I like going to the movies at odd hours when there is hardly anybody inside the cinema and I can fully focus on the movie without having to worry about people using their mobile phones or chatting, without getting some tall person sitting in front of me blocking the view. It's quite funny because I am not the only one doing this. Sometimes when I went to the movies I noticed a Chinese student doing exactly the same thing as I was doing, so we generally find each other at the same movie. Again this time I bought my ticket at the desk, not from a machine. I am not keen on machines that have replaced people, inside supermarkets and in other outlets, I just generally avoid them; companies should employ more people not soulless machines, machines take jobs from humans. It's amusing to see how England is adopting the worst from the USA and has become so Americanised; you know the long hours at work in the office, machines instead of people, poor quality coffee chains where the coffee costs double that in Europe and still doesn't taste of coffee.
 |
| Courtesy of Pinterest. |
When I bought my ticket I said: Can I have one ticket for the Shape of Water? The guy behind the desk answered, sure, is this just for yourself? And I am like: as opposed to what? A dozen perhaps?.. Anyway I went inside the cinema, the Chinese student was already positioned in his favourite seat. I noticed that we were the only two single people in the whole cinema. We were surrounded by couples, it was more busy than usual...
 |
| Eliza & the amphibian fish, courtesy of Pinterest. |
The movie The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro is up for 13 nominations at the Oscars.
It's a fantasy, drama, romance, starring Sally Hawkings as Eliza Esposito, the mute cleaner who works in a top secret military facility/lab in the Baltimore area. Doug Jones is the amphibian fish alien creature captured by the American Military in South America. They fall in love; he will break her monotony of daily egg eating and cleaning at the facility, he will learn her language and how to be emotionally intelligent. Eliza Esposito has two friends, one is the gay older illustrator called Giles, played by Richard Jenkins, with whom she lives in the same building above a cinema. They are both single and sexually frustrated and they keep each other company by watching old films on TV, usually musicals.
 |
| Giles & Eliza, courtesy of Pinterest. |
Giles likes a young man that works in a restaurant where they make pies. Giles goes there regularly with Eliza to buy pies they don't like as an excuse to chat to the man behind the counter. But it's the early 1960's and things are not smooth if you are gay and when he makes a pass at the counter guy, he is told to leave and not come back. This is another dig from the director at the wholesome image of America; in fact the guy behind the counter hates gays and is a racist, he is not as nice as he appears.
Giles was forced to leave his job and spends most of the time in his studio at home with his cats creating the perfect illustration that might get him his job back. The funny bits of the movie are left to Eliza's other friend Zelda, played by Octavia Spencer, another cleaner at the military lab.
 |
| Dr Hoffstetler with Eliza, courtesy of Pinterest. |
I found the character of Dr Hoffstetler, played by Michael Stuhlbarg, the scientitist in the lab who is studying the creature, had depth because he is not just a scientist but also a Russian spy. He is not close to the creature, unlike Eliza, but can see the creature responding emotionally. Dr Hoffstetler responds emotionally too, putting himself at risk when helping Eliza, which is not generally what scientists in movies do but he still does it from a scientific point of view. He will help Eliza, Giles and Zelda to save the creature from a violent fate at the hand of the guard Strikland, played by Michael Shannon. While Eliza is gentle to the creature and he responds to her in a gentle way, Strickland is a sadist government guard who enjoys causing pain to the creature. He hates its freakishness and smell. He loves power, he abuses power, so we see him in his work environment dominating others through fear. The meaning of this is violence brings more violence and that people in authority can abuse power if not kept in check.
 |
| Guard Strickland, Eliza & Zelda courtesy of Pinterest. |
Then we see him in his home environment. Perfect on the outside, with the 1950's ever so pleasing wife, who cooks and cleans. It's the ideal of suburbia, the American dream, but it is all rotten. Everything looks perfect and beautiful on the outside but it is not so on the inside. Strickland is a troubled dark character. He enjoys inflicting violence on the creature, seeking to be in control. I don't like violence in movies, I generally find it hard to watch or hear about violence inflicted on others so I was sliding down inside my chair hiding behind my popcorn at violence scenes.
Strickland's family is a dysfunctional family where the wife is there to please her husband and his sexual desires while not truly expressing herself, she is a robot, a non entity. Strickland has little emotional connection with her and the kids, he wants her not to talk when they have sex, he doesn't care about her as long as his sexual needs are met. Strickland wants a better car, he will buy a flashy expensive car beyond his salary and to afford it he is willing to kill the creature, so he puts his wants and desires before anybody else's, he is a selfish man, he represents selfish capitalism but after buying the expensive car he is still not happy. The parable of this is that consumerism doesn't make you happy for long. Eliza, Giles, Zelda and Hoffstetler are the heart and the true heroes of the story, they are the outsiders, the misfits. Happiness has got nothing to do with how much money you have or what you own.
 |
| Giles & Eliza, courtesy of Pinterest. |
Guillermo del Toro uses a specific colour palette throughout the movie, such as blue/greens/teal more inside the lab and grey representing metal and cold, while inside Eliza's and Giles's flats there are more earthy colours with hints of red here and there that add warmth. There is the green lime pie, or the green soap dispenser inside the lab. The candy that Stirckland eats is green, his car is teal, candy holds no nutritional value, it's just sugar. Eliza's shoes at one point are red, her coat is red too, red which symbolises love, passion and love for the cinema. Blue, green for water but also for the future. Giles's & Eliza's flats are old, they remind you of old Europe, post war Europe, it is nostalgic. The colour scheme creates a dreamy tone and an alternate atmosphere. The colours help the development of the story. It is a beautiful, moving, well thought out movie.
