Two days after winning the top jury prize at the Venice Film Festival, Guillermo del Toro’s deliriously romantic creature feature “The Shape of Water” had its first public showing at the Toronto International Film Festival. And once again, the film enraptured an audience with its unlikely but spectacular love story between a lonely, mute woman and an aquatic creature that looks like a marginally friendlier version of the Creature From the Black Lagoon.
On a ridiculously overcrowded night that also saw the TIFF public premieres of Andy Serkis’ “Breathe,” Alexander Payne’s “Downsizing,” Joe Wright’s “Darkest Hour,” Angelina Jolie’s “First They Killed My Father,” Scott Cooper’s “Hostiles” and Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “The Shape of Water” still felt like something of an event.
That’s partly because it screened in the Elgin Theatre, where scenes from the movie were filmed; when the lavish interior of the theater first appeared on screen, the Elgin audience erupted into applause.
But that was nothing compared to the applause at the end of the film, when del Toro and his crew and actors were met with an extended standing ovation. As Alonso Duralde wrote for TheWrap when the film premiered in Venice, del Toro’s work here “transcends mere pastiche to craft a work that feels like the product of our collective film-going subconscious.”
In a raucous post-midnight Q&A that followed the screening, del Toro talked about the particular challenges of this film — “we crammed a $60 million movie into $19.5 million” — but mostly about how he wanted real, flawed characters in his fantastic world.
“There’s art and beauty and power in the primal images of fantasy,” he said. “But I wanted to show somebody real. [Hawkins’ character] masturbates in the bathtub – she’s not a Disney f—ing princess. And the creature might be a god, but he eats the f—ing cat.”
When an audience member with an autistic child spoke of how the relationship between the characters played by Hawkins and Octavia Spencer had moved her and given her hope, both actresses fought to compose themselves. But the mood quickly lightened — because even when del Toro was talking politics, he managed to make it brashly entertaining.
“I set the movie in 1962 because when people say, ‘Let’s make America great again,’ they’re thinking of that era,” he said of the film’s Cold War setting, which includes casually depicted racism and homophobia. “Yeah, it was great if you were a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant. If not, you were f—ed.”
He stopped. “I’m sorry for cursing,” he said. “I know it’s not very Canadian.”
But, of course, he wasn’t really sorry, because he returned to that well for a line that served as a pretty good statement of purpose for the magical experience he’s created.
“It’s important that we choose love over fear,” he said. “As silly as it may sound, it’s the f—ing answer to everything.”
35 Eye-Popping Portraits From TheWrap's Toronto Studio Day 2, From Jake Gyllenhaal to Helen Mirren (Photos)
"The Current War" Alfonso Gomez-Rejon with Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Nicholas Hoult
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Current War"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Michael Shannon, "The Current War"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Brie Larson, "Unicorn Store"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Darren Aronofsky, "mother!"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Darren Aronofsky, "Mother!"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Willem Dafoe, Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince and Sean Baker, "The Florida Project"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Willem Dafoe, "The Florida Project"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Helen Mirren, "The Leisure Seeker"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Helen Mirren, "The Leisure Seeker"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Jake Gyllenhaal, "Stronger"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Tatiana Maslany, "Stronger"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Miranda Richardson, "Stronger"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
"Stronger" star Jake Gyllenhaal with Jeff Bauman, the Boston Marathon bombing survivor he plays in the fiilm
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Writer Jeff Bauman, "Stronger"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director-star James Franco, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
James Franco, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Dave Franco, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Dave Franco, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Alison Brie, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Alison Brie, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Ari Graynor, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, "The Disaster Artist"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Jessica Chastain, "Molly's Game" and "Woman Walks Ahead"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Jessica Chasten, director Susanna White and Michael Greyeyes, "Woman Walks Ahead"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actress Julianne Nicholson, "Who We Are Now"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Zachary Quinto, "Who We Are Now"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Josh Lucas, "Mark Felt"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Selma Blair, "Mom and Dad"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Selma Blair and Nicolas Cage, "Mom and Dad"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, "One of Us"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Director Kyle Rideout, "Public Schooled"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Judy Greer "Public Schooled"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Eddie Izzard, "Victoria & Abdul"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
Actor Ali Fazal, "Victoria & Abdul"
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
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TIFF 2017: The stars come out to TheWrap’s studio
"The Current War" Alfonso Gomez-Rejon with Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Nicholas Hoult
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
