The Shape of Water - Film Analysis Essay

Introduction

The story of The Shape of Water was developed and directed by Guillermo Del Toro. The plot of the movie is based on a mute girl Elisa who falls in love with an amphibian creature. Elisa is a cleaner in secret military laboratory. Elisa's character is built on an orphan girl who has no friends in her life. She is a portrayed as a fragile and delicate girl who creates a bond with a creature that was captured from the South American river. Elisa ends falling in love with the creature a feeling that the creature reciprocates. The movie is created in a 1960s setting during the cold war (Dir. Del Toro). This movie is full of emotional imbalance and a strong feeling of love and affection. The movie has been created to portray the theme of love. To go hand in hand with the intended theme, the movie possesses a unique and original score which goes hand in hand with the movie.

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Alexandre Desplat is the composer of the music used in The Shape of Water. The composer did magical work in the creation of sound and melody that fit the movie. Alexandre created an original score that merged with Guillermo's idea of the movie. One can realize that there perfection in how the musical tones merge with each occurrence in the film. It is as if the composer was part of the movie development. The composer captures every feeling and event in the movie through sound. The musical sound used in the movie draws the audience close to the origin of the movie and set a magical feeling which goes with the theme of love as intended by the director. The score used in The Shape of Water is one of a kind. All the sound and melodies used in every bit of the movie corresponds to the occurrence in action. One can feel that the composer understood the vision of Del Toro in creating the movie.

In an interview with Deadline Hollywood Alexandre says that he wanted to capture the sound and feeling of water to go with the title and plot of the movie (Gormley). He says that having grown in the Caribbean, he knew the belief that one has when their body touches the warm water. He describes the feeling like the same as that of love. He tried to create a feeling of longing and affection through his musical chords. At the beginning of the movie, the composer used the sound of the waves of water to make a melody of calmness, love, and longing. The composer understood the nature of the movie, and he says that his mind when creating the score was immersed in the power of water and the forces it holds. The sound that the audience hears as the beginning of the movie is an oozing melody that expresses the feeling of affection. The composer intended to create a sound that reflects the power of water to take any shape. He used music to express the theme of love and also to create a unique theme for Elisa. However, these themes merge as the movie progresses and the sound used expresses the theme of love through the character of Elisa.

The composer creates a blurred melody by use of instrumentation such as flute, piano accordion, and strings. The blurred melody is to emphasize the feeling of water. This blurred sound is used to show the theme of the amphibian creature in the water. The voice that penetrates in water from a far distance is not. The composer tries to create the feeling and connection that exists between Elisa and the amphibian creature. The strings play an essential role in the entire movie as they show the theme of love especially when Elisa tries to find the creature when she realizes that it is missing (Gormley). Alexandre brings French mix of melody by using of accordion a trick that makes the movie captivating and magical. The expression of emotions and feelings through musical sound was perfect in the creation of the movie. The composer understood the mood that was intended for the movie. In summary, the slow pace in which the soundtrack plays makes the experience of the movie perfect for the theme of love.

The composer also uses whistling in the movie to make the soundtrack more captivating and bound within the theme of love. The soundtrack captures Elisa whistling to show how she is fragile, delicate, naive and carefree. It is the only voice of expression that Elisa has. It shows how her emotions are restrained despite being strong. Despite being mute, the melody makes sure to capture the whistling of Elisa. Additionally, the composer whistles himself to create a melody within the soundtrack express the dark periods in the movie. It creates motifs on the sad emotions of Elisa. It is a feeling of restraint and pity for the creature. The unexplainable love between Elisa and the amphibian creature could only be expressed through musical sound which Alexandre achieved in his original score for the movie.

Works Cited

Dir. Guillermo Del Toro. The shape of water. Universal pictures (2017)

Aedin Gormley. Liner notes: Scoring the shape of water. 2018: Retrieved from https://www.rte.ie/culture/2018/0219/941793-liner-notes-scoring-the-shape-of-water/ on 5/5/2018