My favourite films of the decade (2010s)

My favourite films of the decade (2010s)

The best film:The Shape of Water

Honorable Mentions: Roma, Black Panther, Wonder Woman, Bird Box, Under the Shadow, and The Invisible Guardian.

The best film of the decade in my opinion is The Shape of Water. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend that you do. I also think it is the one film on my list that embraces queer, integrative feminism wholeheartedly and without having to be didactic or blatant about it. Several Hollywood films have tried to cash in on feminism in the latter part of the decade but of course, these films have been inauthentic, they recycle tired tropes about gender and sexuality, and they are ultimately forgettable. The formula usually starts with a group of famous, overrated actresses (e.g. Jennifer Lopez, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Stewart, Reese Witherspoon…) and not so famous actresses coming together despite their differences because a man or men have ruined their lives. The antagonists are one-dimensional bad men and the Hollywood heroines triumphantly destroy or defeat these men after overcoming several challenges. I’m glad to see that people who love films have not been fooled by this pandering and that these fake feminist films have flopped critically and commercially more often than not. Some people believe that simply putting marginalized people front and center in an unoriginal and uninspiring film will be enough. I know I will sound like a snob for writing this but, great cinema tries to tell a story and the nuances of identity and politics will emerge without being blatantly obvious. The best representations of life on film (and other forms of fiction) do not spell everything out for their audience and they are definitely not “star vehicles”.  I think you can also say this is like the difference between a brief tweet and a well-crafted persuasive essay. Now let’s talk about a film from this decade that is worth your time.

The Shape of Water?

The film focuses on the life of Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) who cleans an American military facility at night. Elisa is mute and presumably Italian-American and is often accompanied by fellow cleaner, Zelda (Octavia Spencer) who is African-American. Elisa’s neighbor Giles (Richard Jenkins), a closeted, middle-aged gay man is the only other friend that she has. Elisa masturbates every day in the bathtub. One day, there is a special cleaning project for Elisa and Zelda and they encounter the Amphibian (Doug Jones) who is being held prisoner.  Elisa develops a romantic relationship with the Amphibian but, their romance is threatened by Strickland (Michael Shannon) who wants to kill the Amphibian before the Russians can take him. Strickland tortures the Amphibian in a way that makes it clear that he likes to see himself as the master of all things. We do see that Strickland is a perfect example of a man who has embraced toxic masculinity despite how much pain doing so causes him. He also has a racist colonizer mentality that is revealed when he says: "The natives in the Amazon worshiped it. Like a god. We need to take it apart, learn how it works." Strickland and the General refer to the Amphibian as the “asset”, a term which is being thrown around right now quite a bit in American politics.  The idea of “assets” is very much a part of any colonial operation because colonizers have always been interested in what they can extract that has value and all that could increase their power in a more general sense. Elisa’s relationship with the Amphibian disrupts this colonial masculinist plot. Her disability, sex, and class status also make her a perpetual outsider in a world shaped by men like Strickland and the General. 

Elisa is in the right position to be the revolutionary of the narrative. She needs Giles and Zelda to help her free the Amphibian before Strickland can kill him. Both Giles and Zelda need to be convinced though. Giles believes he actually has a chance of fitting into the stifling world of the film, a world that is misogynistic, heterosexist, ableist, racist, and homophobic. Giles sees for himself that he is what you may call a “man outside of time” and he would tell his younger self to: “Take better care of your teeth and fuck a lot more.” The pie guy at the diner whom Giles was attracted to turns out to be both a vile racist and a homophobe. Giles also realizes that he cannot get back into the advertising industry because he is gay. Furthermore, Elisa also presents a compelling argument for why they need to free the Amphibian that Giles and anyone with a heart would understand: “When he looks at me, the way he looks at me... He does not know, what I lack... Or - how - I am incomplete. He sees me, for what I - am, as I am. He's happy - to see me. Every time. Every day. Now, I can either save him... or let him die.”

Zelda is more easily convinced about the need to rescue the Amphibian than Giles is. She courageously protects Elisa and the Amphibian because she sees that the love between Elisa and the Amphibian is passionate and deep, unlike her relationship with her husband, Brewster. She describes Brewster for Elisa: “Man is as silent as the grave. But if farts were flattery? Honey, he'd be Shakespeare.”

The Russian spy Dr. Bob Hofstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg) also helps Elisa because he sees the Amphibian as a remarkable being that should not be killed or held captive. His fellow spies like the American military don’t agree with him either. They also want the Amphibian to be killed.  The spies, Strickland, and the General are the real monsters in this story. Hofstetler is an outsider not only because he is spy but, also because he as a good scientist sees intellect, beauty, and wonder in other organisms like the Amphibian. So, the outsiders of this world come together in an uneasy solidarity to make Elisa’s dream come true and save the Amphibian’s life. Unlike other big screen romances, Elisa and the Amphibian actually have some sensual love scenes, especially when Elisa fills the entire bathroom with water.  There is no reason why gaining agency and autonomy should not also include gaining sexual agency. This is another one of the ways in which the film embraces social justice goals in a beautiful and mature manner. 

There are very few films outside of independent queer cinema that are as queer as The Shape of Water. Guillermo Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor have done beautiful work in that regard with this film. You can watch The Shape of Water several times and have some new observations each time. The Shape of Water has strong aesthetic and narrative qualities that come together to make it a beautiful film with memorable, sympathetic characters in a narrative that has been creatively reimagined.