For some this may be a controversial inclusion in this column, the premise for which is to highlight movies that have been forgotten or overlooked. On one hand a film that received an Oscar Nomination and entered the box office at number 5 may not seem to fit that bill. However while Gattaca had some success it only made $12.5 million against a reported budget of $36million, [1] was written and directed by then little know Andrew Niccol, and has since moved into some relative obscurity, despite being the film that basically launched Niccol’s career.
One of the films great strengths may also be its undoing in this case. For a science fiction film it is rather low key, and does not feature any real special effects to speak of. For those of us who read a lot of science fiction literature, it is more akin to a good novel, brought to the screen in its purest form. But unfortunately that does not make much money in the Hollywood machine. Viewers want CGI graphics that melt your brain, and a plot that makes you think about issues such as artificial insemination and human genetics does not exactly make for an easy advertising campaign.
The Plot
The film borrows a lot from film noir, and though set in the future has a 1950′s feel to it. The plot revolves around Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke as the adult Vincent), a child born naturally and so labelled an INVALID. Due to future technologies doctors are able to find out the probability of certain illnesses and find out from birth that Vincent may have a weak heart. So when his parents want a second child they look to genetic engineering. Children born through this process are referred to in the film as VALID’s and so introduces the films main concept, a new class system where VALID’s get all the best jobs and INVALID’s are left doing manual labour and cleaning.
Vincent’s parents treat him as if he will break any day, due to his many possible health problems, where as Anton (“ a son my father considered worthy of his name”) is bigger, stronger, and more respected. Vincent dreams of being an astronaut but that will never happen as he has to give a blood or urine test at any interview and so will always be labelled an INVALID. So Vincent leaves home, cleverly while he is still the younger actor, and is revealed later with Ethan Hawke in the role, so we never see what Anton looks like as an adult ( a clever plot device for a big reveal later in the film.)
After working as a cleaner at Gattaca, a sort of future NASA, Vincent soon finds a black market world where your life can be traded for a VALID life, and he meets Jerome Morrow (Jude Law), a VALID who is paralysed and is willing to swap, so long as he has a share of the money and kept in the type of lifestyle he has enjoyed. So Vincent gets a job at Gattaca, where he quickly rises through the ranks. The level of detail in the film is amazing as Vincent has to use Jerome’s hair, skin, blood and urine samples everyday to avoid detection, until one day the Mission Director is found murdered and an eye lash from an INVALID who used to work as a cleaner (Vincent) is found, and of course no VALID would ever murder would they? This then means the police are looking ever closer for Vincent, and he risks detection several times. This cat and mouse part of the film really livens up the pace, and we soon learn this links beautifully to the earlier plot of Vincent and Anton fighting for their parents affections. There is also a romance between Vincent and Uma Thurman’s character, Irene, but the main plot is focused on the two men, Vincent and Jerome and on the police detective in charge of the murder investigation.
A Twist in the tale
The big reveal comes when we realise that the detective is in fact Anton, who offers to cover up his brothers involvement if he will leave Gattaca. Vincent however is days away from a space mission to one of Jupiters moons and challenges Anton to a game of chicken they played as a child. This involved them swimming out to sea and the first to turn round being the chicken. Of course Anton always won expect for once, when Vincent had to save Anton from drowning. Now adults they race again and, surprise, Vinent wins again. When Anton asks him how he has done it, Vincent reveals that he never saved anything for the way back. As I mentioned earlier this is clever handled by the director as the viewer has not seen the adult Anton and so we had assumed he was unimportant to the plot, but suddenly we see he was very instrumental in not giving Vincent up earlier, as Anton continued to look for other avenues of investigation while his number two kept wanting to look for Vincent.
The film ends with an eerie orchestral score that is used brilliantly through out the movie, where the real Jerome commits suicide after giving Vincent a life times supplies of samples and Vincent almost gets caught out, when it is revealed the Doctor , Lamar, who checks his samples knew all along about Vincent. He swaps the samples and lets Vincent go as it is revealed his son also dreams of flying into space but can not due to a genetic defect, so the story comes full circle, with Vincent and Lamar fighting the corrupt system. The film raises many issues about the use of genetic engineering and what could happen in the future, as what starts out as harmlessly wanting a boy or girl, then maybe a boy with brown hair, can turn into us trying to create a perfect race. The film is acting beautifully by all the main actors and is set to an amazing sound track. You owe it to yourself to see this movie as it is one of a dying breed.
1.“Movie Gattaca – Box Office Data, News, Cast Information”. The Numbers. Retrieved 19.6.10
