GATTACA: REVIEW AND THEMES IN THE MOVIE
Written and directed by: Andrew NICCOL
Cast: Irene: Uma THURMAN
Vincent/Jerome: Ethan HAWKE
Jerome/Eugene: Alan ARKIN
Anton: Loren DEAN
Director Josef: Gore VIDAL
The main theme of Gattaca is based on genetic engeneering, considered as the near future where children are conceived in test tubes to reach a perfect health, high QI and long life expectation.
The main theme also includes different consequences of human gene manipulation such as discrimination. In fact the movie starts with the birth of Vincent, a baby naturally conceived. A few seconds after his birth with just a blood sample the doctors could have a clear map of Vincent's genes and his life expectancy was estimated only up to 30 years old, with 99% of chance to develop heart disease and bad eyesight.
Vincent's father appears to be upset from the results, so when both parents decide to try for another birth, this time they put their hands into science which in Gattaca is playing God role, so we can say this is another theme into the movie and let the viewers think how faith and love lose their place into marriage and conception in a society where you can simply “order” the perfect baby.
The main theme on Gattaca is Dna manipulation and sometimes reminds the movie Jurassic Park, where viewers almost believed could be possibile bring back ancient creatures. So the film director Andrew NICCOL brings the idea that Dna manipulation on humans is just around the corners that could be possibile in scientists mind but the physiological, ethical and moral effects keep all this future so far from us. Even if modern society is obsessed with perfection, what price do we want to pay?
Everyone in Gattaca will live longer, healtier and in a perfect world, but will it be so perfect? We must consider the impact on society. Love inconditionally won't have a role anymore: we need just perfection.
The society discriminates individuals based only on a genetic code without considering that a person is not only a gene map but has expectations, feelings, dreams.
On the other hand the society has an impact on superior individuals: no matter what they want, no matter what their wishes are, but their path is already manipulated by the result of genetic percentuage and combination. That means living in Gattaca is not as happy as could seem: citizens, no matter if in-valid or superior, are deprived of their rights, genetically determined.
Vincent at a certain point (while he is looking for jobs) says: “The best test score in the world wasn't going to matter unless I had the blood test go with it”. Lets think at this point. We must consider that a modern society should ensure that every citizen has equal opportunities in matters of health, jobs and life styles. Predetermined patterns will end with a lost of their human rights, where people are judged against their genome and not meritocracy.
We could probably think Dna manipulation could have an important role in prevention of disease and also if it is accettable as a solution as a better health life, which will have a positive impact on health costs based on genetic predispositions to develope diseases. Again, considering healty issues, the genetic manipulation could be a long term solution, but in our society that small part of rich, politicians and their lobby run the world and would have an important effect on how genetic engeneering wil be run.
Perfect people would be on demand, health care costs will raise for in-valids, laboratories will be turned into “shops” where a child could be made by “catalogue”, basing a human beeing not on he will be but as what we want him to be, related on society demand, by building social classes on genetic attributes.
Gattaca says: “Of course it's illegal to discriminate – genoism it's called – but no one take the law seriously”. A society as in Gattaca could claim that the genetic identity can form a fair meritocracy. However, as proved by Vincent, this sort of society fails to identify other relevant caracteristics of our humanity from our personality, pasts, experiences and abilities that our genes can't predict.
We can finally consider that the main and basic purpose of Gattaca to build a perfect society can be great, but we must see in a longer future and consider how implementation fo technologies can affect the basic rights and justice of human beings.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE FILM GATTACA
As soon as Anton (Vincent's younger brother) grows up, Vincent realises how weak he is and the movie director Niccol can remark these differences very well showing for example the parents' behaviour and the problems related to health insurance companies.
Vincent and Anton like to play a game at the beach: they go there and start swimming as far as they can. Anton, due to his genes selection, wins most of the time apart from one occasion when he starts drowning and Vincent had to rescue. This episode lights up a hope in Vincent that he could probably achieve what he wants at the expense of his genetic map.
Due to the natural conception, Vincent is classified as IN-VALID and even if is technically against the law the genetic maps of people in Gattaca will play an important role in the application of jobs: it doesn't matter if he is brilliant, with his in-valid code he ends up working as a cleaner in a space station. So even here the movie theme is related to a modern discrimination such as sexism or racism of our society.
Because Vincent dreams of working in space, he finally accepts the job as a cleaner in Gattaca, the space station where superior VALID programmers go to work every day, people with a very fine and selected genetic background.
Using an illegal DNA broker Vincent makes a deal with him deciding to become a DEGENERATE, someone who uses other people's samples to fake a superior identity, so he pretends to be Jerome Morrow, a superior human DNA manipulated swimmer who attempted suicide. It is clear in Gattaca that even in high society we can see a sort of discrimination: what was written at birth in the DNA already decides your life pattern no matter your dreams or expectation; this is why Jerome attempted suicide, because he could't deal with a swimming silver medal instead of a gold one he meant to get. Jerome's suicide failed so now he is paralysed and in a wheel chair.
Vincent makes lot of effort to reach his goals: sacrifices his freedom to join some rituals and realizes his wishes, he starts brushing himself roughly every day, he uses Jerome's urine and blood samples, he also undertakes a leg surgery to reach Jerome's height.
Vincent finally gets a place on a mission to Titan, a Saturn satellite, where he will stay for a year.
Everything is going smoothly but at a certain point the mission director is murdered and Vincent's eyelash is found on the scene. I strongly believe that this part of the movie wasn't necessary, but it was included to keep the viewers more interested to the film that contains enough social themes to think about, even without a murderer and some romance.
In fact soon Vincent/Jerome starts a relationship with Irene, a brilliant woman, in-valid, that gaves up her life in space for her imperfect genes. Uma Thurman is not particulary inspiring me in this film. She looks like an Ice Queen. But I saw her fantastic performance in some action movies, more suitable for the actress.
Another caracter in Gattaca is director Josef, who states “I haven't a violent bone in my body”: I like this statement, because again we can see the discrimination and how high society – a small group of people – is considered untouchable and perfect only because their DNA says so. But this aspect of Gattaca can be easly extended in our modern society.
The ends revealing to Irene the real identity of Vincent and confronting the two brothers, because we will discover that the police inspector was Anton. We go back to the beach, to the same game they used to do and again Vincent has to save Anton from drowning. The murderer finally is revealed as the Director Josef because his mission to Titan could be compromised by the main director.
While Jerome climbs into an incenerator wearing his silver medal, the rocket lifts off Vincent to the space and he says: “They say every atom in our bodies was once a part of a star. Maybe I'm not leaving; maybe I'm going home”.
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