The Oscars can sometimes be criticized for being a bit dull in the films that honor. However, one of the most interesting Best Picture winners in Oscar history is certainly The Shape of Water. Guillermo Del Toro's science-fiction love story stars Sally Hawkins as a mute janitor working in a government research facility in the 1960s. After discovering a strange amphibious being, the two beings form a special bond.
The movie is a visually stunning masterpiece with colorful characters and a compelling story at its center. Given Del Toro's amazing imagination, it's not surprising he was able to bring this unlikely story to life. Here are some hidden details about The Shape of Water.
10 Creature From The Black Lagoon
Del Toro is a love of the horror genre in general which is clearly evident when you watch any of his films. One classic movie that immediately comes to mind when watching The Shape of Water is Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Universal monster movie.
The look of the creature played by Doug Jones in this film is quite obviously inspired by that iconic creature design. Strickland (Michael Shannon) also mentions that he found the creature in South America which is where Creature from the Black Lagoon is set.
9 Elsa's Red Clothing
The character of Elsa is a fascinating protagonist in the film who is played wonderfully by Sally Hawkins in a very complex role. When we are introduced to Elsa, she is a timid and reserved person. As the film goes on, we begin to see her coming alive more and becoming a person of action, thanks to her relationship with the creature.
This evolution of Elsa is mirrored in her clothing throughout the film. You'll notice that as the story goes on, we see Elsa wearing more and more red clothing. This is meant to show her standing out and being bolder.
8 The Color Green
Another prominent color Del Toro peppers throughout the film is green. It is most notable for being the color of the florescent aspect of the creature when it uses its healing powers. But it is also used to tie other characters to the creature.
When Strickland is buying his new car, he comments on how he hates its green color, mirrors his hatred for the creature. Likewise, Giles (Richard Jenkins) seeks purpose in his advertisement sketch which prominently features green Jello, and also tries to impress the diner worker by ordering key lime. He later finds purpose in helping the creature.
7 Casting The Film
The story of a woman who falls in love with a fish monster might be a hard sell for some actors, but Del Toro managed to bring in an extremely talented cast to tell this unusual story. Del Toro confirms that he had written the roles of Elsa and Strickland with Sally Hawkins and Michael Shannon in mind.
Rounding out the rest of the cast were Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins and Michael Stuhlbarg. Del Toro provided each of them with a lengthy and detailed background of each character that they could either use or not use.
6 Supporting Characters Given A Voice
Though set in the 1960s, The Shape of Water is a film that highlight characters who would have been outsiders at this time. Those characters with ignorant prejudices are seen evil while those demeaned by society are seen as kind and sympathetic people.
Octavia Spencer, who plays Elsa's friend and co-worker, also pointed out the importance the supporting characters play in this story. Since Elsa and the creature don't speak, most of the dialogue in the film is spoken by a black female character and a gay character which is not often the case in Hollywood.
5 The Story Of Ruth
Del Toro is also a lover of classic cinema, something that is also represented in a lot of his movies. He gets to explore this in a small way in The Shape of Water with Elsa and Giles' apartment located above a movie theater.
One of the movies showing in the theater is 1960's The Story of Ruth. The movie tells the story of a woman who was given up as a child and raised in a religious community. She then meets and falls in love with an outsider who is persecuted and imprisoned for his beliefs. She then seeks to free him herself. It is obviously a story that mirrors this film in many ways.
4 Paddington
One of the most unforgettable sequences in the movie finds Elsa flooding her bathroom from floor to ceiling and using it as an underwater paradise for her and the creature. It is the perfect dream-like moment only Del Toro could pull off.
Strangely enough, this is not the first time Sally Hawkins has been involved with a scene like this in a movie. A few years earlier, she appeared in Paddington which also featured a scene in which a bathroom is filled with water.
3 The Creature And Strickland
Michael Shannon's Strickland makes for a fantastic and detestable villain for the film. Another aspect of what makes him such a great antagonist is the subtle ways Del Toro links him to the creature and Elsa who he hates so much.
The creature's green hand is shown to have healing powers while Strickland's hand turns green as the infection overtakes it and it begins to die. Also, while the creature gives Elsa gills in her neck to save her at the end, it kills Strickland by slashing his neck open.
2 The Dance Sequence
Another brilliant moment in the film is the unforgettable dream sequence in which Elsa imagines herself singing and dancing with the creature in a blissful fantasy. Not many movies could pull off including a scene like this, but Del Toro makes it work.
The scene is also another example of Del Toro's love of classic movies as it is an homage to the 1936 musical, Follow the Fleet. The movie stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and the final dance number is set on a stage that looks exactly like that.
1 Elsa's Past
The ending of the film has been up for some debate among fans. Many believe the creature used his powers to give Elsa gills so they could live together under the water forever. However, others believe the movie hints that Elsa was not quite human after all.
We learn earlier in the film that Elsa was found as a child on the side of a river. She is clearly very comfortable in the water as well. some believe the scars on her throat are actually gills that have closed and the creature heals them, allowing her to breathe underwater once again.
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