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The Shape of Water: Embrace love as it is

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Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water won four Academy Awards in 2018 for Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Original Score and Best Production Design. This brilliantly crafted fantasy drama received nine additional Oscar nominations in the same year.

Having said that, The Shape of Water is a very intimate fairy tale love story for individuals who discover love in extreme opposites. Set in the early 60s, the film talks about Elisa Esposito, played by Sally Hawkins, who is a mute janitor working in a highly secured government laboratory run by the antagonist Colonel Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon).

Elisa being deaf since childhood has given up hope of ever finding the love of her life and she had very few people dear to her. Throughout the film, she builds a wonderful friendship with Zelda (Octavia Spencer), an African American co-worker.

Richard Strickland brings a mysterious creature, called as Asset (played by Doug Jones), to his lab and Elisa is appointed to take care of a mysterious it in the facility. Her curiosity builds to a friendship with the creature.

Elisa visits Asset on a regular basis, feeds him boiled eggs, plays music, and teaches him sign language, all the while keeping it hidden from Zelda. Gradually, they develop a beautiful love for each other as the story progress. Asset accepts Elisa for the way she is and he doesn’t see what she lacks in her.

Major plot change happens when Elisa is seen visiting The Asset by Richard. Elisa tries to save Asset with the help of a scientist named Robert Hoffstetler (Stuhlbarg), her neighbour Giles (Jenkins), and Zelda.

Out of rage, Richard wants to destroy Elisa and Asset and ends up shooting them. Upon getting injured, Asset kills Robert and escapes into a canal with the love of his life, Elisa. The film ends with an open ending suggesting that they might have ended up together.

When it comes to considering the movie as a whole, the directors’ imaginary universe is reflected exactly as it is. The set, costume, colour tone, aquatic melodies and everything about the film is handcrafted to his exact specifications. Apart from the intimate content, the film itself holds a special place in the mind of viewers. It is also noticeable that the movie was shot mostly in the lab and the apartment where Elisa lived. This indeed was another impressive element in the film. 

One also needs to understand the significance of the title of ‘The Shape of Water’. Water takes on the form or shape of the container it is in. Similarly love can come in all shapes and forms.

People, I believe, yearn to be loved, accepted, and treated equally regardless of their circumstances. Thus, this film was more than just a magic realism drama for me which has a strong message to its viewers.

Image source official Facebook page of The Shape of Water.

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Reshma B.

Reshma Babu, a young Postgraduate in Mass Communication and Journalism from St. Aloysius College, Mangalore University, utilises her considerable learned journalistic knowledge and inherent story writing and sub-editing abilities to add value to the company’s media brands and the editorial team. All dimensions of human interaction are her prime focus.

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