“Life is but the shipwreck of our plans.” -Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
The plans we make and our best intentions, the dreams we have for our future, do not always come to fruition. Sometimes those plans that do not come to pass are a blessing in disguise. They teach us something about ourselves, which we need for the future.
The Bible teaches us:
The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
-Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)
Guillermo del Toro’s Fantasy/Thriller, “The Shape of Water” about a secret government project where the U.S. military captures a sea creature and lock it up in a secure facility. The story moves along as a love develops between the creature and a curious janitor (Sally Hawkins), who empathizes with him. The backdrop of the Cold War in the 1960s fighting against racism and discrimination. The film won “Best Picture” in 2017.
In an interview for NPR, del Toro had this to say of the movie, its story and message:
“The movie is about connecting with ‘the other.’ You know, the idea of empathy, the idea of how we do need each other to survive. And that’s why the original title of the screenplay when I wrote it was A Fairy Tale for Troubled Times, because I think that this is a movie that is incredibly pertinent and almost like an antidote to a lot of the cynicism and disconnect that we experience day to day.”
The plans that fall apart are those of freeing the creature and letting him escape to the ocean. Then Elisa (Hawkins) falls in love with the creature and cannot bear to part with him.
Another major theme throughout is communication. Elisa is mute and the creature is wordless. Others around her look down on her for her inability to speak treating her as inferior. At the same time, they see the creature as primitive and animal-like because he is not like they are.
“What is beautiful for me is that every single character that has the power of speech has problems communicating,” del Toro says. “And the two characters that [do not have] the power of speech — they are mute or wordless — they are actually communicating beautifully.”
The film closes with an Islamic poem from the 12th century describing God:
“Unable to perceive the shape of you, I find you all around me. Your presence fills my eyes with your love. It humbles my heart, for you are everywhere.” -Adapted from poetry by 12th century Sufi mystical poet Hakim Sanai
The full NPR interview with Guillermo del Toro can be heard here:
Poems for Warriors 
The del Toro quote is similar to “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans,” attributed to John Lennon in the 1950s, so (in that sense) isn’t original. Wise words, nonetheless.
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