7 Italian Illustrators Reimagine Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water

Seven renowned Italian illustrators—Bernulia, Diego Cusano, Labadessa, Mirka Andolfo, Roberto Recchioni, Simple&Madama, and Virgola—have created original drawings and illustrations to celebrate the theatrical release of Guillermo del Toro's film The Shape of Water, distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film, which won the Golden Lion for Best Film at the 74th Venice International Film Festival and earned 13 Academy Award nominations for the March 4, 2018 ceremony, is a Cold War-era fairy tale set in 1962 America. It follows Elisa (Sally Hawkins), a mute cleaning woman working at a secret government laboratory, who falls in love with a mysterious aquatic creature. Her allies include coworker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) and neighbor Giles (Richard Jenkins). Del Toro, known for his monster films such as Mimic, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, and Crimson Peak, presents a creature that is both monstrous and sensual, designed over three years by British artist Mike Hill, who told The Economist he started with the shape of the lips. The illustrators' works capture the film's themes of love, integration, diversity, and redemption.