The Shape of Water.

   An original film by Guillermo del Toro that is worth appreciating, he is a director with a very different mentality that always manages to surprise the public, stands out for his unique and transcendental ideas, as well as the ability to give life to extraordinary creatures that seem drawn from the most ineffable dark fantasies, which he uses to his advantage to play with our minds. He is famous for creating films with monstrous characters such as Cronos, Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy and Pacific Rim, his formula that results from combining the classic with the extraordinary is what gives life in the form of water (2017).

   Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is a mute woman who does housekeeping in a secret government laboratory during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. One day they take a very strange humanoid aquatic creature to the laboratory to practice scientific studies. While Elisa was doing her job, she runs into the monster who draws her attention, trying to approach him in secret. She manages to make a very strong bond between them that will defy all the obstacles that come their way.

   This is not the typical cliché film where the protagonist must free the monster from the evil ones, but there is a lot of humanity and complicity between people who only let themselves be guided by their instincts or what they think is right, without measuring the consequences of their actions.

   They show strong sense of nudes, explicit sex, violence, cruelty and some very sad, but this is not all bad, on the contrary it shows how harmful humanity can be into the unknown. The creature also does a lot of damage in its path and remains throughout the film, but we could understand its reasons, is how we can imagine the consequences of the arrival of such a being in the territory of humans.

   The performances are wonderful, all the actors do a job of admiration, especially Michael Shannon, who stands out as a cruel, selfish and chilling man. But definitive the protagónicas performances are the best ones: Sally Hawkins and Doug Jones, since both actors must use all their body to transmit emotions because neither of them is able to pronounce a word, they rely solely on their expressions as a histrionic resource.

   Sally Hawkins plays a woman without a very intelligent voice and does not need to speak to convey greater feelings of pain, despair and love. For his part Doug Jones in his character of the amphibious man exalts the actors who only do physical work, which requires more skill because they only have his body to act and convince us that they are real monsters. Elisa and the creature created a very exciting and beautiful bond that makes anyone sigh and the most curious thing is that they only communicate through their eyes.

   The story touches sensitive issues such as segregation and discrimination, all characters have a characteristic that makes them socially excluded, different and incomplete. They agree that they are in the search for acceptance, everyone suffers in silence because of their condition, whether it is their species, skin color, disability or sexual preference, it should be noted that these topics are approached very subtly but an intelligent viewer could detect what subtly keeps the plot, also tries to tell us that it is love that completes us and all that without exception we are capable of loving.

   It is an unconventional story that is enriched by the authenticity of its characters, who develop in a toxic environment where intolerance, racism and homophobia reigns, projecting these topics in an elegant way. The director has the facility to design universes and manages to submerge them, for this occasion he presents a realistic story described in a fanciful way, with a peculiar atmosphere originated by a very beautiful classical cinematography and a divine soundtrack, combined harmonically. It makes references to the cinema, dance and music of the 50s, which I appreciate very much because it is a way to revive the culture of those golden years.

   The design of the creature is masterful, there are many details on its skin that can be appreciated very well as the texture, color and brightness, the eyes were the point that I liked, because even today I wonder how they achieved the effect of horizontal blinking, It is really magnificent. The personality of the monster is impressive, has power, presence and curiosity of an inhabitant of another world. It is a mixture of costume, makeup and digital effects, Doug Jones buried in the complicated disguise manages to give life and natural movement to the creature magnificently.

   Photography also attracted me, although it is not shocking if it is curious because it highlights in all the scenes very notably the range of green in all its variants, this resource reminds me of the movies 300 and Sin City where with their sepia and sombre photographs, respectively they highlighted the color red. I like it when the producers use this resource because they make the film memorable in this technical aspect.

   The shape of the water is impeccably made, it is a love story that pays homage to all those people who feel misunderstood. He is not afraid to show rawness in the scenes to obtain realism when necessary; has destroyed with how much prize has been put in front, acquired a reputation preceded to the one that at the time had La La Land and is fully deserved, Elisa and the amphibious man promise to be a romantic couple memorable for years. He won four Oscars, two Golden Globes and three BAFTA awards, for this reason I consider it the best work of Guillermo del Toro after Pan's Labyrinth.