This film was different from our normal fare. Sally Hawkins and Richard Jenkins were charming and Michael Shannon was frightening. Your basic prejudice tale of “to know them is to love them and to not know them is to fear them”. Set in the early 60’s, most of the characters are outliers. Elisa (Hawkins) is mute, Zelda (Octavia Spencer) is African American, Giles (Jenkins) is gay and the creature is a creature. But Strickland (Shannon) and Hofstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg) are actually the most sinister. The ending was sweet and rounded out Elisa’s story of how she became mute. We particularly enjoyed the scene where the creature was standing in the theater, as we saw the movie in that theater – the Elgin theater in Toronto, while attending TIFF in 2017.
OFFICIAL TRAILER
Official Synopsis
Elisa is a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. Her life changes forever when she discovers the lab’s classified secret — a mysterious, scaled creature from South America that lives in a water tank. As Elisa develops a unique bond with her new friend, she soon learns that its fate and very survival lies in the hands of a hostile government agent and a marine biologist.
Shape of Water – TIFF Interview
Overview
| Principle Cast | Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlbarg |
| Director | Guillermo del Toro |
| Screenwriter | Guillermo del Toro |
| Cinematographer | Dan Laustsen |
| Editor | Sidney Wolinsky |
| Run Time | 123 minutes |
| Genre | Drama, Adventure, Fantasy |
| Premier | Venice Film Festival 2017 |
| Academy Award Nominations | Best Motion Picture of the Year Best Director – Guillermo del Toro Best Actress in a Leading Role – Sally Hawkins Best Actor in a Supporting role- Richard Jenkins Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Octavia Spencer Best Original Score – Alexandre Desplat Best Original Screenplay – Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor Best Cinematography – Dan Laustsen Best Costume Design – Luis Sequeira Best Sound Editing – Nathan Robitaille & Nelson Ferreira Best Sound Mixing – Christian T.Cooke, Glen Gauthier & Brad Zoem Best Film Editing – Sidney Wolinsky Best Production Design – Paul D.Austerberry, Shane Vieau & Jeffrey A. Melvin |
