Gattaca (1997)

Great, but Tainted by Cheesy Dialogue in Final Reel

This movie is taut, gripping, intriguing, wonderful. It makes its point in such an understated way, which some take to be boring, but I found riveting. A lot of movies seem to have so little respect for the audience, just relentlessly clubbing us over the head with hackneyed symbolism and dialog that sounds like it came out of Yoda to make sure we get the message. This movie avoids that, and it helped really involve me in the story without all of the contrivances.

Until the end.

I liked the ending, don't get me wrong, but the writers seem to have cracked open a few fortune cookies to supply unbelievably cheesy lines. here are a few:

"Maybe I'm not leaving, maybe I'm going home."

"I only gave you my body. You gave me your DREAM!"

"You wanna know how I did it? I never saved any for the trip back!"

These and a couple others caused too much wincing for the movie to really finish convincingly. And the sad thing is, the movie would have made its points just as convincingly, much more so in fact, if these lines had simply been omitted. I guess they just felt obligated to tack on some melodramatic pap at the end, lest any movigoer leave saying "What was the point of THAT!?"

Still, there's so little sci fi at the movies nowadays (plenty of space opera, though) that I am really appreciative of a scifi film of this quality. December 14, 2008

Great Movie

This is a great movie. The plot is very deep. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone. December 5, 2008

Special Edition improves on an excellent production

Gattaca is a superb motion picture, less science-fiction or political commentary than a compelling invitation to ponder old social metaphors in new ways.

On the surface, Gattaca is visually stunning, emotionally evocative, and yet subtle -- a mix of whodunit and drama that asks viewers to think about a range of current social issues, such as the social obsession with physical perfection; the allure that some people find in a super-race; injustices in the health-insurance industry; and efforts by privileged elites to withdraw freedoms and opportunities from minorities.

Beneath the surface, the film prompts viewers to ask more basic questions:

In what ways might I be an outcast?

What is the meaning of true brotherhood?

How might family members crush sons and siblings beneath lowered expectations?

What masks or facades do I wear, and what unhealthy social forces compel me to wear them?

The original DVD release of Gattaca featured only the movie and some deleted scenes. The Special Edition is greatly improved, featuring both a fond retrospective by cast and crew, and a nifty little primer on genetics narrated by Gore Vidal. The only thing that's missing: A director's commentary.

Since I already own the original DVD, I'm undecided whether to buy the Special Edition or just rent it when I wish to view the retrospective again. The inclusion of a director's commentary would have cinched the decision. I may instead wait to buy a Blu-Ray player and then make Gattaca -- with its stunning cinematography and production design -- a first-rate choice for my first Blu-Ray DVD.

People who have not already bought the original can buy the Special Edition DVD with confidence, knowing they have bought a first-rate movie with very good special features. December 1, 2008

Beautifully shot

This movie is really really good-looking. It is essentially a murder mystery wrapped in science-fiction coating. Ethan Hawke plays an over-ambitious man who dreams of becoming an astronaut. Jude Law extracts pity as a crippled man confined to a wheelchair. The movie's message is that a child's physical or biological traits at birth, or even till age 10, cannot accurately predict how he/she would do in later life. November 19, 2008

The Historical Roots to this Film

To understand Gattaca, it helps to know a little history.

About a century ago, progressives took up what the New York Times in 1912 called the "wonderful new science" of eugenics. Because of improvements in medicine and public health, eugenists said, the "unfit" were having more children than the "fit." Their solution included both positive eugenics--encouraging the "fit" to have more children, and negative eugenics--preventing the "unfit" from having children.

Forced sterilization laws in some 37 states were their greatest achievement, with California being the most zealous in applying its law. But legislation in more conservative states, particularly in the South, was blocked by claims that forced sterilization was unconstitutional. That barrier was shoved aside in a 1927 Supreme Court decision, Buck v. Bell, which regarded forced sterilization laws as no different from laws requiring vaccination. Regard some children as a blight on society, and sterilization serves the same disease-eliminating function as vaccination.

The feminists of that day had no problem with negative eugenics. They believed that the birthrate of the "unfit" should be lowered by any means possible. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a prominent feminist sociologist, made eugenics a key feature in her 1915 feminist utopia, Herland. What they objected to was "forced motherhood," meaning social pressures on women like themselves to abandon professional careers for children.

Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger took up their cause. She was vehemently opposed to positive eugenics, but zealously championed negative eugenics. Most of those regarded as "unfit" were recent immigrants from Southern Europe (Catholic) and Eastern Europe (Jewish). Because sterilization laws were only effective against people in state institutions, they could do little to lower immigrant birthrates. Her answer was to build birth control clinics in immigrant neighborhoods, starting with the Brownsville neighborhood in NYC. Poverty would be used as a lever to force down immigrant birthrates. You can read her arguments in her still-in-print 1922 bestseller, The Pivot of Civilization. To understand what is going on today, simply substitute blacks and Hispanics for those earlier Catholic and Jewish immigrants. And of course abortion has replaced birth control as the tool of choice.

Gattaca envisions a future world run by people much like those early twentieth century eugenists and birth controllers. If your parents allowed geneticists to manufacture you to the proper specifications, then life will be good, with all the best career paths open. But if, like the Vincent in this movie, your parents conceived you the old fashioned way, then you're consigned to menial jobs. In Vincent's case that meant cleaning the headquarters of Gattaca, an organization tasked with exploring the solar system.

Since he was a child, Vincent has wanted to explore space. Not being a member of the genetically programmed elite, that path seemed forever closed to him. This movie describes how he worked to beat the system. I won't give away details and spoil your fun, but I do suggest you pay attention to the clash between Vincent and his genetically programmed brother in their `who will turn back first' swimming challenge. This film reminds us there are aspects to our personalities, particularly courage, that can't be programmed in. They're the result of the choices we make. Vincent wins because he risks everything for his dream, saving nothing for the swim back.

This an excellent film. You won't regret watching it.

--Michael W. Perry, editor of: The Pivot of Civilization in Historical Perspective: The Birth Control Classic and Eugenics and Other Evils : An Argument Against the Scientifically Organized State October 2, 2008

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