if you had a chance to create a genetically perfect child , would you do it ?
" gattaca " is a film which presents a future where society has answered " yes " to this question , but then ponders if this was actually the right decision .
" gattaca " came out only a couple months following the first genetically engineered creature , the lovable dolly the sheep , and with this in mind , the film only becomes more frightening .
the way the realm of genetics is heading , it may only take a couple decades until the future " gattaca " presents becomes true .
contrary to the misleading trailers , " gattaca " is not a sci - fi thriller , in the way that there 's lots of murder , hitchcockian suspense , and chase scenes .
this is a quiet , sad film about intelligent theories .
in fact , the film seems like it would have been written by george orwell or aldous huxley ( the latter who 's novel " brave new world "
featured genetically engineered children ) .
it 's a film that may likely become a cult hit to people who are frightened by a promise of shallow utopia , which is exactly what " gattaca " presents . .
.
and the main reason
i dug it so much .
the story revolves around the genetically insufficient vincent freeman ( ethan hawke ) , a man with high hopes but a 90 % chance of heart problems , and a prospected life span of around 30 years .
as a child , he was put down because of the threats of genetics , while his younger genetically perfect brother , anton ( loren dean ) , was promised whatever his heart desired .
vincent yearns to be an astronaut , but when he gets a job at a giant space company , it 's as a janitor ( ernest borgnine plays his boss ! ) .
but one day , he finds out that it 's probably possible that his desires can come true in the form of a business deal brought out by a black market geneticist ( or something ) , german ( " wings " ' tony shalhoub , who did like hundreds of cameos in films back in ' 97 : " men in black , " " a life less ordinary " . . . ) , who 's client is a genetically perfect man , jerome morrow ( jude law ) , who has unfortunately been crippled .
fortunately , though , there 's no record of the accident , and he 's willing to give someone else his life .
since vincent looks a bit like him . . .
after a couple alterations ( some minor , some really major ) , he has donned the life of jerome , and is doing his job .
there , he meets a genetically imperfect woman , irene ( uma thurman , who 's genetically perfect in real life anyway , hee hee ) , and the two begin a kind of relationship , albeit a very shallow one since romance is deemed by how great a man 's stats are .
however , a murder of a high - level worker at his office is killed , and one of vincent / jerome 's eyelashes is found by the anal retentive investigators headed by a semi - wily inspector , hugo , ( alan arkin ) , and none other than vincent 's long lost brother , anton , who has n't seen him since they were teenagers .
we know vincent
/ jerome did n't do it , but with his older picture being posted everywhere , not only vincent / jerome 's in trouble , but also the real jerome , who 's as much in it as he is .
however , there is n't many big suspense set pieces , which is actually a blessing because if they were tossed in , the film would lose
it 's message and descend into just being a sci - fi thriller
a la william gibson .
the suspense in the film comes from the idea that vincent and jerome can easily be captured just by dropping a hair or dead skin .
while there are several scenes which are pretty frightening , there are no big distractions from the point of the film , much to the dismay of commercial audiences .
what is actually portrayed is the lack of life in the utopian society that is created .
irene has no real spunk in her life , and is rather amazed by the sheer beauty of a sunrise rather than genetically perfect people .
and the genetically flawless jerome is in actuality a bitter man , claiming that his accident was really no accident .
what jerome has done is fool the system in giving a man who yearns for better things a chance at that , and the ending is shocking as it 's a definite work of dystopian propaganda , but does n't have the down ending of other works of this kind .
the production design of this film is
probably the best i 've seen this year
: it 's stunning , very pleasing to the eye , but still very cold .
since genetics has ruled out any chance of improvement , the world has cooled into a state of inhumanity , and the sets echo a sense of shallow misery .
and the sequence of all the high - level workers doing their jobs has a kind of gilliam - esque feel to it , showing the nightmare of slipping into a routine zombie - like life .
the ability to perfect people has left humanity cold and generally unhappy .
the acting from everyone is great , with thurman giving a wonderfully cold performance , and hawke creating a character who has been beaten down by the system but has found a new sense of optimism by a bitter man who was willing to give it out anyway ( interesting pointless fact :
uma and ethan started dating after this film , and currently she is pregnant with his child ) .
but the best performance belongs to jude law , who steals every scene
he 's in , and creates a character filled with the pessimism over having such a horrible burden placed on his burden .
i think that people are generally tempted by the fact that genetics can actually create perfection in a child , but whether or not they would actually act on this temptation is something i 'm not sure of .
" gattaca " warns us not to go any farther , chiefly because we 'll create a world of elitism where the elite are shallow and unhappy , and as bitter and angry as the lesser people are .
and when i see a possible future featuring a 12-fingered piano player , well folks , that just creeps me out .
Output: P