Rewatched this last night with Miri, and were both very impressed with the film, on many specific levels, and overall. Thoughts, Julie Gray? Any other film buffs (sci-f or otherwise) out there want to pitch in to a discussion here? --- Gattaca (1997) is a futuristic thriller written and directed by Andrew Niccol. Built around the controversial subject of genetic engineering and how it might lead to a socio-economic class divide, it follows Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke), an imperfect human who attempts to join a space mission by illegally exchanging identities with Jerome (Jude Law), a paraplegic with perfect DNA. How he does this armed with blood and urine samples is ingeniously shown by Niccol, who mints a new genre vocabulary with his absorbing, intelligent and suspenseful story. In Niccols future society, a dustbuster is deadlier than a gun and wearing contact lenses means the choice between life or death. Characters in Gattaca continually battle both with society and with themselves to find their place in the world and who they are destined to be according to their genes. This thought-provoking cautionary tale is stunningly designed and has accomplished performances from Hawke, Law and Uma Thurman that do it full justice.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 07:55:43 +0000