Film review by Kevin Patterson
GATTACA Rating: *** (out of four) Director: Andrew Niccol Screenplay: Andrew Niccol Starring Cast: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law
As we near the end of the millennium, one of the most popular topics in modern narrative fiction has been how humankind's recent technological and scientific advances might change certain things we take for granted about life. Andrew Niccol, who has since gained notoriety for his screenplay of THE TRUMAN SHOW, puts in his two cents on the subject with GATTACA, a science-fiction film in which all procreation is artificial, genetically engineered for the best possible results. Vincent (Ethan Hawke), the protagonist of GATTACA, was conceived naturally, and has a heart condition which the family's doctor predicted would kill him by the age of thirty.
Vincent, and others like him, are labeled "invalids." Discrimination against them is not sanctioned by the law, but it goes on as a matter of routine nonetheless. The only way that he can hope to succeed at his lifelong dream of going on a mission into outer space is to assume the identity of another valid who, for whatever reason, can no longer fulfill his or her place in society. An underground figure helps him locate Jerome Morrow (Jude Law), who has been paralyzed in an accident, and the two of them come to an agreement. Jerome will supply Vincent with the necessary genetic samples to make the impersonation hold up under investigative scrutiny, and in return Vincent will continue to provide for his lavish lifestyle through income from his new position at Gattaca, the future equivalent of NASA.
Thematically, the most obvious note that GATTACA strikes is a cautionary one about genetic engineering: Niccol seems to have been inspired at least partly by the seminal BLADE RUNNER, in which scientists created quasi-human "Replicants" who were then simply shut off or killed when they became inconvenient. However, there's also a parallel between the world of GATTACA and our own, in which discrimination is technically illegal but nevertheless occurs on a regular basis. Vincent is surprised to discover, when he applies at Gattaca, that his "interview" consists of a urine test, and I would not be shocked to learn that interviews for some socially marginalized groups last just about as long at certain American companies.
Niccol also does a good job handling the science fiction elements of the story. The futuristic set design, with its cold, metallic interiors, is impressive and conveys a sense of technological menace without being too overdone or outlandish. The technology is also pretty believable: both artificial fertilization and the genetic testing and cataloguing through bodily samples are within the realm of today's science. GATTACA also manages to recapture some of the wonder of space travel that has been diluted in modern culture by all the bug-monster alien invasions and "hyperspace jumps" that tend to dominate science fiction. It keeps the science simple and believable (Vincent's mission is a trip to Mars), and focuses on its human implications rather than on special effects.
GATTACA does unfold rather awkwardly at times. There's a long narration from Vincent near the beginning that only serves to make brain-poundingly obvious what would have eventually become evident anyway. A murder mystery is introduced, apparently to provide Vincent with cause for fear of discovery (since the detectives' DNA investigation could turn up evidence of an "invalid" at Gattaca), but it fails to generate much tension: it's just another expository device. There's also a sibling rivalry, which occupies too many of the film's closing moments for a subplot that had disappeared after the introductory narration, and a romance between Vincent and a co-worker (Uma Thurman) that is fairly formulaic.
The triumphs of GATTACA are to be found mostly in the care with which Niccol has designed his future world: the science is very plausible, the visual design is outstanding, and the issues raised by the film are good food for thought. It would have been better if he had found a more smoothly flowing story to frame in this world, but his conception of it is still enough to qualify GATTACA as one of the more interesting recent science fiction films.
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