Gattaca
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Movie Reviews of Gattaca
Movie Review: A Movie for all who are Genetically Imperfect (all of us)
Summary: 5 Stars
+++++
(Note that this review is for the DVD "Gattaca" released Oct. 2003.)
This is a fascinating movie that gives the viewer a glimpse into humankind's possible near future.
The beginning sets the viewer up for the rest of the movie. We are shown the birth of the hero of this movie, Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke), and hear his genetic profile for major afflictions:
(1) Neurological condition 60% probability
(2) Manic depression 42% probability
(3) Attention Deficit Disorder 89% probability
(4) Heart disorder 99% probability
(5) Life expectancy 30.2 years
This genetic profile has sealed the infant Vincent's fate. He is now labeled an "In-valid" or "de-GENE-erate" because of his bad genetic profile. This means that the adolescent Vincent's dream of "going into space" will not come true.
Vincent's parents decide that their next child will be almost genetically perfect. Vincent was conceived the old-fashioned way (so he's known as a "God-child") but this new child will be genetically engineered where procreation is done in a Petri dish. The parents have decided beforehand that Vincent will have a brother named Anton (Loren Dean), and that Anton is to have "hazel eyes, dark hair, and fair skin." The geneticist (Blair Underwood) who will do the genetic engineering will take care to remove "any prejudicial conditions" like "premature balding, myopia [near-sightedness], alcoholism, addictive susceptibility, propensity for violence, obesity, etc."
This genetic make-up will insure that Anton has a bright future. He is labeled a "Valid" because of his good genetic profile.
Welcome to this new world where there now is a new kind of discrimination called "GENE-oism." Vincent enters this world as a young adult who wants to attain his impossible dream.
He soon secures a lowly job at the "Gattaca Aerospace Corporation," a private space institute that at this time is planning a manned space mission to one of the moons of Saturn. (Saturn is the sixth planet of our solar system.) At this time Vincent meets a genetically enhanced person named Jerome Eugene Morrow (Jude Law). But Jerome is special. Why? Because he is disabled and even though he is nearly genetically perfect, his disability makes him useless in a world obsessed with perfection. Jerome helps Vincent try to achieve his dream.
Vincent also meets a genetically enhanced female named Irene Cassini (Uma Thurman). She also indirectly helps Vincent to achieve his dream.
The acting in this movie is well done. Ethan Hawke and especially Jude Law give very convincing performances.
The sets are very good, creating a futuristic sense but not too futuristic as to alienate viewers. As well, the background music adds to each scene.
Viewers who have some science background will also appreciate the science aspects of this movie. Some examples:
(1) The name "Gattaca" is composed of the first letters of the four building blocks that make up DNA (namely "G," "A," "T," and "C").
(2) Jerome's middle name is "Eugene" which in Greek means "well born" and is the basis of the word "Eugenics." Eugenics is the movement devoted to improving the human species through the control of hereditary factors. (It is actually the central theme of this
movie.)
(3) Irene's last name is "Cassini." This was the last name of the seventeenth century astronomer who discovered, amongst other things, the prominent gap in Saturn's rings. (Recall that the space mission in this movie is to one of Saturn's moons.)
Besides Eugenics, I think another theme of this movie is that your genes don't have to determine your fate.
Finally, DVD extras include a short featurette and deleted scenes. I found these interesting.
In conclusion, this is a rare movie since it's an intelligent combination of science fiction and thriller. With a great plot, good acting, and great visuals, it is a movie not to be missed!!
(1997; 1 hr, 45 min; widescreen; closed-captioned)
+++++
Movie Review: One of the most moving films of the last decade.
Summary: 5 Stars
There is a profound conflict that runs throughout Gattaca -- superficiality versus true depth. The citizens of the film's dystopic society are beautiful on the outside, but in contrast to the aesthetic societal standards of today, beauty on the surface is not enough here. Humans have been genetically engineered to be perfect, right down to the very cells of which they are made. This adds an additional layer to the outside/inside conflict with which we are all faced in 2006; today, there is beauty on two levels: the bodily level and the spiritual level (i.e., "the person inside," as a simplified description). In Gattaca, these layers still exist, but the third is perhaps most important -- beauty on a cellular level.
Vincent Freeman, played by Ethan Hawke in a nuanced and moving performance, is a testament to the fallibility of genetic engineering. At birth, he was never given a chance, his parents having been told with 99% certainty that he would develop a heart condition and die by age 30. He has always dreamed of leaving the world that is so prejudiced against the naturally born, the flawed, and finding his place in the infinite realm of space. However, the hotshot scientists at Gattaca -- the preeminent aerospace insitute of the era -- let him in only to be a common janitor. Why invest in someone so certain to fail?
Vincent is not content to watch, day after day, as manned rockets are sent into space to do the research and exploration for which he so desperately craves. He knows that despite what geneticists and doctors have said, he is "as good as all, better than most." With the help of a shady underground businessman (Shalhoub), Vincent takes on a new identity: Jerome Morrow. The real Jerome (Law) had been a world-class swimmer before an accident left him paralyzed, confined to a wheelchair. Vincent changes his hair, gets colored corrective lenses, and follows an austere daily regimen to eliminate traces of his own "in-valid" DNA, to be replaced by conspicuously placed samples from the genetically flawless Jerome. When the narrative picks up, Vincent, posing as Jerome, has a prominent place at Gattaca and is one week away from taking a year-long voyage to Titan, one of Saturn's moons. With the murder of a director at Gattaca, however, his secret identity is thrown in jeopardy; crime scene investigators are determined to find the culprit, and a rogue eyelash leads them to the in-valid Vincent Freeman, whom nobody connects to the Jerome Morrow they know and respect.
From this premise, which is created subtly and smoothly by Niccol, Gattaca truly takes off. Thurman's performance as Vincent's love interest, Irene, is pitch-perfect; she plays the character with a coolly detached elegance appropriate for the futuristic dystopia while maintaining a sympathetic air of humanity. The relationship between Hawke's and Thurman's characters feels genuine (as it should, considering the actors' subsequent marriage), and that between Vincent and his cellularly perfect brother Anton (Dean) is complex but easily understood on a basic, universal level. Many moments between the brothers are among the most poignant captured on film, especially in the science fiction genre (of which I am not normally a huge fan, but this movie is just remarkable).
I have watched this film several times and have yet to tire of it. Though many pictures have been able to pull off sleek, futuristic looks, few of these have anything below the surface. Gattaca does, and it packs an emotional punch. There is a remarkably small number of movies that feel nearly perfect to me; Gattaca is one of them. I would not change a single thing about it even if I could. The characters are fully developed, the plot is intriguing and compelling, the cinematography and sets are beautiful. What is truly amazing about Gattaca, however, is its ability to develop and show its viewers something absolutely vital: what it means to be human.
Movie Review: A smart movie with a startlingly relevant vision
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the movie that everyone overlooked. I have heard people call it a thriller that is too slow, a mystery that is too unimportant, and a feel-good movie that doesn't make you feel good. It is not any of these; it is a transport to a world where your whole life is determined from the time of your birth, and it is the story of a man with too much ambition to accept his fate. I would rank it highly among the best movies of all time.Gattaca is set in a near-future where doctors screen embryos for genetic 'defects' during in-vitro fertilization. Nobody has children the natural way anymore, because why would you risk having a child with high potential for heart disease? Designer babies can be promised a life of perfect health, perfect vision, and unlimited potential. And such children would obviously grow into better workers, athletes, and lifemates. Genetic discrimination might be illegal, but everybody does it. A handshake, a fallen hair, any mark that your body leaves behind can be used to measure just how perfect or imperfect you are.
Enter one Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke). He is a love child, a "faith birth", an In-Valid with bad genes, nearsightedness, and a potential (but unconfirmed) heart defect. He dreams of the stars, and of exploring them himself one day. But Gattaca - the future's equivelent to NASA - only employs the best of the best, the cream of the crop... the genetically perfect. Denied his dream, Vincent joins the underground ranks of the "de-gene-rates", "borrowed ladders", people who refuse to play the genetic hand that they were dealt. He purchases the identity of the recently-crippled Jerome 'Eugene' Morrow (Jude Law), and he meticulously replaces his every fallen hair and drop of blood with samples from Eugene.
And it works. Armed with Eugene's biology, Vincent-as-Jerome has the drive, discipline, and ability to live his dream. As the movie opens, he is one of Gattaca's most promising candidates, getting ready for his first mission into space. But one inattentive moment, caught by an ill-timed murder investigation, threatens to unravel everything Vincent has worked for.
Gattaca is several things rolled into a larger picture. There is a thriller aspect: will Vincent evade detection or will he be unmasked and have his dreams shattered? There is a love story: does the woman he is involed with care about him, or his genes? There is a background mystery: who is responsible for the murder of the mission director? But none of these are the central theme, which is this: how far can the human spirit go in pursuit of a dream?
The movie asks and tries to answer that question in flawless manner. The clean-cut, sanitized designs of the future evoke a vaguely impersonal setting. The pacing of the movie is slow, but steady - every moment is played perfectly. Ethan Hawke delivers a fantastic performance as Vincent, but it is Jude Law who really shines as his opposite - a man with everything but ambition, someone who felt entitled to the world and is now too angry and embittered to help himself.
Andrew Niccol's screenplay is simply brilliant, and full of detail, right down to the words and phrases - degenerates, borrowed ladders, 'Eugene' and eugenics, Gattaca and the G/C/A/T codes that make up DNA. There is far too much depth in this movie to convey in any review. I have watched it a half-dozen times, and there is always a nuance or subtle take that I missed before, and which changes the way I think of it.
Ultimately, Gattaca is a movie with a strong belief in the human spirit. It is not just clever, it is smart - its joy isn't in its twists and turns, but in its message. It is a parable about the importance of dreams in a world captivated by genetic science. And I think that anyone who lives in todays world, with the near-future looming so close overhead, should be able to appreciate it.
Movie Review: How do you hide when you're running from yourself?
Summary: 5 Stars
Gattaca (1997) is a beautiful movie that takes place in the not-so-distant future where genetic manipulation prior to birth brings out the best qualities of the parents while eliminating the worst, specifically, predispositions to diseases, additions, poor eyesight, etc. That is, if your parents choose to do so...The film tells the a story about Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke), a man born naturally, a 'God-child', one who didn't benefit from advanced technology during his development within the womb, and subsequently has various conditions many are familiar with like poor eyesight, heart problems, etc. Vincent has his sights set on the stars, wanting to travel to distant planets, visit far away places (I mean really far away) but due to advanced science, he has no chance as people can now determine the status of your health, your future health, by any number of ways, a strand of hair, a bit of spittle on a cup, a flake of skin, and while biases due to genetic profiling are illegal, the practice is common and widespread, resulting in Vincent relegated to working in less than desirable jobs like cleaning offices.
This practice of genetic stereotyping has lead to a new kind of crime, one where a person of impeccable genetic make-up but who has found themselves a victim of fate due to a permanent injury or such, can broker their identity to a natural born person, supplying that person with various blood and urine samples, strands of hair, flakes of skin, allowing that person to pose as a 'valid' individual, and garner a choice position in corporate society. Jude Law plays Jerome Eugene Morrow, a superior individual who suffered a crippling accident and has now agreed to sell his identity to Vincent Freeman, in exchange for Vincent supporting the lifestyle Jerome was accustom to prior the accident. This involves a very elaborate daily routine by Vincent, including a complete scrub down of his entire body to remove any 'loose' material that could possibly be found, analyzed, and give him away. In order for Vincent to pose as Jerome, he must carry on him samples of Jerome's blood, urine, and other identifiers at all times.
Vincent manages to pull off the sham, securing himself a position at Gattaca, a 'corporate' NASA, and is on the fast track to achieving his dream of space travel...but for one problem. A high-ranking official in Gattaca was recently murdered, and the police are thoroughly investigating all individuals. Will Vincent's shell of deception crack under close scrutiny of a murder investigation?
I really enjoyed this movie, watching for a second time last night. The picture has a very texturized feel, with the subdued lighting, immaculate sets and costumes giving the entire movie a very `noir' quality. The story was very well laid out, allowing for rich development of the main characters, creating a real interest and empathy for me for the proceedings on the screen. Ethan Hawke and Jude Law played their roles wonderfully, one as the struggling `inferior' with dreams that reach beyond his genetic make-up, and the other as the spoiled near-perfect specimen forced to deal with a physical infirmity due to fate, one that couldn't be corrected for with pre-natal DNA manipulation. Followed up with a strong supporting cast including Uma Thurman, Alan Arkin, and Elias Koteas, we are presented with a very plausible science fiction tale, one that may cause you to give some thought and provoke conversation on the concept of human messing around in Mother Nature's domain.
The picture here looks wonderful, and is available here in both full screen and wide screen anamorphic formats. Special features also include a trailer for the film, a featurette, deleted scenes, and production notes.
Cookieman108
Movie Review: The Darkness At The End Of The Tunnel
Summary: 5 Stars
Gattaca's most haunting and beautiful scene is a love scene, shot through an upside down camera in room with transparent walls. In the metallic, clinical and angular world of this film physical love is unnatural. Sex is an impulsive passionatte act and therefore not intune with the perfection of an intelligent, balanced, stoic and ultimately robotic populace. Afterall the person you're with could take a hair off your head, take it to a shop down the street and see if you are a "valid" person.Vincent (Ethan Hawke) has never accepted the fact that because he was a natural, faith birth, he could never persue his dream about going to outerspace. He meets a "valid", genetically perfect Jerome (Jude Law) who despite the previlage of genetic perfection is paralysed. "There is no gene for fate" Hawke observes in his moving unintrusive narration. Jerome agrees to lend him is indentity, and in return Vincent will help him maintain his affluent lifestyle. This switch, along with a murder plot would be enough to make a decent thriller, but Gattaca only use this to hook the audience. Both Hawke and Law give the best performance of their careers in these roles. And although I could praise Gattace as one of the best sceince-fiction films I've ever seen, calling it sceince-fiction seems like a stretch.
In the near future, doctors will be able to extract the best possible child from a man and a woman. As a doctor explains to the parents in this film, "You could concieve naturally a 1000 times and never get such result, this child is you, simply the best of you". You can't argue with a line that, and I'm sure given the opportunity, most parents would choose to have their children disease free, but it would never stop there. How about physical fitness, good looks, a high I.Q., wouldn't you want to give your children all these things. It is that age old arguement of man playing God, what is particularly tragic about it these days is its inevitability. You can't stop scientist from creating alternative organs for transplant, and you can't stop them trying to wipe out cancer gentically. Afterall these are good things, paradoxically they will almost certainly be abused. Even in the world of Gattace "discrimination is illigal", but that doesn't stop the firm from using a urine sample as their interview. Sceince, humanity's great shining light will also be its downfall. Opposing sceince is undoubtly bigotry, all you can do is watch as we drift into Orwell's 1984.
As you may have guessed, this is a deeply provocative and timely film. It is also an intensly passionate one. In the history of film music, only Ennio Morricone's music for 1986's The Mission can compare with the emotional impact of Michael Nyman's score for Gattaca. Periodically his lyrical, etheral, almost mournful score is played over scenes making the film an emotional rollercoaster ride. There is a scene played under Nyman's music where Vincent and his girlfriend Irene (Uma Thurman) go to look at a field of Solar Cells. The Cells are the plants of the future, when the sunshines they bloom. Although they are magnificent, unlike the plants they don't need you to water them.
Gattaca is a magnificent and overlooked film. Essentially optimistic in its view that determination can truimph over any genetic pre-conditioning, I think its is actually more ambigious and wiser then its outcome suggests. It suggests that you may have to leave this planet to escape the clinical prejudice. But if you don't have a space ship to get on, then leaving can only mean one thing. Suicide.