The Shape of Water

FADE IN:

1 INT. ELISA’S APARTMENT / RIVER FOOTAGE - NIGHT 1

We float at the bottom of a river. Surrounded by water.

Fish swim away. Debris floating in the water-

And, then, a lamp floats by-

A coffee pot-

A shoe.

GILES / NARRATOR

If I spoke about it-If I did- what

would I tell you, I wonder? Would I

tell you about the time...? It

happened a long time ago- in the

last days of a fair Prince’s

reign... Or would I tell you about

the place? A small city near the

coast but far from everything

else... Or would I tell you about

her? The princess without voice...

(beat)

Or perhaps I would just warn you of

the about the truth of these facts

and the tale of love and loss and

the monster that tried to destroy

it all...

Camera pushes and we see: An entire apartment underwater.

Objects and furniture float, gently suspended, defying

gravity.

Asleep on/above her bed --half floating, half weighed down:

ELISA. Roughly 30, but ageless, with child-like eyes, dark,

lush hair and a thin, beautiful mouth slightly curved into asatisfied smile.

She slowly settles/drifts down on the mattress below as an

early digital alarm clock lazily floats over a night table

nearby...

SUDDENLY:
The alarm goes off!

10:
45PM

-Elisa opens her eyes. Lifts the mask, looks around: No water

at all.

Slowly, she gets up. An ambulance red light brieflyilluminates the apartment, its siren fading rapidly.

Barefoot, she heads to the bathroom: We see that light is

emanating from her FLOORBOARDS.

Music and dialogue leaks up through the floorboards too.

She readies the bathtub

DIALOGUE:

“... No God could be pleased withthe death of a child at the

altar...”

Camera goes through floor into

1B INT. CINEMA - SAME 1B

-the ornate ceiling- and into-

The cinema:
The STORY OF RUTH plays to an-

-almost empty theater- One patron or two are asleep.

TITLE:
THE SHAPE OF WATER.

1C INT. ELISA’S APARTMENT - SAME 1C

Elisa drops

three eggs into a pot of boiling water and heads for thebathroom. On the way there- she picks up an egg timer and

casually winds it.

2 INT. ELISA’S BATHROOM 2

She disrobes- Revealing: On both sides of her neck: two

keloid scars, diagonal and about three inches long.

DIALOGUE:

“...Who’s the man?”

(beat)

Mahlon, the Judean artisan...”

The voices from below continue as she steps into the bathtub:

Water overflows and hits the tiled floor.

She sinks in. A deep sigh.

She sets the egg timer to TWO MINUTES.

3

She sighs. Then rubs her hand with soap, plants her two feeton the base of the tub, sighs again and goes to work on

herself, gently, slowly-

but with the timer ticking awayShe’s

almost there when the timer DINGS.

3 INT. KITCHEN, ELISA’S APARTMENT - SAME

A WALL CLOCK- its minute hand slides into position- TACK!:

10:
55 PM.

3

Elisa rips off a leaf from a wall calendar and opens a

window, letting the fresh air in. Her hair is wet and she

nervously looks at the clock on the wall.

The Calendar leaf back reads: “Time is but a river flowing

from our past.”

CLACK! 11:
00 PM

Elisa stares at a WALL OF SHOES. Chooses a GREEN PAIR.

Shines them, quietly- alone- at the table. Puts them on.

Another siren goes by.

CLACK! 11:
01 PM

She takes out 3 hardboiled eggs-still steaming- out of a

pot. Uses the calendar sheet to pack one, plus saltines and a

small mustard and a half pickle sandwich on a paper bag.

Two eggs and a half sandwich go onto a small plate.

She undoes the three locks on her door (light & musicintensifies still emanating from the floorboards) and4

INT. APARTMENT CORRIDOR - NIGHT 4

-exits her apartment. We see the “shadowing” of old brass

letters -some are still there- they read “DELIVERIES”

She goes to the door directly across from hers (similar sign:

“PROCESSING”). A TV can be heard inside.

She uses a key to let herself in.

5 INT. GILES APARTMENT - NIGHT 5 INT. GILES APARTMENT - NIGHT 5

Full of books. ENTIRELY full of them. Here and there are half-

finished illustrations. Large original art fromADVERTISEMENTS. Two cats- SNOWFLAKE and LILLIE stroll lazily.

GILES:

(over sirens)

Did the sirens wake you up?

Hard at work at a drawing table-is GILES: late 60’s, refined

and prim:
wool vest, bow tie and tortoiseshell glasses. Whenhe speaks he has a ever-so-slight stutter (which gets worsewhen he gets nervous).

GILES (CONT’D)

It’s a fire. The chocolate factory.

It rained a little - not enough to

put it out... Rains are late this

year... You smell that? Toasted

cocoa. Tragedy and delight- hand in

hand...

Giles is coloring an illustration of a happy family around aBRIGHT RED JELL-O MOLD. A sign reads: THE FUTURE IS HERE!!

On his forehead:
THREE pairs of eyeglasses. He raises one and

lowers another one- grabs a brush. We see a toupee resting on

top of an acrylic paint box.

Elisa puts the eggs and carrot down on a side table. He

caresses/taps her cheek.

GILES (CONT’D)

Oh, Darling child. I’d waste away

to nothing without you looking

after me. I am the proverbial

starving artist am I not?

Shirley Temple dances on the stairs with Bojangles on “The

Little Colonel”.

GILES (CONT’D)

Oh- watch that- Bojangles- the

stair dance.

He slides his chair to see better.

GILES (CONT'D)

Will you look at that? Very hard to

do. Cagney did it- different- but

beautiful- we should watch that one

day...

Elisa looks at the TV. Does a few tap steps. Sirens go by.

GILES (CONT’D)

Elisa:
Wake me up when you come

back. Breakfast’s on me, Child.

He goes back to his painting. Looks in the mirror and smiles.

Paints the smile on the father figure in the ad.

6 INT. APARTMENT CORRIDOR - SAME 6

Both sides of the corridor are blocked by FILM CANS.

Elisa- low heeled shoes in one hand and a paper sandwich bag

in the other- moves past the cans and reaches a red door.

She exits.

7 EXT. ARCADE CINEMA AND TENEMENT BUILDING - NIGHT 7

She stands at the top of a fire escape. A breeze blows by.

The city lights glow in the distance.

Looks at her watch: 10:55

ELISA climbs down. She exits past the ARCADE CINEMA MARQUEE.

She takes the steps in Bojangles fashion.

She takes the steps in Bojangles fashion.

The cinema owner, MR. ARZOUMANIAN, is changing the marquee

lettering for THE STORY OF RUTH, helped by an ASSISTANT.

MR. ARZOUMANIAN

Elisa- when yoo bring the rent-

stay for the bible moovie, eh?

Theatre’s empty...

A FIRE ENGINE SCREAMS BY- On the horizon- A couple of blocksaway: the fire: A Glowing SIGN Sputters: ANNELY’S chocolate.

A few people hurry towards the scene. Elisa crosses the

street.

7A OMITTED 7A

8 EXT. TV REPAIR SHOP / BUS STOP - NIGHT 8 EXT. TV REPAIR SHOP / BUS STOP - NIGHT 8

Elisa looks at a shoe store window. On display on a little

rotating platform: a pair of SILVER DANCE shoes. She startswhistling a happy tune.

Elisa dances around- and then sits down on- a bus bench in

front of an appliance store.

A CLOCK signals 11:05

On TV, over her whistle: MARTIN LUTHER KING. KENNEDY. RUSSIAN

SATELLITES. CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS on other monitors. THEN- A

WAVING AMERICAN FLAG. PROGRAMMING ENDS.

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