(Wow! … I was hoping to wipe my nose with this.
[Laughter] )
Since childhood, I’ve been faithful to monsters.
I have been saved and absolved by them
because monsters, I believe,
are patron saints of our blissful imperfection
and they allow and embody the possibility of failing and live.
For 25 years, I have handcrafted very strange little tales made of motion, color, light, and shadow.
[*Sighs*]
And in many of these instances, in three precise instances,
these strange stories, these fables, have saved my life –
once with “Devil’s Backbone,” once with “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and now with “Shape of Water,”
because, as directors, these things are not just entries in a filmography –
we have made a deal with a particularly inefficient devil that trades three years of our lives for one entry on IMDb.
[Laughter]
And these things are biography, and they are life.
And I want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Fox Searchlight,
[Slow music plays]
And I wouldn’t be here – lower the music, guys, one second.
[Laughter and applause]
[Chuckles]
It’s taken 25 years. Give me a minute.
[Chuckles]
[Cheers and applause]
Give me a minute.
[Cheers and applause continue]
[Music continues]
I wouldn’t be here without my cast, my crew…
[Music fades]
…and I want to mention a few fantastic women sitting at this table –
Sharon, Nancy, Octavia, Sally, Kimmy, and Vanessa –
without whom I wouldn’t be here.
[Cheers and applause]
Thank you.
My monsters thank you.
And somewhere, Lon Chaney is smiling upon all of us.
Thank you very much.
[Cheers and applause]
My aunt used to live in Paris
I remember, she used to come home and tell us
stories about being abroad and
I remember that she told us she jumped in the river once, barefoot
She smiled…
She told me:
A bit of madness is key
to give us new colors to see
Who knows where it will lead us?
And that’s why they need us,
So bring on the rebels
The ripples from pebbles
The painters, and poets, and plays