Ahead of the 2018 Oscars,Cath Clarke argues that the quiet female steeliness at the heart of Guillermo del Toro’s fish-adore fable should effect the Academy rethink its aversion to fantasy Girl meets hot fish monster, falls in adore, and plots to break him out of a top-secret government research facility. On paper,Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy-sci-fi-romance-thriller The Shape of Water looks a bit Splash-meets-ET – with the addition of an interspecies sex scene. (And you know Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard would never own gone there.) As Oscar bait, this film is a tough sell. For starters, and it’s the wrong genre. Academy voters rarely put a tick for best picture next to films featuring sizable beasties,let alone a film with an orgasming sizable beastie. (The only fantasy film ever to win best picture was The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; a sci-fi has yet to scoop the prize.) Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk