before expanding wide on December 22 2017 and grossed 195 million worldwide The Shape of Water was widely acclaimed by critics who lauded its acting screenplay direction visuals production design cinematography and musical score The American Film Institute selected it as one of the top ten films of 2017 The film was nominated for a leading thirteen awards at the 90th Academy Awards winning four including Best Picture and Best Director for del Toro and received numerous other accolades It was the second fantasy film to win Best Picture after The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King 2003 A novelization by del Toro and Daniel Kraus was published on March 6 2018 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 3 1 Development 3 2 Casting 3 3 Filming and visuals 3 4 Music 4 Release 5 Thematic analysis 5 1 Construction of the Other 5 2 Humanization of the Monster 5 3 Emergence of a Moral Monster 5 4 Critique of the Film 6 Reception 6 1 Box office 6 2 Critical response 6 3 Accolades 7 Plagiarism accusations 8 References 9 External linksPlot editElisa Esposito who was found abandoned by the side of a river as an infant with scars on her neck is mute and communicates through sign language In 1962 during the Cold War Elisa works as a custodian at a secret government laboratory in Baltimore Maryland and lives a very routine life in an apartment above a movie theater Her only friends are her closeted gay next door neighbor Giles a struggling middle aged advertising illustrator and her co worker Zelda Fuller Colonel Richard Strickland has just captured a mysterious creature from a South American river and has taken it to the Baltimore facility for further study Curious Elisa discovers it is a humanoid amphibian She begins visiting him in secret and they form a close bond Seeking to exploit the Amphibian Man for a US advantage in the Space Race General Frank Hoyt is eventually persuaded by Strickland to vivisect it Dr Robert Hoffstetler a scientist who is secretly a Russian spy named Dimitri Mosenkov pleads unsuccessfully to Strickland to keep him alive for further study while simultaneously ordered by his Soviet handlers to kill the creature When Elisa overhears the Americans plans for the Amphibian Man she attempts to persuade Giles to help her liberate him He refuses at first scared of the consequences and ethics After failing to get his job back Giles is rejected by a pie restaurant worker who he discovers is a racist and homophobe Subsequently he has a change of heart Hoffstetler stumbles upon Elisa s plot in progress and chooses to assist her Though initially reluctant Zelda also becomes involved in making the escape successful Elisa plans to release the Amphibian Man into a nearby canal when heavy rain will allow access to the ocean In the meantime she keeps him in her bathtub Strickland interrogates Elisa and Zelda among others but he learns nothing The Amphibian Man encounters one of Giles s cats who reacts expectedly Giles discovers the Amphibian Man devouring the cat When he tries to stop him he gets startled slashes Giles s arm and rushes out of the apartment He gets as far as the cinema downstairs before Elisa finds him and returns him to her apartment The creature touches Giles on his balding head and wounded arm The next morning Giles discovers hair has begun growing back on his previously bald head while the wounds on his arm have healed Elisa continues to develop her romantic relationship with the Amphibian Man culminating in sexual intercourse General Hoyt unexpectedly arrives and tells Strickland he has 36 hours to recover the Amphibian Man or his career and life will be over Meanwhile Hoffstetler is told by his handlers that he will be extracted from the US in two days Although the planned release date approaches the Amphibian Man s health begins to deteriorate Hoffstetler goes to meet his handlers and Strickland follows him At the rendezvous Hoffstetler is shot by one of them and Strickland intervenes shooting both handlers Realizing that Hoffstetler is a spy Strickland tortures the dying man into revealing the Amphibian Man s whereabouts He is surprised to learn that Elisa and Zelda are involved Strickland threatens Zelda in her home unsuccessfully until her husband Brewster reveals that Elisa has the Amphibian Man She immediately telephones her warning her to release the creature An enraged Strickland ransacks Elisa s empty apartment until he finds evidence in the bathtub and a calendar note revealing where she plans to release the Amphibian Man At the canal Elisa and Giles are bidding farewell to the creature when Strickland arrives knocks Giles down and shoots both the Amphibian Man and Elisa The Amphibian Man heals himself and kills Strickland by slashing his throat As the police arrive on the scene with Zelda the Amphibian Man takes Elisa and jumps into the canal swimming around her lifeless body He applies his healing powers ability to the scars on Elisa s neck which open to reveal gills like his Elisa jolts back to life and they embrace and kiss In a closing voice over narration Giles conveys his belief that Elisa lived happily ever after and remained in love with the Amphibian Man Cast editSally Hawkins as Elisa Esposito Michael Shannon as Richard Strickland Richard Jenkins as Giles Doug Jones as The Amphibian Man Michael Stuhlbarg as Robert Hoffstetler Dimitri Mosenkov Octavia Spencer as Zelda Delilah Fuller Nick Searcy as General of the Air Force Frank Hoyt David Hewlett as Fleming Nigel Bennett as Mihalkov Stewart Arnott as Bernard Lauren Lee Smith as Elaine Strickland Martin Roach as Brewster Fuller John Kapelos as Mr Arzoumanian Morgan Kelly as Pie Guy Wendy Lyon as SallyProduction editDevelopment edit nbsp The Gill man from Creature from the Black Lagoon was the inspiration for del Toro s concept It was co produced between the United States and Mexico The film was directed by Guillermo del Toro from a screenplay he co wrote with Vanessa Taylor 1 Del Toro formed the idea for The Shape of Water over breakfast in December 2011 with Daniel Kraus his future collaborator on the novel Trollhunters 6 It was primarily inspired by del Toro s childhood memories of seeing Creature from the Black Lagoon 1954 and wanting to see the Gill man and Kay Lawrence played by Julie Adams succeed in their romance 7 When del Toro was in talks with Universal to direct a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon he tried pitching a version focused more on the creature s perspective where the Creature ended up together with the female lead but the studio executives rejected the concept 8 Additionally the film also shows similarities to the 2015 short film The Space Between Us 9 In placing the film in the 1960s del Toro said the movie is a movie about our problems today and about demonizing the other and about fearing or hating the other and how that is a much more destructive position than learning to love and understand if I say once upon a time in 1962 it becomes a fairy tale for troubled times People can lower their guard a little bit more and listen to the story and listen to the characters and talk about the issues rather than the circumstances of the issues 10 Casting edit A fan of her performances in Fingersmith 2005 and Happy Go Lucky 2008 del Toro wrote the script with Sally Hawkins in mind for the female lead and pitched the idea to her while he was intoxicated at the 2014 Golden Globes 11 Hawkins prepared for the role by watching films of silent comedians Charlie Chaplin Buster Keaton Harold Lloyd and Stan Laurel from Laurel and Hardy the last of whom Del Toro told her to watch because he thought Laurel could do a state of grace without conveying it verbally 12 Doug Jones was chosen to portray the Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water having collaborated with del Toro on Mimic 1997 Hellboy 2004 Pan s Labyrinth 2006 Hellboy II The Golden Army 2008 and Crimson Peak 2015 In an interview with NPR Jones said his initial reaction to learning the creature would also be a romantic lead was utter terror but trusted the director to expand the character s development As Jones wanted to portray a creature distinct from others in monster films he practiced a variety of movements in a dance studio After del Toro told him to make the character animalistic but royal and regal Jones decided to also portray the character as a Matador 13 The part of Giles was originally written with Ian McKellen in mind and del Toro was inspired to do so by his performance in Gods and Monsters as the real life closeted gay filmmaker James Whale the director of Frankenstein 1931 The Invisible Man 1933 and Bride of Frankenstein 1935 who found himself unemployable in his later years When McKellen proved unavailable del Toro sent an e mail to Richard Jenkins who accepted the part 14 Michael Shannon was cast as Richard Strickland the villain of the film Shannon and del Toro had early conversations about the notion that Strickland would have been the hero of the film if it had been made in the 1950s something that fascinated the actor 15 Octavia Spencer who played the role of Elisa s co worker friend and interpreter Zelda found it funny that the people del Toro used to speak for the mute main character were people who represent very disenfranchised groups 16 Filming and visuals edit nbsp Elgin Theatre Toronto the Orpheum cinema of the film Principal photography began on August 15 2016 in Toronto and Hamilton Ontario 17 18 19 and wrapped on November 6 2016 20 The interior of the Orpheum the movie theater seen in the film is that of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres in Toronto while the exterior of the building is the facade of the Victorian Massey Hall a performing arts theatre not far from the other one Elisa and Giles s old flats which in the film are just above the Orpheum were actually a set built at Cinespace Studios West Toronto 21 Del Toro was torn between making the film in color or in black and white and was at one point leaning toward the latter Fox Searchlight Pictures offered del Toro either a 20 million budget to make the film in color or a 17 million budget to shoot it in black and white Del Toro admitted he was in a battle I was expecting to lose I was of two minds On one hand I thought black and white would look luscious but on the other hand I thought it would look postmodern like I was being reflective rather than immersed As a result he chose to shoot it in color 22 23 In an interview with IndieWire about the film del Toro said the project was a healing movie for me as it allowed him to explore and speak about trust otherness sex love where we re going These are not concerns that I had when I was nine or seven 24 Music edit Main article The Shape of Water soundtrack Three years before The Shape of Water was released del Toro met with composer Alexandre Desplat to talk about the film s premise In January 2017 Desplat was shown a rough cut of the finished film and finding it similar to a musical he agreed to compose a score As a result Desplat tried to capture the sound of water extensively to have audiences experience a warm feeling that is also caused by love In an interview he said the melody from the opening scene was actually made of waves I did not do that on purpose but by being completely immersed in this love and these water elements I wrote a melody that plays arpeggios like waves 25 Writing the film score took six weeks it was purposely composed to create the sense of immersion and to give the sense that you yourself are floating The two melodies one titled Elisa s Theme are heard at the beginning of the film and later merge into a single piece of music by the end of it To emphasize this effect and its final result Desplat changed the sounds of the accompanying flutes accordions and whistles to something blurred On composing the score overall he said that it was a matter of sculpting the music and making it take the shape of the storyline As a result Desplat opted out of giving Shannon s character a melody 25 The music for The Shape of Water was released on December 1 2017 by Decca Records At the 90th Academy Awards it received the Academy Award for Best Original Score 26 Desplat noted that when the movie s that beautiful and I actually think this movie is a masterpiece it makes your life much easier You just have to put your hands on it and it takes you anywhere you want 25 Release editThe Shape of Water premiered on August 31 2017 at the 74th Venice International Film Festival where it was awarded the Golden Lion for best film 27 28 It also screened at Telluride Film Festival 29 the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival 30 and BFI London Film Festival among others 31 The film was released in two theaters in New York City on December 1 2017 and then expanded to several other cities the following week It had its official wide release in the United States on December 22 2017 32 On March 13 2018 the film was released on Blu ray DVD and digital download 33 Special features on the Ultra HD Blu ray includes a making of documentary two featurettes a MasterClass Q amp A with Guillermo del Toro an interview with artist James Jean and three theatrical trailers 34 Thematic analysis editConstruction of the Other edit Guillermo del Toro s The Shape of Water 2017 is constructed to challenge society s perception of the Other in both a literal and metaphorical sense The monster of this film is a humanoid amphibian creature stolen from the Amazon by American scientists While much of pop culture has dismissed this film as a monster human romance 35 the imagery and symbolism of this film go far beyond fantasy Through del Toro s characterization and intentional humanization of the creature the creature becomes a metaphor to discuss the beauty of the Other 35 i e those marginalized in society The sociopolitical context of the film becomes essential to understanding character dynamics namely the interactions between those with power and those without In the background of the Cold War and Civil Rights Movement Black people people of color people with disabilities and LGBTQ people continually occupied a lower social class in the United States 36 Therefore those belonging to marginalized groups are likely to connect and empathize with the creature as they see their own experiences reflected through the creature s interactions with the people of authority around him 37 As a mute woman and someone who is not visibly Other 37 Elisa s acceptance of the creature is interpreted as a testament to the human capacity for compassion and empathy Her attempt to free the creature from government control with help from Giles a gay man and Zelda a Black woman is evidence of solidarity among marginalized communities Similar to Tod Browning s Freaks it is no surprise in this film that those who are also othered by society band together against the oppressive external powers This may influence viewers to consider how they too can resist oppression 36 in the face of institutional monstrous brutality 38 Humanization of the Monster edit For Alberta Adji monstrous entities help the audience perceive foreigners as something that is intimate common and invaluable 39 The film contrasts the two societal approaches to foreigners e g immigrants refugees etc through the perspectives of Elisa and Dr Hoffstetler In science the creature is a specimen until the moment the scientist realizes that he is capable of understanding human speech 40 This scene implies that acceptance relies simply on a person s ability to communicate in the dominant language around them 41 However for Elisa humanity moves beyond communication as she and the creature are both without words they re speechless and yet they are loved 42 The fairytale nature of the story is exploited as a means to humanize the creature the viewer can look beyond his physically monstrous appearance and focus solely on his actions and behavior which we believe are synonymous with humanity Stylistic choices such as the romantic dream sequence between the creature and Elisa exist as a parallel to Beauty and the Beast 35 viewers remain in a state of heightened awareness and suspense as they wonder whether the creature will transform into a human Unlike traditional monster human romances this creature does not die is not killed and does not have to become human to be acceptable to others and to live happily ever after 41 This sentiment may offer hope to marginalized communities as it emphasizes that they do not need to assimilate in order to be accepted Therefore the acceptance of the creature symbolizes a message of reflection acceptance and embracing otherness 41 The film is structured so that we determine humanity through people s treatment of the creature If he is a symbol of the Other Elisa views humanity as compassion and acceptance regardless of visible differences For Strickland that which is different is a threat to his way of living 39 Furthermore this film delivers shades of gray through Zelda and Giles they eventually grow to accept the monster which can be parallel to an openness to learn and understand others to find that they are much more like us than we previously believed Emergence of a Moral Monster edit By occupying a place in society as something Other the creature becomes a metaphorical device for investigating issues involving power agency and the boundaries that define and delineate what is human and non human 39 Therefore del Toro s humanization of the monstrous is necessary to contrast Strickland s emergence as the moral monster 38 For example in the scene where the creature is tortured by Strickland with the use of an electric cattle prod viewers are disgusted by the gruesome act of violence perpetrated by the government official while also feeling sympathy for the creature These sentiments are not only exacerbated by Strickland s explicit indifference but are also influenced by the human like behavior of the creature 43 Immediately the senselessness of violence demonstrated calls into question Strickland s humanity and morality Viewers are left with a visceral sense of fear and discomfort with the animalistic nature and brutality of Strickland s actions 38 This recurring violence becomes a tool to emphasize his monstrosity and solidifies his place as a moral rather than a biological monster 38 Moreover Strickland s monstrosity is a product of the dominant culture his status in society as a cisgender heterosexual White man prevents him from examining his flaws 39 thus allowing him to inflict violence without reproach This violence and oppression in the film are synonymous with aggression and marginalization of populations in real life Critique of the Film edit Though the film is lauded for its representation of a strong woman with a disability its main criticism surrounds the romantic relationship between Elisa and the monster While one can understand del Toro s intention to find beauty in the Other 35 viewers find it unfortunate that the messaging could also be seen as the person with a disability is so different from the rest of society that they are unable to gain respect love and admiration from anybody but a monster 43 Activists with disabilities such as Dominick Evans believe that the film says to them that without being cured they re not going to be loved or worthwhile to another human being 44 This is furthered by the end scene of the film as Elisa and the creature appear to leave our world behind Critics emphasize that despite the romance of the fairytale this film can be interpreted as if people with disabilities don t fit into society it s better that they leave 44 For many the film is a beautiful take on a love story in which marginalized people find power strength and love while for others the film leaves them questioning their own place and humanity in the eyes of society Reception editBox office edit The Shape of Water grossed 63 9 million in the United States and Canada and 131 4 million in other countries for a total of 195 2 million 5 After grossing 4 6 million over a three week limited release the film began its wide release on December 22 2017 alongside the openings of Downsizing Pitch Perfect 3 and Father Figures and the wide expansion of Darkest Hour and grossed 3 million from 726 theaters over the weekend and 4 4 million over the four day Christmas frame 45 The following weekend the film made 3 5 million 46 The weekend of January 27 2018 following the announcement of the film s 13 Oscar nominations the film was added to over 1 000 theaters for a total of 1 854 and made 5 9 million an increase of 171 over the previous week s 2 2 million finishing 8th 47 The weekend of March 9 11 following its four Oscar wins the film made an additional 2 4 million It marked a 64 increase from the previous week s 1 5 million and was similar to the 2 5 million made by the previous year s Best Picture winner Moonlight 48 Critical response edit nbsp nbsp nbsp The performances of Sally Hawkins Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins garnered critical acclaim earning them Academy Award nominations for Best Actress Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 92 based on 465 reviews with an average rating of 8 3 10 The website s critical consensus reads The Shape of Water finds Guillermo del Toro at his visually distinctive best and matched by an emotionally absorbing story brought to life by a stellar Sally Hawkins performance 49 On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100 based on 53 critics indicating universal acclaim 50 Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it positive reviews audience members under the age of 40 gave the film an average grade of either A or A while those over 40 gave it an A to A on an A to F scale 51 PostTrak reported that filmgoers gave the film an overall positive score of 80 52 Ben Croll of IndieWire gave the film an A rating and called it one of del Toro s most stunningly successful works also a powerful vision of a creative master feeling totally joyously free 53 Writing for Rolling Stone Peter Travers gave the film three and a half out of four stars praising Hawkins s performance the cinematography and del Toro s direction and saying Even as the film plunges into torment and tragedy the core relationship between these two unlikely lovers holds us in thrall Del Toro is a world class film artist There s no sense trying to analyze how he does it 54 For the Minnesota Daily Haley Bennett reacted positively writing The Shape of Water has tenderness uncommon to del Toro films While The Shape of Water isn t groundbreaking it is elegant and mesmerizing 10 Rex Reed of the New York Observer gave the film one out of four stars calling it a loopy lunkheaded load of drivel and that the whole movie is off the wall Reed s review was criticized for referring to Hawkins s mute character as mentally handicapped and for falsely crediting actor Benicio del Toro spelled Benecio as the film s director Reed also stated Benicio was Spanish whereas he is Puerto Rican Guillermo del Toro hails from Mexico 55 Accolades edit See also List of accolades received by The Shape of Water The Shape of Water received 13 nominations at the 90th Academy Awards the most of any film in the 2018 race It won in four categories Best Production Design Best Original Score Best Director and Best Picture It was the second fantasy film to win Best Picture after The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King 2003 56 57 58 The Shape of Water was acclaimed by critics who lauded its acting screenplay direction visuals production design and musical score The American Film Institute selected it as one of the top 10 films of the year 59 At the 75th Golden Globe Awards the film earned seven nominations winning for Best Director and Best Original Score 60 It received twelve nominations at the 71st British Academy Film Awards winning three awards including Best Director and fourteen at the 23rd Critics Choice Awards winning four awards 61 The film also sparked some debate about whether it should have been eligible for a Canadian Screen Awards nomination as it was filmed in Canada with a predominantly Canadian crew and many Canadian actors in supporting roles Under Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television rules to qualify for CSA nominations under the rules for international coproductions at least 15 percent of a film s funding must come from a Canadian film studio Even the film s Canadian co producer J Miles Dale stated that he supports the rules and does not believe the film should have been eligible 62 The Shape of Water also appeared on many critics year end top ten lists of which 25 critics chose it as their favorite film of that year 63 A novelization by del Toro and Kraus was published on March 6 2018 64 Plagiarism accusations editIn February 2018 the estate of Paul Zindel initiated a lawsuit in United States District Court for the Central District of California against director Guillermo del Toro and associate producer Daniel Kraus alleging that The Shape of Water brazenly copies the story elements characters and themes of Zindel s 1969 work Let Me Hear You Whisper which depicts a cleaning lady bonding with a dolphin and attempting to rescue it from a secret research laboratory s nefarious uses 65 The complaint spends more than a dozen pages detailing alleged overwhelming similarities between the works 66 Del Toro denied the claim of the Zindel estate saying that I have never read nor seen the play I d never heard of this play before making The Shape of Water and none of my collaborators ever mentioned the play Distributor Fox Searchlight also denied the claim and said that it would vigorously defend itself in court 67 In July 2018 Judge Percy Anderson dismissed the suit and stated that del Toro and Fox Searchlight were entitled to recover their legal costs 68 On April 5 2021 the following statement by plaintiff was released David Zindel the son of Paul Zindel author of Let Me Hear You Whisper acknowledges based on confidential information obtained during the litigation process that his claims of plagiarism are unfounded He acknowledges Guillermo del Toro as the true creator of The Shape of Water Any similarity between the two works is coincidental 69 There have also been accusations that The Shape of Water plagiarised Amphibian Man a 1962 Soviet film based on a 1928 novel of the same name by Alexander Belyaev 70 71 Indie Cinema Magazine noted that both have a similar plot the use of the name Amphibian Man in both films the Soviet connection in both stories and the 1962 setting 70 Amphibian Man was one of the highest grossing Soviet films of all time with up to 100 million box office admissions in the Soviet Union 72 The film also received accusations of plagiarism by Jean Pierre Jeunet the French director of the romantic comedy Amelie and the cult classic Delicatessen 73 who claimed that del Toro plagiarized some of the scenes within his works Amelie Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children 74 Other observers vehemently disagree with Jeunet s assertion 75 Jeunet pointed out some of the similarities in the saturation of the colours overall art direction and the use of anthropomorphic objects as well as the music which is reminiscent of Yann Tiersen s soundtrack on the former Responding to Jeunet s accusations of plagiarism del Toro cited the influences of Terry Gilliam s works as the inspiration for The Shape of Water 74 Both composer Alexandre Desplat and del Toro have cited French composer Georges Delerue 76 whose work predates Tiersen s by decades as the inspiration for the musical score Desplat has also emphasized the importance of water as essential to both the score and to the themes of the film itself 77 While covering the plagiarism accusations from Jeunet and Zindel comparisons were also drawn between The Shape of Water and the 2015 short film The Space Between Us the latter of which was created as a student project at the Netherlands Film Academy 78 79 Outlets reported that both films held a similar premise that of a janitorial worker falling in love with an amphibious man held captive at a research facility as well as other similarities such as the time period as well as scenes in which the woman feeds the creature and dances to records in front of it and rescue missions both involving laundry carts devised after plans to kill and dissect the creatures come to light 80 81 After screening a copy of The Shape of Water the Netherlands Film Academy and students issued a statement acknowledging the films as uniquely different and that They have separate timelines of development and are not in any conceivable way interlinked or related 82 References edit a b The Shape of Water British Board of Film Classification Archived from the original on December 21 2017 Retrieved December 19 2020 The Shape of Water kinorium com Retrieved June 6 2019 Tapley Kristopher November 21 2017 Spirit Awards Call Me by Your Name Get Out Soar Shape of Water Shunned Again Variety Penske Business Media Archived from the original on January 8 2018 Retrieved November 21 2017 2017 Feature Film Study PDF FilmL A Feature Film Study 25 August 8 2018 Archived PDF from the original on August 9 2018 Retrieved August 14 2018 a b The Shape of Water Box Office Mojo IMDb Archived from the original on April 21 2021 Retrieved April 21 2021 Potter Janet March 1 2018 How an Evanston writer s boyhood idea inspired Shape of Water Chicago Reader Archived from the original on April 18 2021 Retrieved April 21 2021 The Iconic Horror Movie Scene That Inspired The Shape of Water Bloody Disgusting September 6 2017 Archived from the original on October 14 2017 Retrieved October 16 2017 Del Toro Talks Black Lagoon Influence On Shape darkhorizons com November 5 2017 Archived from the original on December 1 2017 Retrieved November 20 2017 Is The Shape of Water Cribbed Directly From the Short Film The Space Between Us AwardsWatch August 18 2017 Archived from the original on September 11 2017 Retrieved September 11 2017 a b Bennett Haley December 15 2017 Review The Shape of Water Mermaid film noir sounds like a fishy genre but director Guillermo del Toro navigates it with skill Minnesota Daily Archived from the original on December 16 2017 Retrieved December 15 2017 Lee Chris November 30 2017 How Guillermo del Toro Got Drunk at a Golden Globes After party and Made Sally Hawkins the Star of The Shape of Water Vulture Archived from the original on July 10 2018 Retrieved July 10 2018 Beachum Chris Dixon Marcus James December 26 2017 Guillermo del Toro The Shape of Water A fairy tale for troubled times Complete Interview Transcript Gold Derby Archived from the original on July 10 2018 Retrieved July 10 2018 Multiple sources Yu Mallory March 3 2018 Shape Of Water Creature Actor Doug Jones Understands The Monsters NPR Archived from the original on May 1 2021 Retrieved July 5 2021 Briger Sam February 19 2018 Shape Of Water Actor Explains Makeup Body Language And Bathroom Breaks NPR Archived from the original on March 8 2021 Retrieved July 5 2021 Spiegel Josh December 8 2017 The Star Who Finally Gets His Due with Shape of Water The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on July 6 2021 Retrieved July 5 2021 The Shape of Water s Doug Jones on Playing Costumed Monsters and His Persistent On Set Challenge Pooping Slate March 2 2018 Archived from the original on November 1 2020 Retrieved July 5 2021 Shanley Patrick February 22 2018 Shape of Water Star Richard Jenkins on Getting Cast Via Email The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved March 7 2024 Miller Julie December 5 2017 For Michael Shannon the Clothes Made the Man in The Shape of Water Vanity Fair Archived from the original on June 10 2018 Retrieved July 10 2018 Beachum Chris December 28 2017 Octavia Spencer The Shape of Water Otherworldly and beautiful themes are very relevant for today Complete Interview Transcript Gold Derby Archived from the original on July 10 2018 Retrieved July 10 2018 Evry Max August 15 2016 Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro Begins Production Comingsoon net Archived from the original on May 27 2017 Retrieved May 17 2017 Guillermo del Toro s staff plan Hamilton visit to talk film studio locations mayor Canadian Broadcasting Corporation September 13 2017 Archived from the original on September 15 2017 Retrieved September 16 2017 All the Toronto locations that show up in Guillermo del Toro s The Shape of Water Toronto Life Magazine January 9 2018 Archived from the original on February 19 2018 Retrieved March 4 2018 Wist Sean November 8 2016 Filming has wrapped on Guillermo del Toro s The Shape of Water JoBlo com Archived from the original on April 21 2021 Retrieved April 21 2021 The Shape of Water 2017 movie locations com Archived from the original on August 17 2019 Retrieved August 17 2019 Pond Steve January 23 2018 Guillermo del Toro on How The Shape of Water Was Almost Shot in Black and White TheWrap Archived from the original on July 10 2018 Retrieved July 10 2018 P Sullivan Kevin November 30 2017 Guillermo del Toro originally pitched The Shape of Water in black and white Entertainment Weekly Archived from the original on September 18 2020 Retrieved May 6 2020 Marotta Jenna November 19 2017 Guillermo del Toro The Shape of Water Saved My Life IndieWire Archived from the original on December 8 2017 Retrieved December 10 2017 a b c Grobar Matt December 30 2017 The Shape Of Water Composer Alexandre Desplat On The Sounds Of Love amp Water Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on January 24 2019 Retrieved July 6 2021 Phillips Michael March 5 2018 Oscars can still surprise us Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on March 5 2018 Retrieved March 5 2018 Guillermo del Toro s The Shape of Water wins Venice Golden Lion The Guardian Guardian News and Media September 9 2017 Archived from the original on December 20 2017 Retrieved September 9 2017 Anderson Ariston July 27 2017 Venice Competition Includes Films From George Clooney Guillermo del Toro Darren Aronofsky The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on July 27 2017 Retrieved July 27 2017 Fleming Mike Jr July 25 2017 Toronto Film Festival 2017 Unveils Strong Slate Deadline Hollywood Penske Business Media Archived from the original on July 27 2017 Retrieved July 25 2017 Mandell Andrea September 12 2017 Guillermo del Toro casts a spell at Toronto Film Festival with The Shape of Water USA Today Archived from the original on February 25 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 James Nick February 16 2018 The Shape of Water review Guillermo del Toro s magical anti fascist fairytale British Film Institute Archived from the original on January 23 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 McNary Dave Guillermo del Toro s Shape of Water Gets Awards Season Release Date Variety Archived from the original on April 20 2017 Retrieved April 19 2017 Mercer Pete March 12 2018 Guillermo del Toro Reveals Meaning Of Shape of Water s Lead Characters Screen Rant Archived from the original on April 21 2021 Retrieved April 21 2021 Archer John March 19 2018 The Shape Of Water 4K Blu ray Review The Ultimate Wet Dream Forbes Archived from the original on July 6 2021 Retrieved July 6 2021 a b c d My Monster Boyfriend retrieved February 11 2024 a b Chamberlain Edward February 10 2020 Rethinking the Monstrous Gender Otherness and Space in the Cinematic Storytelling of Arrival and The Shape of Water CLCWeb Comparative Literature and Culture 21 7 doi 10 7771 1481 4374 3666 ISSN 1481 4374 a b The Shape of Water Falling In Love With Monsters Feat Lindsay Ellis READUS 101 Retrieved February 11 2024 a b c d Duperrex Matthieu Dutrait Francois December 1 2011 Qu est ce qu un monstre Enfances amp Psy 51 2 17 24 doi 10 3917 ep 051 0017 ISSN 1286 5559 a b c d Adji Alberta Natasia August 1 2019 Falling for the Amphibian Man Fantasy Otherness and Auteurism in del Toro s The Shape of Water IAFOR Journal of Media Communication amp Film 6 1 51 64 doi 10 22492 ijmcf 6 1 03 ISSN 2187 0667 Cook Nina Elisabeth October 2 2023 A speaking silence universal language and multilingualism in The Shape of Water Word amp Image 39 4 417 433 doi 10 1080 02666286 2023 2193960 ISSN 0266 6286 S2CID 265250854 a b c Lankauskaite Viktorija February 2 2022 Beyond the Fairy Tale of The Shape of Water Reimagining the Creature Relations Beyond Anthropocentrism 9 1 2 doi 10 7358 rela 2021 0102 lank ISSN 2280 9643 Guillermo del Toro Explains Symbols in The Shape of Water IMDb EXCLUSIVE retrieved February 11 2024 a b Wilde Alison Crawshaw Gill Sheldon Alison October 21 2018 Talking about The Shape of Water three women dip their toes in Disability amp Society 33 9 1528 1532 doi 10 1080 09687599 2018 1488406 ISSN 0968 7599 a b How The Shape Of Water Makes People With Disabilities Feel Less Human HuffPost March 1 2018 Retrieved February 11 2024 D Alessandro Anthony December 24 2017 Last Jedi Lords Over Christmas Weekend B O With 100M As Jumanji Roars 65M amp Pitch Perfect 3 Sings 27M Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on February 23 2018 Retrieved December 24 2017 D Alessandro Anthony December 31 2017 Last 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Is A Unique Best Picture Winner Forbes Archived from the original on March 5 2018 Retrieved January 22 2020 Buckley Cara February 7 2018 How Did The Shape of Water Become the Film to Beat at the Oscars The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on January 22 2020 Retrieved January 22 2020 Oscars The Complete Winners List The Hollywood Reporter March 4 2018 Archived from the original on March 5 2018 Retrieved November 11 2022 AFI Awards 2017 American Film Institute Archived from the original on December 8 2017 Retrieved December 8 2017 Berg Madeline January 7 2018 Golden Globes 2018 The Full List Of Winners Forbes Archived from the original on August 26 2021 Retrieved August 26 2021 The Shape of Water leads Bafta nominations BBC News BBC January 9 2018 Archived from the original on January 9 2018 Retrieved January 9 2018 Patch Nick March 8 2018 Are the Canadian Screen Awards too Canadian Toronto Star Archived from the original on March 9 2018 Retrieved March 8 2018 Dietz Jason December 5 2017 Best of 2017 Film Critic Top Ten Lists Metacritic Archived from the original on January 25 2018 Retrieved January 30 2018 Lussier Germain December 6 2017 The Shape of Water Novel Does Much Much More Than Adapt the Movie io9 Archived from the original on March 6 2018 Retrieved February 23 2018 Dwyer Colin February 22 2018 Shape Of Water Creators Sued Over Plagiarism Claims As Oscars Approach NPR Archived from the original on February 23 2018 Retrieved February 23 2018 Berman Eliza March 1 2018 Everything to Know About the Shape of Water Plagiarism Controversy Time Archived from the original on March 5 2018 Retrieved March 1 2018 Dwyer Colin February 23 2018 Shape of Water Creators Sued Over Plagiarism Claims As Oscars Approach NPR Archived from the original on February 23 2018 Retrieved February 23 2018 Chmielewski Dawn C July 24 2018 Judge Dismisses Shape Of Water Lawsuit Waged During Final Oscar Voting Against Guillermo Del Toro s Best Picture Winner 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December 5 2018 a b La Forme de l eau Jean Pierre Jeunet accuse Guillermo Del Toro de copier coller Delicatessen The Shape of Water Jean Pierre Jeunet accuses Guillermo Del Toro of copy and paste Delicatessen February 6 2018 Archived from the original on February 7 2018 Retrieved December 5 2018 Imitation Game The Difference Between Homage and Plagiarism Film School Rejects February 12 2018 Archived from the original on December 21 2018 Retrieved January 9 2019 EmanuelLevy December 30 2017 Shape of Water Love Letter to Cinema from Del Toro Emanuel Levy Archived from the original on January 24 2019 Retrieved January 23 2019 Grobar Matt December 30 2017 The Shape Of Water Composer Alexandre Desplat on the Sounds Of Love amp Water Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on January 24 2019 Retrieved January 23 2019 Gilbey Ryan February 22 2018 Seen it all before The Shape of Water and claims of movie plagiarism The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved April 26 2023 Evans Nick January 23 2018 No The Shape of Water Didn t Plagiarize A Short Film CINEMABLEND Retrieved April 26 2023 What to Know About the Shape of Water Plagiarism Controversy Time March 1 2018 Retrieved April 26 2023 Squires John January 19 2018 The Curious Case of The Space Between Us and The Shape of Water Bloody Disgusting Retrieved April 26 2023 Nordine Michael January 22 2018 The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro Didn t Take Any Ideas From Viral Short Netherlands Film Academy Rules IndieWire Retrieved April 26 2023 External links editThe Shape of Water at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Data from Wikidata Official website nbsp The Shape of Water at IMDb nbsp The Shape of Water at Rotten Tomatoes The Shape of Water at Metacritic nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Shape of Water amp oldid 1219129666, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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