tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/guillermo-del-toro-46910/articlesGuillermo del Toro – The Conversation2023-03-13T19:46:59Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2017022023-03-13T19:46:59Z2023-03-13T19:46:59ZOscars 2023: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio offers a new vision for animated films that explore our humanity<p>In <a href="https://abc.com/shows/oscars/video/oscar-winners/vdka32809379">winning the 2023 Academy Award</a> for best animated feature, director Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio continues its remarkable run of accolades, from the Golden Globes to the Baftas.</p>
<p>Del Toro has used the platform afforded by his nominations to champion the medium of animation as true cinema, proclaiming in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzMQYyEwcNI">his Bafta award speech</a>: </p>
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<p>Animation is not a genre for kids. It’s a medium for art, it’s a medium for film and I think animation should stay in the conversation.</p>
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<p>His rendition of Pinocchio has certainly started a conversation, not least in gaining <a href="https://www.cartoonbrew.com/streaming/guillermo-del-toro-pinocchio-netflix-top-10-224361.html">an impressive audience</a> on Netflix. His film demonstrates that in the right creative environment – and with an innovator at the helm – a well-worn narrative, such as Pinocchio, can evolve.</p>
<p>Such revitalisation of the Pinocchio story was in part possible because – <a href="https://screenrant.com/pinocchio-guillermo-del-toro-movie-unique-adaptation-response/">as he says himself</a> – del Toro didn’t craft his retelling solely with children in mind. </p>
<p>His Pinocchio stands out because it deals with existential issues such as mortality, morality and what we define as consciousness, coupled with real-world historical catastrophes such as the rise of fascism and the children who have suffered under its jackboot.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022).</span></figcaption>
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<p>There is also a timeliness to this adaptation. Pinocchio – an innocent who is forced to see the harsh realities of war, death and societal collapse, yet retains a sense of optimism – is prescient amid intensifying global conflict and offers hope.</p>
<p>Del Toro is no stranger to awards success. In 2007, his breakout hit Pan’s Labyrinth <a href="https://www.thehugoawards.org/2007/09/2007-hugo-awards-announced-2/">won the Hugo award</a> for best dramatic presentation. He also won the best director and best picture <a href="https://theconversation.com/oscars-2018-another-mexican-triumph-as-awards-move-towards-diversity-91786">Oscars</a> for <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-shape-of-water-an-allegorical-critique-of-trump-93272">The Shape of Water</a> in 2017.</p>
<p>In some ways, Pinocchio’s win was predictable. The film has, without doubt, received more press coverage than its rivals through a powerfully sustained campaign.</p>
<p>Pinocchio’s fellow nominees – Puss in Boots, The Sea Beast and Turning Red – are typical of the state and quality of animation in 2023. They’re colourful, entertaining and wonderfully animated, but rather standard CGI creations, with none of the more complex tones of del Toro’s Pinocchio. </p>
<p>The outlier in the category was the astonishing and innovative <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k98Afd7Nf3Y">Marcel the Shell with Shoes On</a>, a blend of live action footage and stop motion animation.</p>
<p>When I <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Guillermo-del-Toro-At-Home-with-Monsters/Guillermo-del-Toro/9781608878604">interviewed Guillermo del Toro in 2015</a>, he was transparent in his intention to shift between cinematic modes, stating that “animation is in many ways the future”. He believed that animated films should be universally held in the high esteem they receive in parts of Europe and Japan, “where they understand that animation is a medium, not a genre.”</p>
<h2>Pinocchio’s achievement of ‘randomness’</h2>
<p>Del Toro struck me then, and continues to do so, as an artist with an incredible determination to fulfil his vision across a body of work. As he told me: “I think [animation] is my desirable future – the only thing I want to make sure is that I find randomness.” </p>
<p>I interpret “randomness” here as the ability to recapture the charm of the perceived imperfections of stop motion animation, brought about by advances in digital animation. This combines with the sophistication of evolving stop motion practice, which now allows for nimble implementations of decisions made on set.</p>
<p>This ability to achieve “randomness” is evident in Pinocchio and may be attributed to a blend of abundant resources and technical and creative innovation. Thanks to the deep pockets of Netflix, Pinocchio’s production was vast, involving 40 animators (and nearly 1,000 days of shooting, including, at times 60 sets, 60 cameras and 60 stages), working on complex scenes, some of which took years to perfect.</p>
<p>The characters themselves were constructed from materials generated with a 3D printer, moulded around a metallic skeleton and connected to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUoS-CBi4iA">high tech rigs</a> which gave the animators the ability to react swiftly and precisely to direction while retaining continuity.</p>
<p>Additionally, the film also involved “live action video reference” points where crew members would be filmed experimenting with approaches to scenes, which gave them an opportunity to partly improvise moments that had – in the main – been planned for years. </p>
<p>This hybrid approach of pre-planned authorship and creative spontaneity allowed del Toro to achieve a fresh approach to animation.</p>
<p>Del Toro has proclaimed that Pinocchio’s journey through a tumultuous and dangerous world is the thematic third part in a trilogy which also included The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), which both feature children thrown into perilous situations as a result of fascist regimes.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for Pan’s Labyrinth (2006).</span></figcaption>
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<p>I would broaden this to situate Pinocchio in del Toro’s wider artistic impulses. Much of his work involves outsider figures, considered freaks by the wider world (Cronos, 1993 and Hellboy, 2004, for instance) who find love and acceptance from those able to see them beyond their outward appearance and deviance from the norm. </p>
<p>This in turn resonates with del Toro’s desire to ask audiences to see animation beyond a mode for childish tales and instead recognise its potency as a cinematic art.</p>
<p>Del Toro’s next project will be <a href="https://collider.com/guillermo-del-toro-the-buried-giant-stop-motion/">The Buried Giant</a>, an animated adaptation of the 2015 <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/85613/the-buried-giant-by-kazuo-ishiguro/">Kazio Ishiguro novel</a>. It’s set in an alternative post-Arthurian Britain in which people are incapable of retaining long-term memories. An elderly couple set out on a quest to find a long-lost son that they fleetingly recall.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://ew.com/awards/oscars/pinocchio-guillermo-del-toro-wins-oscar-best-animated-feature/">his Oscars acceptance speech</a>, del Toro said: “Animation is ready to be taken to the next step … We are all ready for it.”</p>
<p>In a backstage interview, he stated that his film is: </p>
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<p>About disobedience – and disobedience is urgent in the world now. How we can love each other in our failings, in our flaws, in our humanity. </p>
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<p>Guillermo del Toro’s Pinnochio is a pioneering film in the ongoing efforts to reframe the medium of animation. But it’s also symbolic of del Toro’s wider work to date – the perfect example of his passion for stories which illuminate our humanity, even in the face of dehumanising oppression.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201702/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith McDonald does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Del Toro’s Pinocchio stands out because it couples existential issues with real-world historical catastrophes.Keith McDonald, Senior Lecturer Film Studies and Media, York St John UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1446002020-08-20T10:24:39Z2020-08-20T10:24:39ZHorror films are highlighting human rights abuses in Latin America<p>Drawn in by the supernatural story and the promise of horror and fantasy, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/">Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256009/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Devil’s Backbone (2001)</a> by Guillermo del Toro brought an awareness of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-spanish-civil-war-continues-to-haunt-gothic-literature-102001">Spanish Civil War</a> (1936-1939) to an international audience. </p>
<p>Pan’s Labyrinth taught audiences about the horrors of the human rights abuses committed by the Francoist forces in the 1940s. These abuses were personified through the monstrous fascist, Captain Vidal, and his otherworldly alter ego, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypBj0xDP-io">the Pale Man</a>. Fairies, a faun and <a href="https://www.fantasy-animation.org/all-episodes/2020/7/15/episode-53-pans-labyrinth-guillermo-del-toro-2006-with-deborah-shaw">a magical underground kingdom co-exist</a> with the harsh realities of post-civil war Spain. Such fantasy elements successfully drew in audiences who may have had little interest in Spanish history. </p>
<p>Del Toro’s <a href="https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719097591/">genre-bending and -blending</a> approach to filmmaking allows him to reach a large and varied audience while also providing sharp social and historical commentary on Spain’s fraught past.</p>
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<p>Despite their Spanish setting, the Mexican director’s Spanish language films have influenced a swathe of recent Latin American movies that combine realism, fantasy and the supernatural to reach wider global audiences and shine a light on social ills and human rights abuses.</p>
<p>Two such films, showcased on the horror streaming platform <a href="https://www.shudder.com">Shudder</a>, are <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4823434/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Tigers are Not Afraid</a> by the Mexican director Issa López and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10767168/">La Llorona</a> (The Crying Woman) by Guatemala’s Jayro Bustamante. Both films point to a growing genre of Latin American supernatural and magical realist films which also draw attention to political corruption and human rights abuses. </p>
<h2>The real horrors of Mexico</h2>
<p>As López has noted, Tigers are Not Afraid wears its <a href="https://ew.com/movies/2019/08/20/tigers-are-not-afraid-issa-lopez-interview/">influence from Pan’s Labyrinth proudly</a>. The film has <a href="https://ew.com/movies/2019/07/30/stephen-king-guillermo-del-toro-watch-horror-fairy-tale/">won praise</a> from del Toro himself as well as Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. As in Pan’s Labyrinth, the protagonist is a young girl, Estrella (Paola Lara) who joins a band of street children. They, like her, were orphaned by femicides – the intentional killing of women because of their gender – committed by corrupt local politician and drug kingpin, El Chino (Tenoch Huerta), and the assassins working for him, Los Huascas.</p>
<p>The horror trope of vengeful ghosts, in this case those of Estrella’s mother and other murdered women, seeking to entrap and kill those responsible for their deaths are visible nods to del Toro’s ghostly tales The Devil’s Backbone and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2554274/">Crimson Peak</a>.</p>
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<p>As with these del Toro films, fantasy and the supernatural collide with the horrors of real life. As <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2019-08-23/tigers-are-not-afraid-issa-lopez">López explains</a>: </p>
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<p>Horror goes directly into our most intimate, primal emotion, so if you can squeeze your way there you have the audience’s heart and ear. Then you can go into their other fears, the ones they really don’t want to go into, the real ones. </p>
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<p>The film uses the supernatural to reveal a neglected aspect of Mexico’s corrupt politics and its connections with drug crime and femicide. This provides a way into Mexico’s reality for international horror movie fans.</p>
<h2>A Guatemalan ghost story</h2>
<p>La Llorona also harnesses the power of the paranormal to tell the important story of the <a href="https://peacebrigades.org.uk/country-groups/pbi-uk/alliance-for-lawyers-at-risk/alliance-resources/crimes-against-humanity-in-guatemala">genocide of the Maya Ixil people by the military in Guatemala</a> in the 1980s. The film follows General Enrique Monteverde (Julio Díaz) and his family. After angry survivors and protesters of the genocide surround their house demanding justice, the family find themselves trapped inside.</p>
<p>Monteverde is based on the former dictator and retired army general <a href="https://www.ijmonitor.org/2018/04/the-legacy-of-rios-montt-guatemalas-most-notorious-war-criminal/">José Efraín Ríos Montt</a>. During his presidency (1982-1983), he was responsible for the genocide of an estimated <a href="https://www.wola.org/analysis/legacy-guatemala-dictator-rios-montt-shows-justice-possible/">10,000 people</a> and the destruction of more than 400 Mayan indigenous communities.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.justiceinitiative.org/uploads/bbdf1b25-f6c4-4370-8a54-f310bbe552f9/judging-dicatator-trial-guatemala-rios-montt-11072013.pdf">2013 trial</a> based on oral testimonies of over 90 survivors, which is recreated in the film, he was found guilty of genocide of the Maya Ixil people. However, the verdict was quickly <a href="https://nacla.org/news/2018/04/25/genocide-and-pursuit-justice">overturned by the Constitutional Court</a>, as members of the military elite feared that a successful prosecution would lead to them also facing justice. </p>
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<p>The film recounts the social, political and supernatural happenings following the arrival of the servant Alma (meaning “soul” in Spanish). A Mayan woman (María Mercedes Coroy), Alma is a mystical presence and the titular crying woman. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/wailing-woman">La Llorona</a> is a folkloric figure across parts of Latin America. After drowning her children and killing herself, her ghost is forced to wander as she weeps for her dead family. In Bustamante’s reworking of this tale to tell the story of the genocide, Alma’s children are drowned by the military under orders from Monteverde. Ghostly wailing fills the house from the moment of Alma’s arrival but is heard only by the General who is tormented by it. </p>
<p>La Llorona and Tigers are Not Afraid are compelling ghost stories that have all the trappings of the brilliant horror movies we know and love. They cleverly employ the universal appeal of scary stories to teach their viewers about overlooked Mexican and Guatemalan social realities. These films show that while we all love a good scare on our screens, the real horrors are all around us and deserve to be remembered and seen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144600/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Shaw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Latin American filmmakers wanting to alert the world to human rights abuses are turning to the supernatural to tell compelling storiesDeborah Shaw, Professor of Film and Screen Studies, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1029482018-09-11T12:30:30Z2018-09-11T12:30:30ZAlfonso Cuarón’s Venice Golden Lion triumph for Roma highlights innovative new Netflix approach<p>Alfonso Cuarón <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/venice-golden-lion-goes-to-alfonso-cuarons-roma/a-45412328">has won the Golden Lion</a> at the 2018 Venice International Film Festival for Roma, his most personal film. The win highlights the importance of Mexican film-makers in a film culture that is usually dominated by Americans.</p>
<p>Cuarón and his colleagues, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu – or the <a href="http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719097591/">“Three Amigos”</a> as they are known – have become popular fixtures at the Venice festival. Jury president del Toro was the winner of the 2017 Golden Lion for <a href="https://theconversation.com/oscars-2018-another-mexican-triumph-as-awards-move-towards-diversity-91786">The Shape of Water</a>, while Iñárritu’s Birdman <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/feb/25/birdmans-oscar-triumph-ruffles-feathers-in-italy">opened the festival</a> in 2014 – an honour shared by Cuarón’s Gravity in 2013.</p>
<p>All three have won <a href="https://theconversation.com/oscars-2018-another-mexican-triumph-as-awards-move-towards-diversity-91786">Oscars for Best Director</a> at the Academy Awards – and Cuarón is now a serious contender for Best Director in 2019 for Roma to follow his award for Gravity in 2014.</p>
<p>Roma is a Mexican Spanish and indigenous language (Mixteco), black and white art film. It is a highly personal project by Cuarón that features the point of view of Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a domestic servant working for a middle-class family – a character based on the Cuarón’s family servant, Lobi. It is an intimate film of Cuarón’s youth in the hip Mexico City district of Colonia Roma which blends family history with the social and <a href="https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/venice-film-week-roma/">political Mexico of the early 1970s</a>.</p>
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<p>Another newsworthy element of Roma’s success is the way in which the story of the film, and its distribution and exhibition, folds into the developing story of Netflix. That Netflix has chosen Cuarón’s semi-autobiographical drama as the flagship production for its new distribution model reveals much about the streaming company and the way it is challenging existing screen culture. </p>
<p>It tells us that Netflix wants to work with the best directors in the world and that it will support high-quality, non-English language productions that are likely to win prestigious awards. It also tells us that Netflix will support a director-led model for films that avoid big stars and special effects – Roma’s protagonist Cleo is played by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8611957/">Yalitza Aparicio</a>, a non-professional actor who is a schoolteacher in real life. </p>
<p>Netflix offers an alternative to traditional models that restrict these art films to a limited festival run and restricted theatrical release with low box-office takings.</p>
<h2>New approach</h2>
<p>Netflix has used Roma to break a deadlock with festivals seen in Netflix’s previous refusal to agree to a theatrical release, and Cannes film festival’s <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2018/04/alfonso-cuaron-cannes-roma-netflix-ban-1201952422/">resulting refusal</a> to allow Roma and other Netflix productions to enter into competition if they aren’t slated for theatrical distribution in France. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/31/netflix-release-model-oscar-films-alfonso-cuaron">new Netflix model</a> introduced by Roma enters films in festival competition and agrees to limited theatrical distribution, but also bypasses lengthy delays between cinema and streaming release.</p>
<p>Following Venice, Roma <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6155172/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_dt">is playing in competition</a> at Telluride, Toronto, London, New York and Copenhagen. It will be followed by an (as yet unspecified) limited theatrical release, and a global release on the streaming site, scheduled for December 1 2018. Cuarón <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-filmfestival-venice-roma/cuaron-wants-you-to-see-roma-on-big-screen-but-only-netflix-would-fund-it-idUSKCN1LF22P">has highlighted</a> this as a principal attraction of working with Netflix. </p>
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<p>Working as his own cinematographer as a result of the lack of availability of his longtime collaborator Emmanuel Lubezki, Cuarón made a film to be <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2018/07/alfonso-cuaron-roma-netflix-cinematographer-interview-1201987584/">seen on the big screen</a>. It has state-of-the-art sound design and was shot on 65mm using the Alexa65 digital camera. This resulted in a “really pristine, almost never-before-seen black and white”, <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2018/07/alfonso-cuaron-roma-netflix-cinematographer-interview-1201987584/">according to David Linde</a>, the film’s producer. But the filmmakers also wanted the film to be seen by a global audience, an ambition that can be realised by its release on the biggest streaming platform in the world.</p>
<h2>To the moon and back</h2>
<p>The high level of backing for a Mexican art film may appear to be a risky move for Netflix, but it follows its approach of support for a certain type of auteurist filmmaker, those who have a track record of excellence and are embraced by both festival and global audiences. These are directors who can be trusted to create high-quality films or series (examples include <a href="https://www.screendaily.com/news/the-coen-brothers-netflix-series-the-ballad-of-buster-scruggs-is-now-a-film/5131181.article">the Coen brothers</a>, <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2018/09/22-july-trailer-paul-greengrass-norway-terrorist-attacks-1201987920/">Paul Greengrass</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/22/martin-scorsese-the-irishman-netflix-robert-de-niro-silence">Martin Scorsese</a>, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/steven-soderbergh-says-next-movie-will-probably-be-with-netflix-2018-7">Steven Soderbergh</a>, and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2431438/">Lana and Lily Wachowski</a>).</p>
<p>While Netflix has been celebrated for investing in new and exciting voices and <a href="https://theconversation.com/sense8-and-sensibility-how-a-tv-series-is-transcending-geographical-and-gender-borders-77377">embracing diversity</a>, directors have to <a href="https://theconversation.com/video-on-demand-and-the-myth-of-endless-choice-100116">jump through many hoops</a> to be rewarded with such a high-profile distribution and exhibition platform. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/video-on-demand-and-the-myth-of-endless-choice-100116">Video-on-demand and the myth of 'endless choice'</a>
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<h2>Film-making royalty</h2>
<p>As a multi award-winning director, Cuarón belongs to a Netflix executive class of director. Cuarón had to achieve stratospheric brilliance with his award-winning Gravity to be given such first-class treatment for a film set in Mexico City. That he has been able to make his most personal film yet is due entirely to his profile and status secured largely in film-making outside of his home country (with the exception of his low-budget <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/apr/12/1">Y Tu Mamá También</a>). Cuarón has, to his credit, used his privilege to make a Mexican film that has a focus on the sort of working-class character that is severely underrepresented in mainstream cinema.</p>
<p>But while Cuarón himself is a great cheerleader for Mexican cinema his success is unlikely to lead to a wider distribution and exposure of Mexican films in general. Some of the most talented voices of recent Mexican cinema <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/la/book/9781137008060">find themselves restricted</a> to the limited distributions of the festival and art cinema circuits. There is a rich cinematic culture in Mexico – and there are a number of directors deserving of wider international acclaim. These include: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0251774/">Fernando Eimbcke</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1661334/">Amat Escalante</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1633015/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Michel Franco</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7060468/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Maya Goded</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1754457/">Tatiana Huezo</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0411517/">Issa López</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0636979/">María Novaro</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2091911/">Alonso Ruizpalacios</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0750032/">Juan Carlos Rulfo</a>, and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1196161/">Carlos Reygadas</a>.</p>
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<p>There is much to celebrate in Netflix’s new film production, exhibition and distribution model – and in Roma’s success, particularly in the wider distribution it offers to filmmakers and increased access to films for its subscribers. Nonetheless, this model is still reserved for film-making royalty, and the festival, theatrical release and streaming platforms afforded Roma is an exception. </p>
<p>Most high-quality non-English language films will, unfortunately, remain unseen by large audiences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Shaw does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Netflix has chosen a high-quality Mexican arthouse movie as a flagship production for its new distribution model.Deborah Shaw, Reader in Film Studies, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/963152018-05-09T10:38:42Z2018-05-09T10:38:42ZHorror film festivals: why their best screenings never make it to multiplexes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218251/original/file-20180509-34027-m9rnck.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cut. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/filming-horror-movie-female-zombie-holding-242381503?src=AepMNA-yhm06XdTW4tWU6g-1-3">Kiselev Andrey Valerevich</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the east coast of Scotland, calendars are circled in blood: it’s time once again for Dundead, the horror film festival that descends on Dundee each May. </p>
<p>Launched eight years ago for campaigning locals who wanted a dedicated festival to rival Glasgow’s <a href="http://www.frightfest.co.uk/glasgow-2018.html">FrightFest</a>, Dundead screens various previews and even premieres. There is always a gem among these mostly shoestring productions – like last year’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3289956/">The Autopsy of Jane Doe</a>, starring Dundee’s own Brian Cox, aka the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091474/">original Hannibal Lecter</a>. </p>
<p>The buzz this year has centred on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7026370/">Vampire Clay</a>, a Japanese film about possessed sculptures running amok in an art college. But my money is on <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4399952/">The Lodgers</a>, a slice of Irish Gothic from Brian O'Malley, a young filmmaker whose <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3148348/">Let Us Prey (2014)</a> was a surprise hit at the festival several years back. </p>
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<p>These new releases are always built around a carefully curated themed retrospective. Last year’s focus was Stephen King; this year it’s the late Tobe Hopper – starting with his first and finest film, <a href="http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/event/the-texas-chain-saw-massacre">The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)</a>.</p>
<p>It’s not only Scots that want to scream at the likes of Leatherface, of course. Horror movie festivals have become big business in recent years. There is <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/back-from-the-dead-how-horror-is-this-year-s-rising-film-trend-1.3268256">Horrorthon</a> in Dublin; <a href="http://www.abertoir.co.uk">Abertoir</a> in Aberystywth; <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/horror-on-sea-film-festival-19-28-january-2018-tickets-38033279563">Horror on Sea</a> in Southend; while London has both the <a href="https://filmfreeway.com/BritishHorrorFilmFestival">British Horror Film Festival</a> and another <a href="http://www.frightfest.co.uk/frightfest-dates-for-2018.html">FrightFest</a>. </p>
<p>Yet now that the genre finally seems to have gained mainstream acceptance, you might wonder if afficionados will need so many festivals in future. Look no further than Jordan Peele winning Best Original Screenplay for <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5052448/">Get Out</a> at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-oscars-inclusivity-riders-are-a-start-but-change-needs-to-come-from-the-ground-up-92946">Academy Awards</a> this year. Everyone rightly celebrated Peele being the first African American ever to win this category, but most people failed to realise it is also very rare for a horror film to be recognised in this way. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218248/original/file-20180509-34018-fvwc9r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Jordan Peele takes Best Screenplay.</span>
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<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/awards">The Silence of the Lambs</a> did take the five biggest Oscars in 1992, but it is the exception to the rule: horror movies rarely even get nominated, let alone win these categories. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/">The Exorcist (1973)</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/">Jaws (1975)</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/">The Sixth Sense (1999)</a> are the only others to have even been nominated for Best Picture in the past. </p>
<p>Not only has Get Out now been added to that list, it was beaten by Guillermo del Torro’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580390/">The Shape of Water</a> – a fantasy film with horror elements. Meanwhile, three Stephen King adaptations were also released in the past year, and were all quite good. The <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396484/">remake of It</a> performed well at the box office, while <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3748172/">Gerald’s Game</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6214928/">1922</a> must rank as two of the best films to be premiered on Netflix. </p>
<h2>Anatomy of horror</h2>
<p>But while there is bound to be some overlap between horror festivals and these mainstream box office movies, Dundead helps to illustrate some differences. Many films showing at the festival have no advertising budget and therefore fall under the radar of most mainstream cinema exhibition chains. Yet in many cases, they would not be considered serious enough for many arthouse cinema programmers either. This lack of distribution can be a big problem for people working in the genre. </p>
<p>Festivals like Dundead, with its specialist programmer Chris O’Neill, help filmmakers working on the margins of the industry, including local talent, to get their work seen on the big screen.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/218252/original/file-20180509-34006-1yjm46t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Aaaaargh!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/filming-horror-movie-female-zombie-holding-242381503?src=AepMNA-yhm06XdTW4tWU6g-1-3">Joe Prachatree</a></span>
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<p>Horror films can, of course, be works of art. As a British cinema specialist, I think that Michael Powell’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054167/">Peeping Tom (1960)</a>, Jack Clayton’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055018/">The Innocents (1961)</a>, Roman Polanski’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059646/">Repulsion (1965)</a> and Nicolas Roeg’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069995/">Don’t Look Now (1973)</a> rival any film the UK has produced. </p>
<p>The best horror films reject the aesthetics, narrative codes and mores of conventional Hollywood cinema and replace them with something more innovative and subversive. Films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068833/">The Last House on the Left (1972)</a> addressed the Vietnam war long before any major studio dared to, just as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093286/">It’s Alive III (1987)</a> was years ahead of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107818/">Philadelphia (1993)</a> in confronting HIV/Aids. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/">The Blair Witch Project (1999)</a> proved that professional sheen was not a prerequisite for success. </p>
<p>Above all, a good horror movie provides a vicarious thrill. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/">Psycho (1960)</a> lets you be both Marion Crane and Norman Bates – the predator and the prey. We can confront both our darkest fears and even live out murderous fantasies, always in the knowledge it is only a movie. Put this together and you would have to conclude that horror is further from the mainstream than any other genre. </p>
<h2>Knives out?</h2>
<p>All this considered, this year’s recognition for Get Out was a double-edged sword. It is great to see a genre you love getting limelight, but being welcomed into the Academy can only lead to the genre becoming more bland and safe. </p>
<p>There are echoes of this in Dundee right now around plans for a nine-screen multiplex in the city centre. The site is right next to <a href="http://www.dca.org.uk">Dundee Contemporary Arts</a>, where Dundead takes place, and people are <a href="https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/local/dundee/646042/dundee-city-centre-multiplex-will-imperil-future-of-dundee-contemporary-arts/">rightly concerned</a> about the future of the centre. </p>
<p>It is hard to imagine a proper horror festival in a multiplex – even if Dundead was created in response to popular demand. Horror festivals are the antidote to Hollywood populism. Dundead attracts a crowd that includes DCA regulars and people who might not otherwise visit an independent cinema or watch a subtitled film. We all happily sit through an Italian giallo, a Korean zombie movie, or an Argentine ghost story. </p>
<p>So while it’s nice to see horror films going through a phase of mainstream critical recognition, brace yourself for some expensive turkeys in the coming months. If it’s the genre’s beating heart you are looking for, get along to horror festivals like Dundead instead. </p>
<p><em><a href="http://www.dca.org.uk/whats-on/films/dundead">Dundead</a> runs from May 10 to 13 at Dundee Contemporary Arts.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96315/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Hoyle writes programme notes for Dundee Contemporary Arts, but is not paid for this and is not an employee of the centre. </span></em></p>From Dundee to Dublin, horror spectaculars are springing up like zombies from the dead.Brian Hoyle, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/932722018-03-18T21:07:59Z2018-03-18T21:07:59ZThe Shape of Water: An allegorical critique of Trump<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210941/original/file-20180318-104659-xfyehg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Shape of Water offers a clever allegory to Donald's Trump's presidency, with Michael Shannon's character (on the left) representing some of the president's worst qualities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kerry Hayes/Fox Searchlight Pictures)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Resistance to Donald Trump’s presidency has taken many forms, including legal challenges, resignations, <a href="https://theconversation.com/democracy-on-life-support-donald-trumps-first-anniversary-86824">media criticism</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/hey-trump-the-womens-march-is-no-joke-90492">women’s marches</a>, political rebukes and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/how-late-night-handled-trumps-physical">endless rounds of late night mockery</a>. The Best Picture winner at the <a href="http://oscar.go.com/">90th Academy Awards </a> provides another, less obvious example of resistance. The top film was <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-shape-of-water-leads-oscar-nominations-88121"><em>The Shape of Water</em>, an allegorical love story</a> between a mute woman and a green sea monster. </p>
<p>I am a high school English teacher and an adjunct professor in the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education with a background in live theatre, critical pedagogy and youth culture. I teach Bachelor of Education students who may one day teach high school English classes. </p>
<p>Part of my course covers the importance of critical literacy, which I believe we can teach by asking teenagers to view film as more than just entertainment but as a vital source of insight on contemporary culture, issues and society. </p>
<p>Many of my classroom discussions focus on the ways in which this year’s top movies, not just Oscar nominees, offer clever responses to the racist, sexist and xenophobic policies and rhetoric that have accompanied Trump’s rise to the top.</p>
<p><em>Lady Bird</em> argues that the lives of young women are worthy of exploration. <em>Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri</em> offers a flamethrower portrayal of the corruption, racial conflict and violence at the heart of the American dream. <em>Black Panther</em> triumphantly demonstrates that Black actors and filmmakers can produce a Hollywood blockbuster and that African-American culture can yield an exciting, mythological story appealing to all audiences. </p>
<p>But it is <em>The Shape of Water</em> that offers the most detailed, poetic critique of Trump and the hollow promises of his “Make America Great Again” philosophy.</p>
<h2>Lives of quiet oppression</h2>
<p>Set in 1962 Baltimore, director Guillermo Del Toro’s film tells the story of Elisa, a young mute woman who works as a cleaner at a mysterious government facility that is home to a recently captured “Amphibian Man.” Zelda is her African-American co-worker and Giles, a gay graphic designer whose work and identity are “ahead of his time,” is her roommate. </p>
<p>These are the Americans who live lives of quiet oppression in the past-tense America that shimmers, mythical and revered, at the heart of the Trump campaign promise. The film both upholds and undermines the old mythologies that can provide comfort and reassurance to people whose lives have been disrupted by global trade, population movements and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/12/technology/artificial-intelligence-new-work-summit.html">the emergence of AI in the workplace</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210942/original/file-20180318-104699-mktemi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210942/original/file-20180318-104699-mktemi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210942/original/file-20180318-104699-mktemi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210942/original/file-20180318-104699-mktemi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210942/original/file-20180318-104699-mktemi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210942/original/file-20180318-104699-mktemi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210942/original/file-20180318-104699-mktemi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘The Shape of Water’ features the lives of Americans facing everyday oppressions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kerry Hayes/Fox Searchlight Pictures)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Cold War is in full swing in the film, and the dichotomy between the United States and Russia, between “good” and “evil,” is both referenced and undermined. </p>
<p>Americans and Russians are in conflict, but it’s a Russian agent who acts ethically. There is a traditional Main Street dessert shop, but the affable server turns out to be a vile racist and homophobe who adopts a southern accent for marketing purposes and is actually from Ottawa.</p>
<p>The pies look appealing, but they are mass-produced and the store is part of a new phenomena, the franchise. The film is poised at the moment when authenticity is being lost to illusion. </p>
<h2>A Trump proxy</h2>
<p>Opposing the quiet, marginalized Americans is Strickland, a shadowy government worker upon whose character the filmmakers apply hateful qualities like layers of slime. It becomes evident that Strickland is designed as a bridge to Trump’s present-day political toxicity when a smooth-talking car salesman tells him: “You are the man of the future.” </p>
<p>A further connection to Trump is made when Strickland announces: “The future is bright. You gotta trust in that. This is America.” Here the film has fun with its ironic presentation of the past. As audience members in 2018 watching a film set in a period of time more than half a century ago, we may question whether the future has indeed turned out to be “bright.” </p>
<p>Reading news stories about <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-charges-over-russian-involvement-in-the-us-election-have-been-laid-are-there-more-to-come-92010">the Robert Mueller investigation</a> into the Trump campaign’s alleged involvement with Russia, we may feel profoundly uneasy about the relationship between trust and leadership. </p>
<p>Witnessing the assault on otherness and a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/us/retro-anti-immigration.html">turn to American nativism</a>, we may question what it now means to be American, and where a nation that was once so <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-us-tradition-of-welcoming-immigrants_us_58ffe8dde4b0768c2682e114">welcoming to immigrants</a> has gone. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210929/original/file-20180318-104645-19jrtfl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210929/original/file-20180318-104645-19jrtfl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210929/original/file-20180318-104645-19jrtfl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210929/original/file-20180318-104645-19jrtfl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210929/original/file-20180318-104645-19jrtfl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210929/original/file-20180318-104645-19jrtfl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210929/original/file-20180318-104645-19jrtfl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Shape of Water is an unconventional love story between a mute woman and a sea creature.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kerry Hayes/Fox Searchlight Pictures)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But then the film also picks up on the way in which truth in the Trump era has been attacked, questioned and undermined. “<em>Bonanza</em> is not violent. It’s real life. The way it was,” Strickland tells his son about the popular Western TV show of the time. A TV show is said to be “true” much in the same way that Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/business/media/trump-kudlow-hegseth-television.html">draws on cable news personalities as experts fit to serve in the White House</a>.</p>
<p>Like Trump, Strickland boasts about his power to sexually assault women when he harasses silent Elisa with the line: “Bet I can make you squawk a little.” He has sex with his wife in a mechanical manner that diminishes and belittles her. His casual vulgarity oozes male privilege. His repellent masculinity crowds out a woman’s agency. </p>
<p>Strickland calls the beautiful South American Amphibian Man an “affront” and takes pleasure in torturing him with his sizzling cattle prod. </p>
<p>“How did they get in?” he asks of the Russian agents who infiltrated his facility, the question echoing the current political discourse around “illegals” and “shithole countries” as well as the president’s restrictive immigration policies. </p>
<h2>A rebuke to ignorance</h2>
<p>When the mute woman, the Black woman and the gay man act together to free the beautiful “undesirable” from his prison, the film suggests that the creativity and humanism of outsiders can prevail against cruelty and corruption. </p>
<p>Cowardly, vile and literally rotting from having lost fingers earlier in the story, Strickland dies by the same violence he promulgated. He is the real monster. Elisa and Amphibian Man fall in love and slip away to a watery paradise. Breathing underwater, she opens her eyes and looks at him. She is alive. </p>
<p>Not everyone can escape to the ocean’s depths to escape the Trump presidency, but we can escape to the movies. <em>The Shape of Water</em> reminds audiences of the humanity of those people who are marginalized and belittled. Its artistry alone is a rebuke to ignorance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93272/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John M. Richardson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Not everyone can escape to the ocean’s depths to avoid the Trump presidency, but we can escape to the movies. ‘The Shape of Water’ reminds audiences of the humanity of those who are marginalized.John M. Richardson, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Education, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/917862018-03-05T12:15:49Z2018-03-05T12:15:49ZOscars 2018: another Mexican triumph as awards move towards diversity<p>Guillermo del Toro’s triumph at the 2018 Academy Awards, winning Best Director – as he was widely expected to do – marks the fourth time in five years that a Mexican director has won the most coveted of all the gold statuettes at this most prestigious of industry award ceremonies. Alfonso Cuarón <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/mar/03/alfonso-cuaron-wins-best-director-oscar">won Best Director for Gravity</a> in 2014. Alejandro G. Iñárritu won the Oscar in the following two years <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/arts/birdman-wins-best-picture-at-oscars-2015.html">for Birdman</a> (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) in 2015 and <a href="http://variety.com/2016/film/awards/alejandro-inarritu-best-director-oscar-revenant-1201717777/">The Revenant</a> in 2016. This year Del Toro’s movie, The Shape of Water, was also recognised as <a href="http://variety.com/2018/film/awards/shape-of-water-wins-oscar-best-picture-1202716095/">Best Picture</a>.</p>
<p>This twin success for Del Toro – and that of his fellow Mexican directors in previous years – while extraordinary in terms of the directors’ origins, can be linked to both historical and more recent patterns in Oscar winners. </p>
<p>As respected film academic Kristen Thompson points out, technical brilliance and aesthetic criteria <a href="http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2017/03/07/the-oscars-best-picture-and-other-best-picture/">traditionally ruled</a> in the awarding of Oscars. More recently, Thompson notes, the reasons behind the awarding of certain Oscars, have become more rooted in identity politics, as we saw when Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight won the award for Best Picture for <a href="https://qz.com/919985/oscars-2017-moonlight-wins-best-picture-and-sends-a-powerful-message-about-black-cinema/">the impressive Moonlight</a>. Of course, as Jenkins has demonstrated, the two criteria are often complementary.</p>
<p>The collective technical tour de forces of Gravity and Birdman – particularly their achievements in long-take cinematography – played a large part in Cuarón and Iñárritu winning their Best Director accolades and in their compatriot, <a href="https://indiefilmhustle.com/emmanuel-lubezki-asc/">Emmanuel Lubezki</a>, also winning Oscars for Best Cinematography for both films. </p>
<p>Iñárritu’s award for The Revenant, a story about a father’s struggle to avenge the murder of his mixed-raced son, meets both aesthetic and political criteria. In its critique of colonialist excesses and sympathetic treatment of indigenous communities, The Revenant was well placed to partially compensate for the much-criticised lack of diversity in the Academy’s award nominations, called out by the Twitter hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OscarsSoWhite&src=typd">#OscarsSoWhite</a>.</p>
<h2>Breaching the wall</h2>
<p>The success of del Toro, Iñárritu and Cuarón, Mexican directors in an industry that is predominantly white and Anglocentric – and still overwhelmingly male – is all the more notable because it comes at a time of increased political tensions over the US/Mexico border, and the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-37230916/drug-dealers-criminals-rapists-what-trump-thinks-of-mexicans">demonisation of Mexican immigrants</a> in certain quarters. </p>
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<p>Across their body of work, all three directors have spoken in different ways to the plight of immigrants, de-racinated or displaced from their homes: Cuarón in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245574/">Y tu mamá también</a> (2001) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/">Children of Men</a> (2006), Iñárritu in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449467/">Babel</a> (2006) and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1164999/">Biutiful</a> (2010). Now in The Shape of Water, through Strickland’s torturing of the amphibian man he has “dragged from the Amazon” – and who he calls an “abomination” – del Toro references the rough passage and dehumanisation of undocumented migrants in present-day America.</p>
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<p>Although Cuarón, Iñárritu and del Toro’s films, and often award ceremony acceptance speeches, emphasise their identity and solidarity with migrants, their successes in the US film industry are due to the fact that they make strong genre-inflected films with broad appeal. </p>
<p>That they make films within the Hollywood institution doesn’t mean however, that they have been wholly “assimilated” into its practices and ideology. While <a href="http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719097591/">“the three amigos”</a>, as they have been called, are entirely fluent in the language of mainstream Hollywood, they have <a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-new-transnationalisms-in-contemporary-latin-american-cinemas.html">transnationalised</a> these norms and styles, and brought something new and exciting to US and global audiences.</p>
<p>Many of their films reinvent the genres to which they purportedly belong. With Gravity Cuarón, Lubezki and the British visual effects supervisor, Tim Webber, took the technical and emotional language of the disaster space movie cinema to new realms. Despite its American lead actors (George Clooney and Sandra Bullock), it plays down the US global hegemony most frequently at the core of (space) disaster films. The film significantly starts with its protagonists admiring the view from space of Mexico. </p>
<p>Similarly, The Revenant offers a counter narrative to the most North American of genres, the Western, emphasising in a gory opening of bloodied beaver pelts and elsewhere how the race to expand westwards was motivated by economic forces – and often achieved through the massacre of Native Americans.</p>
<h2>Towards diversity</h2>
<p>Del Toro’s The Shape of Water is a worthy Best Picture award winner as it demonstrates technical brilliance and a serious engagement with identity politics. It rewrites the hero rulebook, with its strong female lead (Sally Hawkins) and supporting African-American (Octavia Spencer) and gay (Richard Jenkins) characters.</p>
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<p>With its emphasis on diversity and inclusivity The Shape of Water also seems the obvious choice in the era of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-so-important-that-hollywoods-powerful-women-are-standing-up-for-all-female-workers-89661">#MeToo and #TimesUp movements</a> also honoured at last night’s ceremony and their highlighting of endemic sexual abuse and harassment in the film industry and all workplaces. That The Shape of Water has done so well at the Oscars is potentially a marker of the Academy’s much reported <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-academy-new-members-20170628-story.html">progress towards diversifying</a> its own membership. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-so-important-that-hollywoods-powerful-women-are-standing-up-for-all-female-workers-89661">Why it's so important that Hollywood's powerful women are standing up for all female workers</a>
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<p>Other historic wins also buttress the notion of an Academy moving towards greater equality and representation. Jordan Peele (Get Out), became the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/04/entertainment/jordan-peele-original-screenplay-oscar/index.html">first African American to win</a> for Best Original Screenplay. Another winner (for the Best Foreign Language Film), <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/05/a-fantastic-woman-wins-best-foreign-language-film-at-oscars-2018">A Fantastic Woman</a> – a film that narrates a personal transgender experience in Chile – features a defiant, yet tender performance by transgender actress Daniela Vega. </p>
<p>The success of Mexican directors at the Oscars nonetheless belies the continued lack of representation of Latinos as noted by a <a href="http://remezcla.com/lists/film/ucla-hollywood-diversity-report-2018/">recent UCLA diversity report</a>. A future Oscar-nominated feature with a strong Latino and Latina cast, directed by Cuarón, Iñárritu or del Toro would be the next game changer for the US film industry.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mexican directors have won in their category four years out of the past five.Deborah Shaw, Reader in Film Studies, University of PortsmouthDolores Tierney, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/881212017-11-30T23:42:31Z2017-11-30T23:42:31ZThe Shape of Water leads Oscar nominations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197020/original/file-20171129-12027-ysgcfd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">"The Shape of Water" film is a beautiful allegory about accepting differences. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Jean</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a mathematician and film buff, I seek out movies featuring STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) or science fiction themes and <a href="https://theconversation.com/tiff-2017-movie-magic-from-math-and-science-83695">even reviewed a couple for <em>The Conversation Canada</em></a> in September during the Toronto International Film Festival. This year, it was the <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5580390/">The Shape of Water</a></em> I had to see.</p>
<p>It is no surprise that <em>The Shape of Water</em> won Best Picture at the Oscars. Guillermo del Toro’s beautiful romance about choosing love over fear <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/oscars-2018-nominations-list-full-three-billboards-shape-of-water-lady-bird-dunkirk-get-out-darkest-a8173991.html">picked up 13 nominations</a> including best picture, best director and best leading actress for Sally Hawkins. </p>
<p><em>The Shape of Water</em> is a gorgeous and entertaining movie, but it also has a timely, allegorical message about our willingness to accept difference. </p>
<p>Three people, all from the margins, come together over their love for a humanoid sea creature and go to great lengths to save it. The humanoid creature is misunderstood — perhaps like the trio themselves in this early 1960s depiction. One is a person of colour, the other a gay man and the last one a “working class” woman rendered mute from traumatic childhood experiences. </p>
<p>In contrast, the scientists in the film only want to study the creature. The military and bureaucrats call the creature “The Asset” and want to weaponize it. </p>
<p>The night of the film’s premiere at TIFF, there was a palpable buzz in the air. I caught a glimpse of Octavia Spencer, who stars in the film, and edged my way as close as I could get to the front row for a good view of the cast before the film, introduced by director Guillermo del Toro. Toronto Mayor John Tory spoke before the film, and there was a sighting of Benedict Cumberbatch in the audience. </p>
<p>The film had recently <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-film-festival-awards-announced-1037091">won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival</a>. Everyone there, including me, was ready for something special.</p>
<p>I wasn’t disappointed. <em>The Shape of Water</em> was a triumphant, modern-day fairytale, and one of the year’s best films. </p>
<h2>Not your usual monster flick</h2>
<p>With a filmography that includes <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457430/"><em>Pan’s Labryinth</em></a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663662/"><em>Pacific Rim</em></a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167190/"><em>Hellboy</em></a>, it’s safe to say that monsters are director Guillermo del Toro’s speciality. The title of del Toro’s current Art Gallery of Ontario exhibit, <a href="https://ago.ca/exhibitions/guillermo-del-toro">At Home with Monsters</a>, is entirely appropriate. One of his persistent themes is finding the beauty and wonder in fantastical creatures, and his latest offering is no exception. </p>
<p><em>The Shape of Water</em> focuses on the unlikely love story between the amphibious humanoid creature and janitor Elisa Esposito, played by Sally Hawkins. She has no spoken dialogue, as she has lost her voice, save for one offbeat musical daydream. Hawkins’ breathtaking performance is remarkable in many ways and made more memorable by how effortlessly we connect with her character. Elisa speaks more with a single glance than others in the film say in minutes of conversation.</p>
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<span class="caption">Strickland (Michael Shannon) interrogates Elisa (Sally Hawkins) and Zelda (Octavia Spencer) when an important government asset goes missing in ‘The Shape of Water.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Kerry Hayes)</span></span>
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<p>The creature is played by Doug Jones, who may be familiar as Lt. Saru from the new TV series <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5171438/">Star Trek: Discovery</a>. Like Hawkins, Jones has no dialogue in the movie, acting underneath a rubber and latex bodysuit. Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg and Richard Jenkins round out a powerhouse supporting cast. </p>
<p>Much of the shooting for the movie took place in Toronto, the city del Toro calls home. Torontonians will recognize The Lakeview restaurant in the city’s west end. The scenes shot in the downtown Elgin Theatre garnered enthusiastic applause from the local audience.</p>
<h2>Shines a light</h2>
<p>In mathematical research, we create new patterns from nothingness. We shine a light and illuminate the darkness. Film can play a similar role, revealing to us a larger world with its own depth and mystery. </p>
<p><em>The Shape of Water</em> shines a light. Although it is set in the early 1960s, is a perfect commentary for our time. It asks us to reflect on the qualities that distinguish us; it asks us where we stand. </p>
<p>It brings to light the plight of our fellow residents when they are considered “outsiders,” whether that includes race, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. </p>
<p>It asks us to think about the impact of new scientific discoveries on the environment: Science can be used to either respect or dominate the natural world. </p>
<p>As someone working in STEM and as a gay person, these are issues with which I have a strong connection. But like the characters’ reactions to the creature, everyone will take away something different from the film. </p>
<p>The film tells us that rather than fearing the unknown, we should embrace it. As <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4bIxkHKqT4">del Toro said</a> after the TIFF premiere: “It is important to choose love over fear because love is the answer.” </p>
<p>As I watched the final scenes between Elisa and the creature, I came to my own conclusion about the message of the <em>The Shape of Water</em>: <em>The universe is not only alive, it’s magical</em>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight)</span></figcaption>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Bonato does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Shape of Water is an entertaining movie, but it also has a timely, allegorical message about the challenges we may face with new scientific discoveries, and our willingness to accept difference.Anthony Bonato, Professor of Mathematics, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.