The Shape of Water (2017)
Genre: Fantasy / Romance
Duration: 123 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Stars: Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon and Richard Jenkins
IMDb score:
7,3 (460.862)
Releasedate: 1 December 2017
The Shape of Water plot
"A Fairy Tale for Troubled Times"
1962, during the Cold War. One day, the deaf cleaning lady Elisa, along with her colleague Zelda, finds a fish-like creature for whom she quickly feels empathy. This creature is the last of its kind and is being studied by the US government for possible use in the military or aerospace. Consequently, America tries to hide this from Russia. Elisa wants to help the amphibious creature escape from the lab.
Social Media
Actors and actresses
Elisa Esposito
The Asset
Richard Strickland
Giles
Zelda Fuller
Dr. Robert Hoffstetler
Fleming
General Hoyt
Bernard
Mihalkov
Reviews & comments
Koekebakker
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- 2540 messages
- 3981 votes
Sweet, gentle, melancholy and imaginative film. Beautiful, lavishly designed. Kind of Amelie with a dark, more distant and less accessible touch. Enjoyed it immensely.
What made the screening I was at all the more special was that the film was partly shot in this theater. Without knowing it beforehand, that was the theater where I saw the film 
In the presence of cast and crew, who didn't say anything about the location beforehand. Very special to suddenly realize while watching: damn, that's here!
Translated from Dutch · View original
El ralpho
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- 1460 messages
- 1072 votes
Go with the flow
Too bad to see Guillermo del Toro starting to dance more and more to the tune of Hollywood. For example, all his films are only in English and the silent character of Sally Hawkins is clearly the only element that makes The Shape of Water worthy of the Oscar. Sally Hawkins plays her role phenomenally, but most of the other characters around her -especially many professors in oversized lab coats-, I didn't find special. Not to mention the not-so-original story that just serves as a coat rack to make Hawkins shine. If you try to see what besides her character makes this film worthy of an Oscar, there is little left besides the decoration.
If you strip the main character, The Shape of Water is fairly equal to Crimson Peak in terms of level. A film that also had beautiful sets but was also not very original and uplifting in terms of story. Crimson Peak was not nominated at the time, and it is actually too bizarre for words that The Shape of Water now takes 13 nominations.
Although I think the film is overrated, I sound very negative now, but I am certainly not. The Shape of Water is still a solid and fun film that shows you a beautiful world that you can immerse yourself in as a viewer. The dynamics between Hawkins and the sea creature is really the heart of the film and you immediately believe their romance. Just don't expect an original script around this love, because although the story does serve the love well, I thought it was written too much on autopilot. The Shape of Water is a movie that you can watch with confidence, but I think all praise in the light of the Oscar nominations is far too exaggerated.
3.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
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- 30849 messages
- 5364 votes
Del Toro always succeeds in creating a kind of colorful half gothic fairy tale. A cross between Tim Burton and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. But his own style. Except for Pacific Rim, he never really disappoints me. In The Shape of Water we go back to the 1950s during the cold war. The ship of the film sails forward with the story of espionage, Russian infiltrators, secret weapons, even more secret research centers, ... then give a swoop at the wheel and steer the course towards romance.
A bad guy like Colonel Strickland, the atmospheric settings and the somewhat corny music fit perfectly in such a story. A light-hearted story, which can come out just as hard every now and then. But it is easy to follow, as befits a fairy tale. Guillermo Del Toro is clearly a master of the genre, where Burton has previously become a parody of himself. Rightly go with the necessary prices.
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