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THE SHAPE OF WATER
A CHILDHOOD CLASSIC DEL TORO STYLE
REINVENTING by chris carpenter
As a boy, acclaimed writer-director Guillermo del Toro thought the title monster of his favorite movie,The Creature From The Black Lagoon, and the human woman with whom it was smitten should have swum off into the sunset together. Del Toro has now taken a step toward correcting this perceived slight of cinematic
history.The Shape of Water is not only a magnifi-
cent mashup of horror and romance as penned by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. It also works gloriously as a comedy, a political allegory, a valentine to classic Hollywood, a religious parable, and even as a quasi-musical, lavishly supported by Alexandre Desplat’s rich score. In The Shape of Water, a mute, isolated cleaning woman named Elisa (exquisitely played by the Oscar-worthy Sally Hawkins) finds herself drawn to an amphibious being from the Amazon held captive in the hidden, high-security government laboratory at which she works as a cleaning lady. She hatches a plan to free “the asset” (played by frequent Del Toro collaborator, Doug Jones) with the help of her black co-worker, Zelda (Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer), and her gay neighbor, Giles (Oscar-nominee Richard Jenkins). They all have to evade the creature’s seriously disturbed captor, Colonel Richard Strickland, a government agent played by two-time Oscar nominee Michael Shannon. Del Toro, who was born in Mexico, is known for his previous genre-bending films Pan’s Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, Hellboy and Pacific Rim. “I like to make movies that are liberating, that say it’s okay to be whoever you are,” the director states in his latest produc- tion’s press notes, “and it seems that at this time, this is very pertinent.” Though set in 1962, numerous themes explored inThe Shape of Water are as timely as ever, including racism, sexism, and America’s treatment of its LGBTQ citizens as well as people with physical disabilities. Jenkins’ character is a gay man who has found his job opportunities as a graphic designer limited due to his sexuality. Subsequently, he has had to stay closeted with everyone except Elisa. Jenkins has given memorable performances in such diverse movies asThe Cabin in the Woods, Eat Pray Love, Jack Reacher andThe Visitor, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
HE RECENTLY REACHED OUT TO CHAT WITHTHE RAGE MONTHLY ABOUT HIS LATEST ROLE.
What was your response when you first readThe Shape of Water screenplay? Truthfully, I loved it from the very first scene. And if you are
a character actor like me you start thinking “I hope I don’t die in scene two” (laugh). I loved it from the beginning. Similarly, what was your initial reaction to the finished film? I thought I had a handle on what it would look like. It is so beautiful and so different, I forgot I was in it. Guillermo is such a visionary and he told us how things would look but I had no idea until I saw the finished film…It’s amazing.
You grew up during the era depicted in the film. Were there any particular memories or people you drew from for your character, Giles? It wasn’t that so much, although my local pie shop really looked like the one in the film. I loved growing up in 1962. I grew up in a small farm town (DeKalb, Illinois) as a straight, white man. Life was very simple then, which in hindsight was both good and bad. What was your perception of the treatment of gay people at the time? I didn’t know any. There weren’t any gay people in my high
school until our 35th reunion. (Laughs) There weren’t any black people either. Guillermo refers to the characters played by Sally,
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RAGE monthly | DECEMBER 2017 RAGE monthly
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