THE SHAPE OF WATER

This film is another case of me being late to the party. 

I was reluctant to watch this critically acclaimed film for no good reason other than my aversion to any film (such as 'The Elephant Man') which involves cruelty to someone based on their physical otherness.  And a relationship between a weird sea creature and a mute girl was unappealing.  And an Oscar is no guarantee of quality.

Anyhow I have now seen it, and of course the critics were right, it's terrific.

I didn't buy the physical relationship between Elisa and The Creature for one moment, but it didn't matter, given the fairy tale quality of the film, created at the start by the voice-over.

I loved the visual quality of this film.  It's different from say a film like 'Last Night in Soho' where the colours are vibrant to the point of being garish.  Here they are muted and fuzzy.  And very green.  I'll leave it to cleverer people than me to work out the thematic significance of the predominance of that one colour throughout.

All the performances are top-notch but in particular it was good to see Michael Shannon enjoying himself.  I first saw him in 'Take Shelter' which is well worth catching.   And any film benefits from the presence of Richard Jenkins.

You'd be a fool not to watch this if, like me, you gave it a wide berth upon its release.

RATING: ✓✓ Catch It If You Can