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Del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’ makes waves in Venice

Director Guillermo Del Toro poses for photographers during the photo call for the film "The Shape of Water" at the 74th Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis) Director Guillermo Del Toro poses for photographers during the photo call for the film "The Shape of Water" at the 74th Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

By Associated Press August 31, 2017 4 min read

VENICE, Italy (AP) – Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” is an aquatic “Beauty and the Beast,” a transgressive fairy tale about a young woman’s love for a scaly creature from the Amazonian depths.

Like the best fables, it’s also rooted in the real world: the story of a migrant from the south facing a hostile reception in a security-obsessed United States.

“I think that fantasy is a very political genre,” del Toro said Thursday at the Venice Film Festival, where “The Shape of Water” is getting its world premiere. It’s one of 21 films competing for the coveted Golden Lion, the festival’s top prize.

“Fairy tales were born in times of great trouble. They were born in times of famine, pestilence and war.”

Part monster movie, part noir thriller, part Hollywood musical, the film defies categorization, though Del Toro took a stab, suggesting it’s “like Douglas Sirk rewriting Passolini’s ‘Theorem’ with a fish.”