Guillermo del Toro‘s “The Shape Of Water” is a lot of things — monster movie, ’50s Cold War thriller — but first and foremost, it’s a swooning, head over heels, delirious romance. Yes, that romance is between a woman and merman, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another movie this year that hits you right in the heart (with the exception of “Call Me By Your Name“). However, the director has revealed one movie that marked a specific inspiration point for “The Shape of Water.”
del Toro hit Twitter where he revealed that Paul Thomas Anderson‘s swooning and romantic “Punch-Drunk Love” was a clear touchstone for “The Shape Of Water,” right down to temping the movie to Jon Brion‘s terrific score.
Life is strange and so is the human brain… I remembered, that, at its early genesis (2012-14, The Shape of Water was written and designed with the score of Punch Drunk Love playing (later Georges Delerue and Rota, but at one point we even temped with PDL's score…
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) November 23, 2017
To be clear: Punch Drunk Love is perhaps my favorite PTA (and I love his films)
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) November 23, 2017
If you haven’t seen “Punch-Drunk Love” yet, there’s no bigger endorsement you can get. And hey, maybe someone could organize a double bill with both “The Shape Of Water” and “Punch-Drunk Love”? With both directors in attendance? Just saying….
“The Shape Of Water” opens this weekend.