Guillermo del Toro is known for his fantasy characters and settings and his peculiar stories. As per usual he has a story which embellishes the use of intricate costume and make up. And this is no exception.
The 1950's setting is pretty perfect for the story, though we were given odd reminders. It's an interesting take that in the 50's two of the characters that have the most dialogue are a closeted gay man and a black woman. But in return the film handles the stigma towards each of them in an odd rashness that just isn't necessary to the narrative. Yes it happened and yes it should be accurate but was less than subtle on occasion and felt out of place at times.
Now Oscar nominated Sally Hawkins plays our mute leading lady Elisa Esposito. She comes across quiet, not just because she can't talk but because she lets others do the talking. She has a routine and as we find out, a tragic backstory. She's quite quirky and has long accepted she can't speak but not quite accepted that people treat her differently. My gal Octavia Spencer is of course nominated for Best Support as Zelda, one of Elisa's two friends. Used to having a silent friend she does a great job in talking to herself and reacting to Elisa's lack of vocal reaction. Her other best friend relies on Elisa more than he realises, Giles, who lives next door though it may as well be together. Again Oscar nominated, are you sensing a theme? Richard Jenkins plays an older man who is struggling to get back into selling his art to advertisers. Struggling to be true to himself he, like Elisa, sees a part of him in the Amphibian Man and his treatment. Michael Stuhlbarg is fantastic, plays a character with a developed backstory and earns his likeability. Feels like he's the only aspect of the film to not get recognised by the academy, which is a shame as he really was great to watch. Michael Shannon is pretty damn engaging. He's pretty awful, pretty extra. Great character, power hunger aggressor in and out of work. Being the person that captured the Amphibian man he holds a level of possessiveness.
The amphibian man, who is never named (not even when Elisa brings him home) is played by Doug Jones. At this point Doug must be bessie mates with Guillermo, his most well-known parts include, Abe Sapien from Hellboy (2008) and Fauno/Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth (2006). Outside of Del Toro's work he's played a lot of roles which are alien or monster or mutant, I hope he doesn't take that personally. But he's good at it. The creature begins just that, a creature, an animal, regardless of its potential intelligence we can't communicate. After Elisa begins to teach him basic sign language we see that he is capable of learning and remembers the humane habits she keeps. That's kind of the extent of his character development, anything further than that is more Elisa's feelings projected onto him.
The relationship between Elisa and the creature is okay, you don't entirely buy into it but you kinda do. She has a thing for water so connecting that to sex isn't a great leap for her somehow. The distance put between her and most people due to her muteness isn't there with him as he's in the same position. And regards to the sex thing she very briefly discusses how it works, only see lady body parts I'm afraid. Though we see their relationship we see a biased version from her perspective and don't get to see how he feels throughout. But that's likely the point.
Racking up 13 academy award nominations the costume and makeup have got to get some attention. Both work well with the environment, Del Toro's use of practical effects comes as authentic and true. The artistic element to it is emphasised with the music and score, rightly so, has received many nominations. Beautifully fitting to the narrative and each scene, the highlight of the movie for me personally.
I thought the ending was fitting. I felt oddly satisfied when the credits rolled which is all I want from a film. It is a good film, maybe a great film but 13 nominations feels almost excessive for something that isn’t quite timeless yet, but hey time will tell. Beautiful film worth a watch 7.5/10
CIINEMATES - A
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