Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water (Post-release)

I have seen it twice now. I have to say, I love the movie, but I totally missed what could be called the final twist on my first watch.
I didn't realize that the 3 cuts on her neck are actually 3 on each side, and in the final scene they open up and are acting as gills allowing her to breathe underwater. Which ties together her being orphaned and found by the river, love of the water/eggs, etc, and her being drawn to the creature. Makes for a pretty cool sad/happy ending, Del Toro style.

Also, the fact that she was mute, like the creature. So would you call her a mermaid out of water? That's what I assumed.
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Also, the fact that she was mute, like the creature. So would you call her a mermaid out of water? That's what I assumed.

Yeah, basically the fact that the "cuts" on her neck are on both sides, and are gills that had scarred over. I missed this on my first watch, I thought the ending was more ambiguous, but it's actually really a great ending that makes the rest of the film more interesting on a second watch.
 
I finally saw it. While there were some elements I could easily have done without (which didn't really contribute to the story), overall I liked it. While I didn't put all of it together, I did see that twist at the end coming, though admittedly, only just before it happened.

Edit:Though it's not credited as such, the estate of Paul Zindel has suggested the movie is based on the play "Let me Hear You Whisper". I'm not going to say it's outright plagiarism, but the two stories are suspiciously similar. Just substitute a dolphin for the fish man, and...
 
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Couldn't they have at least had a good looking actress in the lead....?:sick

That was deliberate. If Jennifer Anniston was the lead it would change the whole movie. Elisa doesn't stand out because she isn't really attractive and doesn't speak obviously. Strickland even said something along the lines of "you ain't much to look at".

Yeah, basically the fact that the "cuts" on her neck are on both sides, and are gills that had scarred over. I missed this on my first watch, I thought the ending was more ambiguous, but it's actually really a great ending that makes the rest of the film more interesting on a second watch.

She also has scaled print wallpaper in her apartment and prefers to express herself sexually in water

I saw the movie and I really enjoyed it. Thank goodness it was nominated so it finally started to show in my area
 
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Couldn't they have at least had a good looking actress in the lead....?:sick

In another thread, someone was noting the distinct lack of female participation around here. Maybe that's why?

Why wasn't the bad guy better looking? Why didn't the artist next door have a full head of hair? Why wasn't the research scientist taller? Come on now.

For the record, I'll admit she's no Jennifer Aniston.. But does everyone have to be? I thought she has a certain charm about her. For lack of a better word, she is definitely "cute". I'd have no problem dating some like that, provided she'd put up with me:unsure
 
Guillermo stated “Sally is - I wanted the character of Elisa to be beautiful, in her own way, not in a way that is like a perfume commercial kind of way. That you could believe that this character, this woman would be sitting next to you on the bus. But at the same time she would have a luminosity, a beauty, almost magical, ethereal."
 
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Guillermo stated “Sally is - I wanted the character of Elisa to be beautiful, in her own way, not in a way that is like a perfume commercial kind of way. That you could believe that this character, this woman would be sitting next to you on the bus. But at the same time she would have a luminosity, a beauty, almost magical, ethereal."

Mission accomplished.
 
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I think Sally Hawkins was really hot when she was younger. In 2006, she was diagnosed with a "chronic illness" -- whatever that was she has never made public, but I suspect that may have taken quite a toll on her.
 
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If you found the stench of rotting perch attractive I guess....

If that's a comment on the film, I'd have to disagree. If it's a comment on Sally Hawkins, it's just unwarranted. She's a perfect fit for the part. She's not the most beautiful woman in the world, but even objectively, she's not unattractive.

If you didn't like the film, that's okay, but all the award nominations, critical reviews, and even the word of some members would suggest it's not a bad film.
 
I really enjoyed this, although I found I enjoyed it almost clinically, as an aesthetic experience. Like many fairy tale style stories, it struck me as emotionally distant. My inner film nerd was soaking in the details, the craftsmanship, the technical and artistic perfection of the whole thing--my head was completely engaged. But I'm not sure del Toro grabbed my heart.

Having said that, I'm a huge Creature From The Black Lagoon fan, so this was pretty yummy viewing.
 
Saw it again yesterday and in spite of the time it's been in theaters, the showing was still sold down to the last two seats by the time I bought mine. Granted, it's down to one showing a day in theater that's had a "luxury" remodel, reducing the seats by half.

I looked it up, and so far it's done over $73m internationally, which didn't seem like much until I found the budget was under $20m. You wouldn't know it looking at it, as every cent seems to have been put on the screen. It seems that Hollywood needs to rethink their budgeting processes. Maybe some films have alot more "stuff" on the screen, but it hasn't made the movies any better.
 
I just read an article about an Etsy shop selling a “pleasure device” that is their interpretation of the Creature’s dingus. Apparently they sold out of their first batch
 
I really enjoyed this, although I found I enjoyed it almost clinically, as an aesthetic experience. Like many fairy tale style stories, it struck me as emotionally distant. My inner film nerd was soaking in the details, the craftsmanship, the technical and artistic perfection of the whole thing--my head was completely engaged. But I'm not sure del Toro grabbed my heart.

Having said that, I'm a huge Creature From The Black Lagoon fan, so this was pretty yummy viewing.

I felt the exact same way catching this today (finally got around to see it). It's such a wonderful viewing experience on a technical level but I felt the characters fell a bit flat. The attraction between Eliza(?) and the Creature, especially. It's set up all the right things for her and the thing to connect but it just felt like it wasn't...earned. She initially meets the creature and feeds it an egg and the next thing you know, there's a Busby Berkeley musical number with the two. It's sweet but, maybe it's just me, I don't believe in the "instant connection" when it comes to love stories. Even in a fantasy story like this, they still gotta work for it, and I don't think this film particularly succeeded with that for me.

Even so, I'm relieved to say Del Toro has made 4 good films now.
 
I just read an article about an Etsy shop selling a “pleasure device” that is their interpretation of the Creature’s dingus. Apparently they sold out of their first batch

Come on, now. You know as well as I do that as soon as that conversation came up in the film, you started imagining what it looked like, too.

Though having read up on this "Jewel of the Amazon", I can't help but feel disappointed that it doesn't look more in vein with what some actual sea-life dinguses are like (considering most fish don't have such appendages and fertilize eggs by releasing sperm over said eggs).
 
I felt the exact same way catching this today (finally got around to see it). It's such a wonderful viewing experience on a technical level but I felt the characters fell a bit flat. The attraction between Eliza(?) and the Creature, especially. It's set up all the right things for her and the thing to connect but it just felt like it wasn't...earned. She initially meets the creature and feeds it an egg and the next thing you know, there's a Busby Berkeley musical number with the two. It's sweet but, maybe it's just me, I don't believe in the "instant connection" when it comes to love stories. Even in a fantasy story like this, they still gotta work for it, and I don't think this film particularly succeeded with that for me.

Even so, I'm relieved to say Del Toro has made 4 good films now.

I sort of know what you mean, and I think this would apply more if this was a typical human love story, but I think the point is that these 'people' arent like us. I felt an immediate compassion for Elisa because of her loneliness and isolation (I assumed mostly from being deaf and plain looking and having to work the night shift at a high-security facility and socializing with only a few people there and her one friend Giles ) I think that lonliness was punctuated so much more when you finally realize at the end that she's not completely human, that you feel so much more for her (them). I sure thought it was evocative.
 
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I enjoyed it for it's pure genuine strangeness. It always pulls me out of a movie when villains are so one dimensional though, I wish they'd been fleshed out a bit more, especially when you've got a high caliber actor like Michael Shannon. Funny.. mute girl having sex with a fish man, I'm fine, cartoonish villains? Wait a second, this isn't realistic enough.
 
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