Who is crying somewhere in the world at this moment for no reason in the world is crying and crying at this moment who is laughing somewhere in the night for no reason at this moment who is laughing and laughing at night who is walking in the world for no reason at this moment Dying somewhere in the world for no reason in the world looking at me - Rilke's "Severe Moments" On March 5, 2018, at the 90th Academy Awards, the 13 Oscar-nominated "Water" The Shape Story finally won four awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, and Best Original Score. For a lot of people, it's a favorite of the movie before they see the full movie. Indeed, the beautiful and fantastic love and redemption between humans and murlocs is quite a bit like "doing happy things with lovers, don't ask whether it's calamity or fate". The story alone is compelling enough. Oscar nominations are natural, but is the pattern really big enough to win the "Best Picture" award?
It wasn't until I watched the movie that I understood why it moved the Oscars. "The Shape of Water" is a cross-species love story set in 1963 during the American Cold War. It actually has an implicit background: in the "Krussu Myth" constructed by the horror novel writer Lovecraft, the fragile and insignificant human beings are extremely insignificant in the face of the absolute power of Dagon and the Deep One. These ancient gods/monsters have long been mentioned in ancient writings (such as the sixteenth chapter of Judges in the Old Testament). According to legend, "Dagon" is a half-human, half-fish god worshipped by the Philistines living in ancient Palestine, and the elder of the sea god who reigns over the "deep diver". The setting of the male protagonist Mr. Fishman is suspected to be the main god Dagon, while the female protagonist is suspected to be a deep diver. In the end, the place they want to return to is the underwater capital Lalaiye, which is located in the South Pacific and borders South America. In fact, there are many related metaphors in the plot: the place where the story takes place is Massachusetts, which is the hometown of Innsmouth, the hometown of the deep diver; when the villain threatened the black lady, he quoted an allusion in the Bible: see Sun Zeng was betrayed by the Philistine woman Delilah, who later destroyed the Philistine temple, and the black sister's middle name was Delilah. (Director Guillermo del Toro is a loyal fan of the Cthulhu mythology. In this part of historical and cultural knowledge, reality and fantasy are mixed, which is very interesting, and those who are curious can dig deeper.) Let's go back to the film itself. Wonderful. weird. nostalgic. desperate. Gentle. dark. Obsessed with light and shadow. The legendary love between humans and murlocs, dramatic plots, well-controlled camera language, textured retro tones, pervasive wonderful music, intelligent black humor, wonderful metaphors, lovely dark fun... Film and television is the art of sound and picture. Even if there are no handsome boys and beauties and grand scenes, the director also brings a wonderful viewing experience to the audience, creating a retro world that is far away from us but seems to have existed. The legend is moving, like a dream, and there is still a meaningful aftertaste after the feast. With these, it can only be regarded as a beautiful movie, but is "The Shape of Water" all there is to it? This is clearly not a story about the journey of cross-species "men and women" to fall in love despite all odds. The redemption and the search for oneself are only the background and not the theme. The main point of the film is actually the people and things around them during the bizarre love between women and murlocs. , is a group portrait story about those people. The film is very intriguing in terms of characterization: an educated dumb old girl who can only work as a cleaner, an unemployed single old gay painter, struggling to maintain a marriage but unable to get rid of laziness The black eldest sister with a bad husband, the conscientious Soviet spy scientist who is not valued in the military of both countries... This is a group of people on the fringes of society who were politically incorrect back then but are very politically correct today. But if you define "The Shape of Water" as a film with a hodgepodge of "political correctness" as a gimmick, you are very wrong, and no one is stupid enough to use this vulgar meme to please the audience and the jury. Excessive interpretation of political metaphors is not necessary. There may be a small number of metaphors for political figures and policies in the plot, which can also be interpreted within the scope of human nature. So what exactly is The Shape of Water about? Let's take a look at these characters first. The heroine Alessa: A dumb old girl who worked as a cleaner in an underground government agency during the Cold War. She is smart and cunning. Under the old-fashioned appearance hides a restless soul and is reckless and stubborn. This dry woman lives in winter, and she has a spring in her heart. After meeting Mr. Fishman, she lived like a summer. With the help of the people around her, their love went to a prosperous autumn. She loves his Mr. Fishman without hesitation, and she will spend her life resting on it, and make you happy for one day. When she found the finger that was cut off by the murloc, she calmly put the severed finger into the food paper bag she was carrying; when she had the idea of rescuing the murloc, after learning that the camera could move, she sucked the hand from the worker The smoke that came over, Alesha showed a "Yoshi" smile; Alesha, who rescued the murloc, passed the interrogation of the demon agent smoothly, and could have left quietly, but because of the other party's words "you clean up the feces and wipe the urine". Furious, smiled and said "X your mother" in sign language. What a bloody woman! This woman, who is not at all beautiful but very moving, won the hearts of the audience in this way. Ps: There is a small detail, Alesha's last name is Esposito is a Spanish surname. Esposito, one of the two silly detectives in "Spiritual Detective", is from South America. This surname shows that Alesha has long been related to South America and murlocs, and perhaps it really confirms their "deep diver" and "Dagon" identities. Will there be a sequel or prequel to The Shape of Water? The scar on Alyssa's neck may have always been the seal of the gills. It doesn't matter where she comes from, what matters is where she goes. Mr. Murloc: This movie is clearly not the home for this mysterious and noble male aquatic monster. In recent years, there have been many female perspectives in Hollywood movies. Mr. Fishman's presence is not much stronger than that of the prince in "Cinderella". What he usually shows to the audience is a sturdy but beautiful back. Although the situation is tragic, although the figure is great (the director has asked the female family members for opinions on the tightness of the buttocks alone), although the actions of licking cats and obsessed with the big screen are all cute, but from the beginning to the end, they can only be regarded as Ah The recipient of Alessa's feelings did not even show any clear emotions. Only at the last critical moment did she show her supernatural power. After Alessa was shot and fell into the water, she lingered with her, and from then on opened the shameless murloc princess. and the prince's story. What is gratifying is that Mr. Fishman evolves rapidly under the water-like friendship and love of the heroine, from a clumsy creature that exists entirely in the form of a fish to a "man" with certain civilized attributes. He is the origin and clue of the whole story. He may not be the dream lover of any female audience, but he is the happy home we hope the heroine will get what she wants. The big villain devil agent: He is strong on the outside and dry in the middle, and whether he washes his hands after urinating or not is given symbolic meaning by him. Perverted enough and tough enough to relieve stress and get pleasure by chewing hard candy and bullying the weak. He has a plastic family, a fake-breasted wife, and enjoys the vanity of fame and fortune. The desire to maintain decent success overwhelms the pain of physical disabling and the fear of failure. He is more like a monster than a murloc, more like a disabled person than Alesha, more like a pervert than an old GAY painter. He is undoubtedly a great villain, but because he is on the verge of losing his reputation and fame and fortune, people can't help but pay attention to the fragility under his hideous body. Even the big villain struggles desperately in loneliness. Everyone has their own hell, doesn't it? Black eldest sister: As the panacea in American movies, black friends have three qualities: loyalty, wit, and good mouth. Black eldest sister has no education but has a conscience. She is righteous, kind and wise, neither humble nor arrogant. She dares to discuss with the demon agent what God looks like, but after all, she cannot break with her lazy and selfish husband, which affects Alesha and destroys the murloc's escape plan. Her one hundred kindness towards Alesha was no match for one malicious whistleblower by her husband. Big Sister Hei represents the cowardice and powerlessness of some people in the real world. Scientist Robert (Soviet agent Dimitri): A conscience and courage, love of science is more human. No matter what purpose Alyssa had, she resolutely took out the key to help her transport Mr. Murloc away. Whether it is an enemy or a friend, they all end in the same way, for the sake of human nature. You can wear big pants, hide a butter knife behind your back, and run the train with the unfriendly Soviet line with a polite face. This fierceness is the taste of character. But what good could the agent end up with? Not only was he silenced by the online gun, but he was also brutally interrogated by demon agents before his death. When he was dying in pain, it became a stumbling block for the murloc escape plan. Rather than saying that he was weak before death, I would rather believe that it was insanity under severe pain. Because of his dignified and dauntless past, I chose to forgive him for his last-minute cowardice. Human nature can't stand torture, can it? Gilles: An unemployed and frustrated old gay painter who treats Alessa so well that the audience initially thinks he's her suitor. In order to chat with the male clerk he likes, he took Alesha to eat disgusting pie every now and then, but he was driven out by the male clerk after all. He doesn't agree with Alyssa's idea, but he is willing to do anything for his only friend. In the process of rescuing and accompanying the murlocs, he began to enjoy the excitement and enjoyment. It turns out that being in need and saving people from fire and water is such a happy and wonderful thing. Giles was accompanying the murlocs in Alyssa's bathroom while sketching for him, when suddenly, he stopped writing and made up his mind with the creature who basically didn't understand human language (actually he was the only one speaking): "You've been talking all the time. Are you all so lonely? Have you ever loved anyone? I don't know what happened to me, I always feel like I was born out of time. Maybe we are all in ruins." So helpless, so stubborn, so lonely. Before the last scene, my favorite supporting role was the Soviet agent, and when I watched the whole film, except for the heroine, I gave all my appreciation to the old GAY Giles. Touch me one more time, use your power to make my hair grow longer, and I will touch you one more time, one last time, in this serious time. My equally lonely, strange friend. For Alyssa, Mr. Murloc is hers Belonging, and these people who come and go in her life, is her path. Human nature really can't stand torture, only the loneliest person never fails you. The first layer of the film "The Shape of Water" is "the truth, goodness and beauty in human nature", those who treat each other with kindness and tenderness, even if they do not understand and agree with each other. The moment when Alyssa utters the phrase, "If we do nothing, we're not human," in sign language, is the most deafening moment in the veiled film. The second level is compassion: "compassion for the situation of others" (Alesha and Dimitri for the murlocs) and "compassion for the loneliness of others". Alyssa grieves for the loneliness of the murlocs, and Giles sympathizes with Alyssa's loneliness. Their mutual support reflects each other's loneliness, and they support each other with each other's loneliness. "Doing anything for you" is a tribute to friendship, and being able to embrace interdependence is something to be grateful for. Alessa anxiously explained to Giles why she wanted to save the murloc in sign language. What she meant was actually: The murloc is actually me? ! I swear to protect him to the death, that is, to save myself! The back of this woman stood alone by the river. She stared at the flowing water running to the sea, planned an escape plan for the murloc, and also looked for her own place of return. "I created this "water man" to express such a thing - you may think it is beautiful and sacred, you may think it is terrible, the key is to see what kind of person you are." - Director Guillermo del Toro's human nature is full of truth, goodness and beauty, but human nature is also extremely fragile. To understand and tolerate this vulnerability is compassion and ultimate concern for human nature. This is the director's homework to the audience - the third layer of the film's main theme. The world is so broken, like a piece of cake that the fat guy at the bus station is holding. The world is good enough, like the red high heels that finally wear on your feet. Lu Xun said: The joys and sorrows of human beings are not connected. We don't need to share joys and sorrows, what we need more is enough tolerance. Those who are incomplete and beautiful deserve to share this incomplete and beautiful world. By the end we heard that the old man telling the story in the narration was Giles. This is a story made up by a frustrated old GAY, an adult fairy tale. There is a clumsy love story in this fairy tale. It is not a Grimm fairy tale that whitewashes the dark and desolate with sweetness, but a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. Like Andersen, Giles tells a sad story with a smile and tenderness, but in those tragic lives of all kinds, we see that those painful hearts are dyed with a soft color. James Cameron said of director Guillermo del Toro: "Gilmore's work confronts life itself with all its beauty and terror. He sees the world with childlike curiosity and unabashed fear. "Unlike Pi's Fantastic Drifting, which is rooted in reality, The Shape of Water exists entirely in fantasy. There is no need for moral introspection and struggle, but you can still compare you and me and shine into reality. Life is a big dream. Everyone can be the protagonist of his own stage play, singing and dancing in hope, sadness and fear. Gratitude and hatred, joy and sorrow, true and false, just take it seriously. Really good. Water is the shape of love, and love is the shape of my heart. The shape of water, that's the shape of my heart. This film and this review are dedicated to every love that embraces water, and every lonely and sparkling soul. May we have love, dreams, beautiful shoes, and a happy home. This film and this film review are dedicated to every love that is like water, and every lonely and sparkling soul. May we have love, dreams, beautiful shoes, and a happy home. This film and this film review are dedicated to every love that is like water, and every lonely and sparkling soul. May we have love, dreams, beautiful shoes, and a happy home.
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