The Shape of Water, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, 2h 2min
There is a wide diversity of opinion about this undeniably outré fantasy. And that is very understandable. A mute, needy cleaning woman at a government facility falls in love with (and yes, has relations with!) something that resembles Creature from the Black Lagoon. What’s not to like?
It’s creepy to start. No matter how much you empathize with Elisa (Sally Hawkins), it still seems passing strange that she literally mates with this thing, replete with scales, gills, and an Alien visage.
But, of course, water is mostly below the surface. When viewed as an allegory, The Shape of Water takes on a brand new dimension. Plus it develops into a damn fine thriller – what will happen to the creature and how will Elisa handle that eventuality?
Elisa appears to be fighting the whole federal government, along with the Russians. Richard Strickland (the granite, gloomy Michael Shannon from Boardwalk Empire, Take Shelter) hates the creature after he bites off two of Strickland’s fingers. The admiral in charge of the facility thinks he’s a national security risk. And the Russians want him so the Americans won’t make a weapon out of him.
Elisa simply sees the creature as someone, not something, that needs her help. She feeds him hardboiled eggs and plays 30’s big-band jazz, and their relationship grows. Elisa sees that she needs to get him out of the laboratory and to freedom, if possible. She is helped by her co-worker Zelda, the very funny Octavia Spencer, who leavens the tension with comic relief.
If you care to look deeper, The Shape of Water is a social commentary on bias and discrimination. The supposed natural distrust and fear of the creature is juxtaposed to 50’s lunch-counter racism and homophobia. Director Guillermo Del Toro seems to be warning that we need to deal with the rampant discrimination among our own species because in the future our limits of tolerance may be strained even farther.
The whole film is beautifully executed, with just the right dark and spooky ambience and fine performances from Hawkins, Shannon and Spencer, as well as Richard Jenkins as Elisa's gay, closeted neighbor.
As many plusses as there are, I found every appearance of the creature to be jarring, making it difficult if not impossible to suspend my disbelief to buy into the love story. I guess I haven’t evolved far enough.
Look for this one to be a big winner at next month’s Academy Awards. It has enough novelty and excellence to grab a lot of attention from the voters. If it wins best picture, I’ll be disappointed but not surprised.
Grade: B+
Wonder Wheel, written and directed by Woody Allen, 1h 41min
These days filmgoers seem to either love or hate Woody Allen. Disregarding his personal life (tough to ignore), put me somewhere in the middle - I never miss one of his movies. His films aren’t big in any way, except that they show people’s lives in such a realistic context that they shed some light on basic humanity.
It also doesn’t hurt that he gets such good performances out of actors that are not exactly top tier – in this case, Jim Belushi, Justin Timberlake and Juno Temple. Having a talent like Kate Winslet to anchor the cast is a big plus as well.
Ginny (Winslet) is in a dead-end job at a clam house on Coney Island. She lives with her husband Humpty (Belushi), a recovering alcoholic, always on the edge of a relapse, and her young son Richie (Jack Gore), a budding pyromaniac. They live in a ramshackle second-floor apartment in the shadow of the Coney Island Ferris Wheel. Ginny is scared of Humpty because he hits her when he’s drunk, and she’s disgusted that her life has drifted so far from her early ambitions to be an actress.
It’s inevitable that she looks for an escape, and she meets Mickey (Timberlake), a lifeguard who patrols the beach across the boardwalk from her apartment. They bond on their artistic pretensions – her acting, his writing.
Then Humpty's daughter, Carolina (Temple), shows up. Her ex-husband is in the Mob, and he’s after her because she informed on him to the FBI. Ginny kindly gets Caroline a job at the clam house, but that backfires when she meets Mickey, who falls in love with her at first sight.
It’s not giving away too much to say that Ginny, the older woman who had hoped to escape the drudgery of her life, is consumed with jealousy. She is one unhappy lady, determined to bring down all around her.
This film feels more like a play with mainly interior shots and brief moments on the beach that could be easily replicated on the stage. But this boxed-in feel gives Wonder Wheel a claustrophobic atmosphere that underscores Ginny’s anxieties.
As in the theater, success depends on the performance of the actors and they are uniformly good, although it’s hard for me to see Timberlake as anything but a lightweight. Woody shows a slice of life in New York City, where he is most comfortable and evocative. He infuses his characters with just enough drama to create a penetrating, if fleeting, impression.
Grade: B-
The Insult, written by Ziad Doueri and Joelle Touma, directed by Ziad Doueri, 1h 52min
How can a simple dispute over a leaky drainpipe become an international incident? In the Middle East with its millennial-old religious and tribal disputes, it is the only logical result.
It all starts when Toni (Adel Karam) is watering his plants on the balcony of his apartment building. Water runs out a hole in the floor that’s not properly connected to a drainpipe, and it splashes onto a construction worker named Yasser (Kamel Al Basha) below. Yasser goes to the man’s apartment and offers to reconnect the pipe, and Toni rudely dismisses him. Yasser fixes the drain anyway. When Toni sees the new pipe, he smashes it with one of his own.
Toni then rushes down to the street and demands an apology for what he considers a violation of his property. Yasser promptly refuses.
That’s initially all there is to “the insult.” But there’s a big complication. Toni is a Christian who attends every meeting of the Lebanese Christian Party’s leader. Yasser is a Palestinian living in a refugee camp.
There is a lot of back and forth as Yasser’s boss tries to mediate a dispute that in any other part of the world would have been easily resolved. When the boss brings Yasser to Toni’s garage to apologize, Yasser refuses and Toni spits out, “I wish Ariel Sharon had wiped you all out.” Yasser then punches Toni, breaking two of his ribs.
Eventually, the two end up in court, and lawyers representing either side of Lebanon’s Christian-Palestinian political divide volunteer to represent them. The trial becomes even more personal when we find out the lawyers are father and daughter.
At this point rioters on both sides have squared off in the street. Toni and Yasser regret the chaos they have unleashed, but it’s too late.
Their feud and its aftermath are a microcosm of the Middle East. The origins of disputes are petty with no one knowing how the animosities began. Tragically, the response is uniformly tribal and violent. All the people in the streets know is that their side has been aggrieved, and they want retribution.
The film makers close the film on a positive note, but it is hard to believe that any dispute in this area of the world can end satisfactorily for both sides. As the judge in the trial says, “It’s impossible to know who to blame.” Intermediaries have no effect, and the disputes go on forever.
With its documentary feel, the film balances both sides, showing why the ancient and intractable divisions may never be reconciled. It advances the understanding of the Middle East, but offers few solutions beyond “Forget the past and be reasonable.” For its insights, realistic depiction of street chaos and fine ensemble acting The Insult is well deserving of its Best Foreign Film nomination.
Grade: A-
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