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via Fox Searchlight
It might be a heart-wrenching romantic fable that won four Academy Awards from a whopping 13 nominations, but Guillermo del Toro hilariously still managed to hit the nail on the head when he referred to The Shape of Water as “the fish-f*cking movie.”
As much as that undersells the acclaimed fantasy that landed the filmmaker an Oscar each for Best Picture and Best Director, it does neatly surmise the premise. However, how said premise was settled upon by del Toro and co-writer Vanessa Taylor proved to be a severe bone of contention in the aftermath of the film’s release, after several accusations of plagiarism were made.
The estate of Paul Zindel sought legal action based on his 1969 play Let Me Hear You Whisper, where a cleaning lady attempts to rescue a dolphin from a shady government black site after forging a bond with the animal being abused by experimentation. 1962’s Soviet-era creature feature Amphibian Man was also brought into the equation, while Alien: Resurrection director Jean-Pierre Jenuet even got in on the act after claiming del Toro blatantly ripped off several scenes from his back catalogue.
Ultimately, nothing came of the repeated allegations, but it was nonetheless a blemish on the film’s reputation to see it called out by so many disparate sources for lacking in originality. Not that it mattered in the long run, especially when The Shape of Water‘s current performance on streaming only serves to highlight its enduring nature.
Per FlixPatrol, the box office smash hit and awards season darling is currently one of the top-viewed features on the OSN platform, even if the mileage varies on just how unique it actually is.