“The Shape of Water” was the talk of the Golden Globe nominations on Monday, leading the way with seven. It has an uphill battle at the box office this weekend as it takes on a little movie called “Star Wars,” but box office numbers really don’t matter when it comes to awards season, and this story about a woman who falls in love with a sea creature will be a major player.
David Hewlett (as Fleming): “This may be the most sensitive asset to ever be housed in this facility.”
“The Shape of Water” is a love story, but not like anything you’ve seen before.
Michael Shannon (as Richard Strickland): “Is she deaf?”
Octavia Spencer (as Zelda Fuller): “Mute, sir. She can hear you.”
Sally Hawkins plays Eliza, the hired help in a government facility that is housing an Amazon sea creature.
And yes, she and that creature fall in love.
Michael Stuhlbarg (as Dr. Robert Hoffstetler): “This creature is intelligent, capable of language, of understanding emotions.”
The movie is the brainchild of director Guillermo del Toro. He tells me every detail had to be perfect, especially with the creature.
Chris Van Vliet: “How much time and how much thought went into the creature, from inception to what it looks like on screen?”
Guillermo del Toro: “Three years. Crazy amount of work, because we are not creating a monster, we are creating a leading man, we’re creating a movie star. The body has to be perfect, the face has to be perfect, the eyes have to be expressive, the lips have to be kissable.”
And the creature is real. He’s played by an actor, Doug Jones, in a costume and not CGI.
Doug Jones: “Guillermo del Toro is a filmmaker that loves the throwback to the classic monster movies where they wore practical makeups, and I appreciate wearing them and getting to play the character from a real perspective.”
The movie is set during the heart of the Cold War, and some people think this creature may hold some sort of power to help the U.S. defeat the Soviet Union.
Michael Shannon (as Richard Strickland): “The thing we keep in that lab is an affront. Do you know what an affront is?”
Octavia Spencer (as Zelda Fuller): “Something offensive?”
Michael Shannon (as Richard Strickland): “That’s right.”
The movie is beautifully shot and is getting a ton of award season buzz, something star Octavia Spencer knows a thing or two about after winning an Oscar for “The Help” in 2012 and being nominated again last year for “Hidden Figures.”
Chris Van Vliet: “What did you learn from Oscar season, from award season, with those films that will now prepare you as we now head into Oscar season for this one?”
Octavia Spencer: “Well, nothing ever prepares you, because until Oscar morning, you don’t know. What I learned to do was to take that all in stride and live in the moment.”
“The Shape of Water” opens in local theaters on Friday, Dec. 15.
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