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From Venice to the awards season, Gilmour del Toro's "The Shape of Water" has attracted much attention all the way. Gyro gently told this fairy tale fable about mermaid love in a nearly retro tone, and it also made it one of the most beautiful movies of 2017.
Gyro's movies have always been known for the dark and brilliant fairy tale style. He has a soft spot for various monsters since he was a child, and always regards monsters as the most important protagonist in his films. From "Pan's Labyrinth", "Pacific Rim" to "Scarlet Peak", the top has been walking between commercial production and art film. This "The Shape of Water" has also become the best work evaluated in his director's career.
After successively winning the Critics’ Choice Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, and holding the Director’s Guild Award nomination, Gyro is one step closer to the Oscar. His speech at the Golden Globe Awards is extremely sincere: "In the past 25 years, I have created some strange short stories with my own emotions. These movies and these fantasy stories have also saved my life."
The spinning top conveys a pure magic in "The Shape of Water is Silent", as if leading us away from his big production films "Pacific Rim" and "Scarlet Peak" and return to "Ghost Boy's Courtyard" and "Pan's Labyrinth" Such a more crafted creative period. This is a dark fairy tale immersed in the magic of retro movies, giving the audience a water-like texture. This unique charisma, combined with the morally corrupt American portraits of the 1960s and third-person narration, tells us a simple story of love and friendship.
Unconsciously, the top is implanted in the social reality of the early 1960s-people's limited tolerance for non-humans is almost the same as for homosexuals and blacks. Whether it is the unintentional flashes of black riots on TV, or the brutal torture of the institute, they all outline the horror atmosphere of the Cold War period.
The protagonist in the film, Elisa, a dumb cleaner played by Sally Hawkins, always maintains a distant relationship with her surroundings in her life. The only close is her talkative colleague Zelda. Upstairs she also lived with Zelda, an "artist eager to be famous." He, who was gay, lost his job as an advertising planner because of an inexplicable scandal.
Whether it is the mute woman Elisa, the black colleague Zelda, or the gay friend Zelda, they are like mermaids, but they are in fact alienated from the mainstream society. The identity of the top Mexican descent also gave him a deep understanding of what it's like to be excluded. With a beautiful vision of reality, Gyro poured his love into the roles of these disadvantaged groups in the movie. They reported to each other to warm up and resist the darkness of the world together.
Although Elisa's hearing is sound, she cannot speak and can only communicate with others through sign language. As an orphan, most of her interactions with others rely on intuition and senses. When Elisa met the mermaid for the first time, what she felt was not fear, but empathy. She has no hatred and fear, but chooses to embrace this cross-species creature with love.
The beauty of "The Shape of Water", on the other hand, benefits from the team's ultra-high-level scene design. After "Scarlet Peak", the top once again showed a deep understanding of this gothic horror picture. This exaggerated element design and overburdened plot seems to suppress the most sincere emotions of the story itself, making the flatness of the characters more prominent. However, through the team's dazzling production and elegant imaging art, coupled with the first-line cast lineup, the story shows the duality of angels and demons.
The director of Gyro is always good at using simple colors to match the main vision of the movie. Just like the use of a large number of blood red elements in "Scarlet Peak", "The Shape of Water" chose aqua blue as the main color and maximized the shade of green. usage of. The beginning of the film is filled with dark blue and green, but as the relationship between the heroine and the mermaid gradually heats up, the top chooses to match it with warm red. From the choice of high heels to overcoat, it can be seen that the heroine's mood has changed from loneliness to bright.
The scene where Elisa and the mermaid have sex in the water can be said to be the highlight moment of the whole film. The shimmering underwater shots and the cheerful soundtrack touch a very dreamy texture. This scene comes from the monster movie "Black Lake Monster" in 1954. In fact, the story inspiration of "The Shape of Water" is also completely inspired by this. In the words of Top, "This is the most poetic picture I have ever seen." .
There are not a few tribute stems similar to the movie elements in the film. The top not only used the settings of the 60s wantonly, but also borrowed from the horror movies of the 50s and the film soundtracks of the 30s and 40s, giving the film itself an epic. The basis of the level. These implants allow the audience to better resonate with the story and the characters, rather than simply patchwork together.
The first thing the mermaid did when he escaped from the house was to go to the cinema. At this time, the movie screened in the cinema was "Ruth" (1960), and there was also "Carnival" (1958) that was screened at the same time.
Due to the setting of the female protagonist's mute identity, Gyro added an unexpected song and dance paragraph to this role, making its image more vivid. And the very important piece of fantasy dance in the film is also a tribute to the golden age of musicals: "Love Dance on the Sea" (1936), "Broadway Melody" (1940).
Also worth mentioning is Sally Hawkins’ acting skills. Her image of a dumb woman in this film is very convincing and appealing. No lines are required. Just through her sign language or a look in her eyes is enough to show the character’s abundant emotions. . Whether it's the courage to face conspiracy or the straightforwardness of love, you can feel the warmth and power projected by this girl's heart character.
If the previous spinning tops were bloody fantasy, the key word I gave to "The Shape of Water" was softness. This young child has completed the exploration of love with his most sincere childlike innocence, and you only need to press the play button, and you will be able to sink into this tenderness.
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This is the 540th issue of "Won't Disperse" and I want to jump along with it.
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