Gattaca

Ultimately, the core of this film is human striving, human imperfection, and personal meaning. No matter where one finds oneself on the bell curve, there is always someone further to the right. If not, every friend, lover, relative and person one will ever know lies somewhere to the left. Only acceptance of this fact, over all metrics, will allow true equity to exist for everyone on the spectrum.Gattaca is a 1997 film written and directed by Andrew M. Niccol. It was his first feature film -- although he was an accomplished director of commercials -- and was followed by The Truman Show and In Time, among others. It falls into the genre of science fiction, and is set in the near future. Genetic technology is ubiquitous, but was just becoming accepted at the time of the protagonist's birth.Vincent is conceived and carried to term without intervention via genetic technologies that select or modify zygotes prior to cell division. The original script called this a "faith birth," although the term "IN-VALID," pronounced like the word "invalid" in "an invalid driver's license," is used more prominently in the movie. Vincent has varying propensities for genetically-influenced issues such as aggression, obesity, and attention-deficit disorder, which remain untreatable in an age where the obvious solution is for them to be eradicated by genetically selecting them out of existence. He has a genetic heart condition which results in a 99% chance of a 30.5-year life expectancy. His parents' awareness of this causes them to treat him as an invalid his entire childhood and to stress his limitations instead of his potential.Vincent's younger brother, Anton, is genetically enhanced, and therefore VALID. The process of his genetic selection is described in more detail in an earlier script, including the fact that his parents had to save every dime for two years in order to afford the process, but were unable to afford enhancements such as the "innate" ability to play the piano or understand higher mathematics.Anton and Vincent are rivals -- most tellingly at open ocean swimming -- with Anton's enhanced physicality and Vincent's heart condition leading to predictable results, at least during childhood. Anton stands indifferently by as Vincent leaves home at sixteen, disappearing into the genetic underclass of day laborers, housecleaners and sanitation workers.Anton is a child of privilege and an adult who displays many of the markers of childhood, perhaps because he never had to face adversity in his own life. As lead investigator of a murder committed at the corporation where Vincent, and later Jerome, is employed, these qualities surface. Due to an errant eyelash, Vincent (the IN-VALID) becomes a suspect. Anton searches for him, or any genetic traces of him, without revealing that they are related, and without initially suspecting that Vincent is posing as VALID.Society is divided into IN-VALIDs and VALIDs. The law outlaws overt discrimination based on genetics, but the reality of society is one similar to the Reconstruction South and Jim Crow. Tacit acceptance of a genetic underclass -- with diminishing demographics (and political power) due to the rapid adoption of genetic intervention -- but with subtle and not so subtle social "selection processes" inevitably at work.For example, Vincent works hard to improve his skills and knowledge so that he can become a celestial navigator. His attempts at employment are consistently foiled based on drug testing which also reveals his genetic status. A more "qualified" applicant is chosen. His only recourse is manual unskilled labor, thus his short stint of employment as a janitor at the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation.Selection occurs not just in employment, but in mate selection as well. Today women will run a background check on potential mates to determine their (criminal?) past or economic prospects. In the film, they do the same for unseen genetic qualities -- thus Vincent's dates eventually migrate to Anton based upon their surreptitious collection and testing of genetic material.Why would these women ever accept the economic consequences of an IN-VALID's prospects? Why would they opt for a reduced quality of life based on their spouse's potential susceptibility to untreatable ailments or reduced life expectancy? They want a quality partner with a comparable chance for a lengthy high quality life together, similar or better offspring and mitigation of risk. Any reasonable person would desire the same, with the vast majority willing to fudge a little with respect to the "means" in order to maximize the "ends."Vincent is marginalized in both his professional and personal life -- reduced to the permanent underclass, his dreams of space travel unrealized or unrealizable, alone and without prospects -- yet remains resolved. He is not defeated. He works, saves his money and spends every moment of free time educating himself or working out. He constantly goes without and always pushes himself.He resorts to a "borrowed ladder" in the form of Jerome Eugene Morrow, a paraplegic willing to provide skin, hair, blood and urine samples to Vincent on an ongoing basis so that Vincent might represent himself as Jerome, a VALID with "Eugene's" genetics and Vincent's hard earned knowledge and skills. Vincent's resolve is further demonstrated by his having both shin bones surgically severed and reset with titanium rods, increasing his height 2" to match Eugene's genetic profile for height. The scars are explained as being exactly the height of the front fender of a '99 Chrysler LeBaron.Vincent's heartbeat during tests is a recording of Eugene's, resulting in the lab tech Lamar's comment "Six miles later it's still beating like a Goddamn metronome. I could play piano by that heartbeat of his." Meanwhile Vincent's actual heartbeat is over 220 as he masks extreme fatigue, lactic acid buildup and oxygen deprivation by sheer force of will, confident in public but collapsing in private once it is over. Only extremes of discipline and training allow him to pull off this ruse.However his prowess as a celestial navigator is not faked, as evidenced by this assessment: "I reviewed your flight plan. Not one error in a hundred thousand keystrokes. Phenomenal. (placing a hand on Jerome's shoulder) It's right that someone like you is taking us to Titan." Note the "...like you..." instead of "...someone with your skills..." or "...someone with your knowledge..." This distinction is the critical take away of this exchange. The script is full of undercurrents as subtle and deep as this minor inflection.However as much as the film is at its surface about big ideas -- about institutional and societal discrimination -- it ultimately reveals itself to be about the relationships between its characters. About Vincent/Anton, Vincent/Irene, Vincent/Lamar, and Vincent/Eugene... and how their relationships are framed by these larger issues.

Great futuristic move on genetics and biology

Had Covid when I saw this. I had never heard of it. I can’t believe I had missed this movie. What a good one.

When Gattaca was released in 1997 it slipped under my radar and I didn't see it until two different people recommended it to me recently.Gattaca takes an interesting and almost-plausible science-fiction path and for the most part, pulls it off. In the "not-too-distant-future" world of Gattaca some "God-children" are still conceived the old-fashioned way, but those who can afford it have technology-enhanced test-tube babies with as many imperfections screened out as their parents can afford. Eye-glasses and heart disease are not present in the "valid" population. In Gattaca Ethan Hawke portrays Vincent, who was born the old-fashioned way. Discrimination is technically illegal in this society, but not enforced, and "In-Valids" like Vincent can only aspire to menial jobs like janitor. Vincent dreams of flying into space. In this world Gattaca is a private corporation, and I don't know what else the company does, but one of the things they do is fly into outer space. Vincent begins at Gattaca sweeping the floors, but he has a plan...Some of the genetically perfect nonetheless come upon hard times. Jude Law plays Jerome, who was born perfect, but was paralyzed in an accident. His hair and blood and urine and saliva all remain genetically perfect. Vincent is brought to Jerome by a shady character who pairs ambitious godchildren with impaired valids. Carrying Jerome's urine strapped to his leg and his blood in a small cache concealed at his fingertip Vincent applies once again at Gattaca to become an astronaut. His "interview" consists only of testing Jerome's perfect urine sample. With DNA like that Jerome must be perfect...Vincent is getting closer to his goal of outer-space flight when a hated director at Gattaca is murdered. Vincent has always been careful to not leave tell-tale evidence - like flaked off skin fragments - but soon Gattaca is crawling with persistant FBI types. (Interesting that in the future the FBI has gone from only investigating Federal crimes to also doing murder investigations - but I digress.)Although Vincent is innocent of the murder he begins to feel the heat of the investigation as the "Hoovers" start getting more and more invasive to find the owner of an in-valid eyelash left behind at the "perfect" workspaces of Gattaca.Uma Thurman is on-hand as well, as another Gattaca employee who was perfect enough to be hired, but whose genetic profile includes an "acceptable" risk of heart disease.The story has a thought-provoking premise, but as part of my own thought being provoked I came up with the following questions:1. While the FBI has stepped-up responsibilities in this future society, the ACLU seems to have been stamped out. If discrimination is illegal would a high-profile company be allowed to exist that was made up ENTIRELY of valid executives and in-valid janitors - especially when there are in-valids as smart and ambitious as Vincent? As the deleted scenes show with a not-included-in-the-film coda: creating a society with only those with perfect genes would have deprived us of John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein. It's not hard to believe that having perfect people would create discrimination and other undesirable human qualities, but it's difficult to believe that these genetically perfect people would have all their humanity and compassion removed as well. It's also difficult to believe that this company couldn't recognize that occasionally a "god-child" could be the next Einstein.2. Okay - I can believe that they would test the genes of a new applicant when they were applying for a new job. But it costs something to perform these tests, and we're told that in-valids who try the "borrowed ladder" scam are very rare. I didn't buy the fact that the company tested ALL of their employees EVERY DAY. It would just cost too much to enforce the already-illegal discrimination. This seems like a plot device introduced only to make Vincent's plan more dangerous - like Gattaca has introduced a complicated and expensive screening program only to catch.... HIM!3. Vincent's parents had a valid son after him - believable enough. But this brother shows back up in the story in a clumsy and contrived manner. This brother story-line adds nothing to the plot and it interrupted my suspension of disbelief.4. The real murderer of the director is revealed and there's not much surprise in the actual culprit - but the story wraps up the "murder mystery" subplot so quickly that questions are left unanswered like: we're told that the murderer has had non-violent tendencies genetically engineered out of him, yet he beats another man to death. Huh?So, Gattaca is both thoughtful and thought-provoking, but I must admit I'd have liked it better if there were less loose ends. The performances by Hawke and Thurman and Law are all good, as well as Alan Arkin as the most persistent FBI investigator.

As we head into the future this old movie has a lot to offer. A nice slow plot that does not lack depth provides space to think freely and not get lost. Beautiful underrated film

La steelbook es muy bonita. Incluye doblaje y subtítulos en español. Una gran edición para una magnífica película de ciencia ficción poco valorada, pero indispensable para los amantes del neo noir futurista.

Grazie

I enjoyed watching this movie.It's scenes, dialogues, settings are compact, strong. Particularly settings have a strange, deep effect on the viewer.It feels like entire movie is taking place on a simple science fiction theatre with no computerized widget & sound crowd.Darkish pastel colors dominate the scenes from start to end creating a mystical, cubical, logical suspense.Settings are simple, colors are basic, dialogues are short, sharp, and to the point; I would call it a piece of minimalist art.Movie is combination of fantasy and reality, like a real psychology story in a fantasy setting. It is a presentation power of will, envy, determination.Story takes place in a country where humans are grouped into two in terms of their genetic; VALID, and INVALID ones.And this culture is just normal and accepted by everyone.Valid ones are superior, and candidates for prime jobs.It is a story of the mind and the will of an invalid person.Vincent is the protagonist, and he is invalid and has a dream of being an astronaut participating in space missions.And his brother Anton is a valid one.Anton seems to lack passion for anything, eventually ending up being an crime investigator on police department.Vincent first starts working as a cleaner, help boy in a space station.Knowing that he has no chance of being astronaut, he still follows his dream, does the self study on the subject, and also physical training.Eventually he concludes that his efforts are worthless unless he has a valid blood. So he decides to fake his identity, scum the system with a valid one's identity.And he finds someone for that, Jerome.Jerome is a grandiose swimmer who became second in an international competition and he can not cope with the result psychologically.And he wanted to kill himself with a traffic accident, but he fails, and his body gets paralyzed.Jerome provides Vincent all necessary material like blood, urine, hair samples to pass regular controls.Eventually Vincent is accepted to Space mission program with the identify of Jerome.Administrator of the mission has suspicion on Vincent and he gets killed. And this murder is investigated by Anton. Anton gets suspicious on Vincent.While investigation is taking too long and jeopardizing the mission to Saturn, Director of the of the company confess that he killed the administrator because of risk offailing the mission. However It is never clear who killed the administrator.Anton implies that Vincent is fake, and his participation in the mission is a scum.So he invites him to do this swimming competition where they swim into the ocean until one gives up.They used to this while they were kids, and call it chicken game.In the test, Anton gives up; and on the return, he was going get drawn, but Vincent save his life.This clears the Anton hurdle for Vincent.He eventually gets into the ship to Saturn. Jerome leaves enough blood, hair samples for the rest of Vincent's life.This was a story of great Will, and fatality of grandiosity.The Will to overcome will to set the rules; even science, rationality are not perfect enough against human will.Hard logic presents weakness against the will which fluid , smart, and strong, and eventually it triumphs.Vincent's will finds support at all corners. His valid girlfriend helps him.The doctor who does the validity control helps him. Why? Because doctor's son admires the will of Vincent for the mission.So The Will flows and find it's way.Jerome is equally interesting character. Why does he participate in this scum?Does he hate the system? is this his revenge from the system?Or is it his own unstoppable grandiosity to make his name living forever strong?Or is it both, that is living in a system you hate while still want to be at the top.He kills himself when Vincent lifts off in the space ship.Actors are superb, their performance proves they were the right choice for the movie: Ethan Hawke (Vincent), Uma Thurman (Irene), Jude Law (Jerome)

Ein schöner alter Film, der mit der Zeit an aktuallität gewinnt

Subtítulos Extras: Inglés, Italiano, Español, Holandés/Nederlands y Portugués.Aclaración: El nombre de cada documental viene nombrado de 3 formas: 1. Como se nombra en el menú 2. 1º Paréntesis: Como se nombra en la carátula y 3. 2º Paréntesis: Como se llama originalmente el documental en Inglés.Los extras de todas las ediciones en Blu-ray de Gattaca son los siguientes:- 6 Escenas Eliminadas (Ver Todas: 10 minutos 43 segundos):1. Paredes Sólidas (1 minuto 5 segundos).2. Adiós al César (2 minutos 15 segundos).3. Centro del Octavo Día (Versión Original) (3 minutos 25 segundos).4. Descripción de la Misión (1 minuto 5 segundos).5. Investigador al Descubierto (1 minuto 27 segundos).6. Colofón (1 minuto 51 segundos).Todas las escenas eliminadas tienen una calidad PÉSIMA, da lástima tener que verlas tan mal. A parte de que están en su formato original, pero en 4:3. La única que se ve algo mejor es la “6. Colofón”, escena que todo el equipo técnico de la película se arrepiente de haber eliminado del montaje final.- Documentales (Reportajes):1. Documental Original (Electronic Press Kit (EPK)) (6 minutos 52 segundos) (4:3) (Calidad Estándar): Pequeña featurette rodada en 1997 donde los actores y actrices principales presentan a los personajes que interpretan. También habla un poco Danny DeVito.2. Cómo se rodó Gattaca (Bienvenidos a Gattaca) (Welcome To Gattaca) (22 minutos) (16:9) (HD): Este documental se rodó en 2007, cuando se cumplieron 10 años del estreno de la película.Aparecen Ethan Hake, Jude Law, Bradley Cramp (Supervisor de Producción), Danny DeVito (Productor), John Woodward (First Assitant Director), Lisa Churgin (Editora), Bob Craft (Encargado de Localizaciones), Ilt Jones (Ayudante del encargado de localizaciones), Chris Watts (Supervisor de efectos especiales) y Emily Ferry (Jefa de atrezo).El documental tiene varios apartados: Dirección, Casting, Diseño y Producción, Realización y Marketing, El Futuro no tan lejano.Este documental me encanta porque me recuerda a la serie documental “The Movies That Made Us”, donde no tienen miedo a decir los problemas que tuvieron durante el proceso de creación de la película y hablan de manera espontánea y abierta de ella.3. ADN y clonación (¿No Cambiar?) (Do Not Alter? (DNA)) (14 minutos 52 segundos) (4:3) (Calidad estándar): Este pequeño reportaje está Narrado por Gore Vidal, uno de los actores.Aquí aparecen: Lawrence McGinty (Editor Científico, ITN), Profesor Martin Bobrow (Universidad de Cambridge), Doctor David Boltimore (Ex presidente, Caltech), Doctor John Burn (Director Médico del Instituto de Genética Humana. Universidad de Newcastle), Doctor Gregory Stock (Director General, Signum Biosciences), Doctor Glenn McGee (The American Journal Of Bioethics) y Profesor Lee M. Silver (Universidad de Princeton).Nos cuenta la historia del ADN, desde su descubrimiento, pasando por el Proyecto del Genoma Humano, estudio de enfermedades genéticas, clonación (oveja Dolly), clonación humana y reproductiva. Y relacionan esto con la película de Gattaca, y con los problemas éticos y morales que supondría un futuro como el que se presenta en la película. Geneísmo y discriminación genética.Los dos últimos documentales están hechos por: David Naylor.Hay como dos ventanas diferentes en el apartado de Contenidos Extras. Para llegar a la segunda ventana deberemos darle a la izquierda de “Documentales” y se empezarán a mover 3 flechas, pulsamos y ahí tendremos lo siguiente:- Escena de la prueba de drogas no incluida en el montaje final (Tomas Falsas: Prueba Analítica) (36 segundos) (4:3): Toma Falsa muy graciosa que por desgracia tiene la misma calidad pésima de las escenas eliminadas.- Tráiler Encuentros en la Tercera Fase: Edición Definitiva (1 minuto 34 segundos).Espero que sabiendo toda esta información os den ganas de ver esta película y de comprar la edición en Blu-ray porque tanto la película como los extras merecen mucho la pena tenerlos, verlos y disfrutarlos.