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Just look at the biblically violent Colonel Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon) who is a model for the kind of toxic, repressed masculinity that is still responsible for sexual harassment, for acts of mass violence and for the support of far-right, regressive politics. Most of the characters in the film (especially the men) who do have voices only use them for death and destruction. In the end, I didn’t look at the film and ask, “Why hasn’t she got a voice?” I looked at it and thought “Why would she want one?” Both she and the male-looking fish creature are voiceless, but they’re still able to communicate their love for each other. And, of course, Del Toro is famously obsessed with fairy tales.īut watching the film, I quickly realised that Elisa’s silence is actually subversive. She knows herself and is in charge of her own body.Īt first, I wondered whether Elisa’s voicelessness could be a confirmation of classic fairy tale archetypes that silence, victimise and marginalise women (cc: The Little Mermaid’s Ariel). She doesn’t care about the consequences.Īnd The Shape of Water doesn’t shy away from sex – we see Hawkins naked and masturbating in the bath, for example, joyously finding self-pleasure and reaching climax on her own. Elisa carries herself with a wild, reckless and wonderful impulsiveness. To me, The Shape of Water, co-written by Game of Thrones’ Vanessa Taylor, carries an important message about female agency. And yet, just like Ofelia, she is immensely powerful. Elisa, who works as a cleaner in a shadowy US Cold War research facility, suffered a mysterious assault earlier in her life that left her with strange markings on her neck and without the use of her vocal cords.
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My point is this: The Shape of Water is a #MeToo movie with lessons for both women and men. And it’s the role of Elisa that makes me believe The Shape of Water is so important for 2018. In The Shape of Water, too, we meet another fearless female character this time it’s Elisa Esposito (played powerfully by Sally Hawkins). She’d face down any monster and she’d win.įearless Ofelia in the magical Pan’s Labyrinth She was brave, resilient, fearless – even though her circumstances don’t give her any right to be that way. When I first watched Pan’s Labyrinth, I saw in Ofelia a model of who I wanted to be. I’ve never met him but I love and appreciate how he tells the stories of people who are usually overlooked. I’ve always felt an emotional connection to Guillermo Del Toro’s work. It was Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water and it wasn’t long before I was quietly wiping away tears of joy from my face. It was the first time I’d ever gone to the cinema on my own (which was strangely triggering my ever-present anxiety) and, more importantly, I’d been waiting to see this film for a very long time.
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When I walked into the small, three-screen cinema hidden above an HMV in Wimbledon at the weekend I was already feeling a little bit emotional.