Gattaca

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Gattaca
Theatrical poster for Gattaca
Directed by	Andrew Niccol
Produced by	Danny DeVito
Written by	Andrew Niccol
Starring	Ethan Hawke Uma Thurman Jude Law
Music by	Michael Nyman
Cinematography	Slawomir Idziak
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	1997-10-24 (U.S. release)
Running time	101 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Gattaca is a 1997 science fiction drama film written and directed by Andrew Niccol, starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law with supporting roles played by Gore Vidal and Alan Arkin.

The film presents a biopunk vision of a society driven by liberal eugenics. Children of the middle and upper classes are "designer babies", genetically engineered in-vitro to be the optimal recombination of their parents' genetic material. A genetic registry database uses biometrics to instantly identify and classify those so created as "Valids" while those conceived by traditional means are known as "faith births", "god children" and, more pejoratively, "In-Valids" (as in "invalid"). “In-valids” who try to enter the “valid” world (by contracting with “valids” to purchase their DNA through collection of blood, urine, hairs, dead skin flakes, etc…) are known as “borrowed ladders” and "de-gene-erates". While genetic discrimination is forbidden by law, in practice it is easy to profile one's genotype resulting in the valids qualifying for professional employment while the invalids who are susceptible to disease are relegated to menial jobs.

The movie draws on concerns over technological developments which facilitate reprogenetics, and the possible consequences of such biotechnology for society.

The movie also explores the theme of destiny, and the ways in which it can/does govern lives. 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.

1 Plot
2 Reactions
3 Trivia
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Plot

Tagline: "There is no gene for the human spirit."

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In a "not too distant" future, where genetic engineering of humans is common and DNA plays the primary role in determining social class, Vincent (Hawke) is conceived and born without the aid of this technology. Suffering from the nearly eradicated physical dysfunctions of nearsightedness and a congenital heart defect, as well as being given a life expectancy of 30.2 years, Vincent faces extreme discrimination and prejudice. The only way he can achieve his life-long dream of becoming an astronaut is to impersonate someone else.

He assumes the identity of swimming star Jerome Eugene Morrow (Law) who becomes paraplegic as a result of a botched suicide attempt when he could not accept winning second place in light of his genetic superiority. Vincent uses "valid" DNA and tissue samples provided by Jerome, and gains admittance to the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation, the most prestigious space-flight conglomerate of the day. The plan works perfectly until, a week before Vincent is scheduled to leave for Titan, the mission director is murdered and evidence of Vincent's own DNA is found at the crime scene in the form of an eyelash. Vincent must evade ever-increasing security as his mission launch date approaches and he pursues a relationship with his co-worker Irene Cassini (Thurman).

Eventually, after numerous close calls, the investigation eventually comes to a close as Director Josef (Gore Vidal) is eventually arrested for the murder. Just as Vincent seems to be in the clear, he is confronted by one of the detectives covering the investigation, who it is revealed is Vincent's estranged brother, Anton (Loren Dean). Anton criticizes Vincent for putting his family under undue stress due to his disapperance. However, it soon becomes apperent that Anton is acting more out of insecurity and is more concerned with how Vincent had managed to get the better of him, despite his supposed genetic superiority. Vincent and Anton settle their competition as they did when they were children, by seeing who could swim out into the ocean farthest. Once again, Vincent manages to beat his brother, and saves him from drowning.

As the day of the launch finally arrives, Jerome says that he intends to travel the world, and reveals to Vincent that he has stored enough genetic material to last him a life time. As Vincent moves through the Gattaca complex to the launch site, he is stopped for an unexpected DNA test. Vincent relunctantly agrees to take the test, even though he has none of Jerome's genetic material to hide his identity. As Vincent takes the test, the doctor confesses to Vincent that his son admires him, and wants to be an astronaut just like him, despite a genetic defect that would already rule him out. The test result reveals Vincent's true identity, but the doctor alters the results and allows him to proceed regardless. As the shuttle lifts off, Jerome is shown commiting suicide.

The story centers on the irony of the perfect Jerome failing to succeed despite being given every advantage while the imperfect Vincent transcends his deficiencies through force of will and spirit. A milder version of the disorder which afflicts Vincent prevents Irene from taking part in space flight. This dichotomy shows how the eugenic policy in Gattaca and the world in which it is set adversely affect the humanity of both Vincent and Jerome, as well as the "invalid" and "valid" humans they represent.

The film's themes include personal identity, courage, friendship, love, hope, the burden of perfection, sibling rivalry, society and control, fate, genetic determinism, and whether humanity and the human spirit can be defined or limited by our DNA.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Reactions

Gattaca's dystopian depiction of "genoism" has been cited by many bioconservative critics in support of their view that liberal eugenics should be discouraged and even banned. In his 2004 book Citizen Cyborg, bioethicist and democratic transhumanist advocate James Hughes argues these points however:

Astronaut-training programs are entirely justified in attempting to screen out people with heart problems for safety reasons;
In North America, people are already discriminated against by insurance companies on the basis of their propensities to disease despite the fact that genetic enhancement is not yet available;
Rather than banning genetic testing or genetic enhancement, society needs genetic information privacy laws that allow justified forms of genetic testing and data aggregation, but forbid those that are judged to result in genetic discrimination. Citizens should then be able to make a complaint to the appropriate authority if they believe they have been discriminated against because of their genotype.

However, in Gattaca, the use of genetic information to make decisions in education and employment is technically illegal and the use of genetic information is portrayed as an irresistible "peek" into a candidate. Indeed, the world of Gattaca arguably demonstrates the possible impracticality of limiting the use of genetic information when reprogenetic technology has advanced to the point of complete ubiquity.

Hughes counters that science fiction can pose interesting questions, but no film "demonstrates" anything about the workability of policies.

[edit] Trivia

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Content in the trivia section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article.

Image:Gataca Movie Poster B.jpg

"Gattaca" is a word made from the abbreviations for the DNA nucleotide bases Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, and Guanine. The sequence GATTACA, along with many other short sequences of base pairs, occurs many times throughout the recently published human genome.

If the movie's title alone were to be a sense strand of DNA, it would be transcribed as GAUUACA with uracil replacing thymine in mRNA. If this mRNA transcript were to be translated into proteins using the genetic code with the first 3 bases being the first codon in the open reading frame, GATTACA would be translated as aspartic acid (GAT) and tyrosine (TAC); the remaining "A" would not be translated because codons on mRNA are coded in groups of three. Adding the nucleotides AC (for Gattaca Aerospace Corporation) would make the third codon AAC and be translated as asparagine.

Throughout the opening title sequence and closing credits the letters A, T, C, and G within words and names are displayed in an alternate typeface.

In Greek, "Eugene" means "well-born" and is a root of the word "eugenics".

To create an atmosphere of ubiquitous physical perfection, director Andrew Niccol cast fashion models as extras.

Although the spiral staircase in Jerome's house is reminiscent of the helical structure of DNA, it does not exhibit DNA's chirality (handedness). While the staircase turns to the left, a furled DNA molecule turns to the right.

The movie's score was composed by Michael Nyman, who also wrote the music for The Piano.

In the film, people such as Vincent who fake a genetic make-up superior to their own are referred to as "borrowed ladders", a pun alluding both to social climbing and the ladder-like shape DNA exhibits when unfurled.

When Vincent blows cigarette smoke into a wine glass to suggest the clouds of Titan, the background music is Nuages (French: Clouds), by Django Reinhardt.

People held within large rotating gyroscope-like frameworks, known as Aerotrims, are glimpsed in some scenes. Although Aerotrims have been used for astronaut training, most were used for cardiovascular exercise in gyms during the 1980s.

The character Irene Cassini is named for Giovanni Domenico Cassini, a seventeenth-century astronomer who discovered the Cassini Division, the largest gap in Saturn's main rings. Cassini also discovered four of Saturn's largest moons: Dione, Iapetus, Rhea and Tethys. In 1997, the satellite Cassini-Huygens was launched on a mission to study Saturn and its moons. Early in 2005, Huygens, the small probe part of the satellite, landed successfully on Saturn's moon Titan. The space mission that Vincent joins in Gattaca is destined for Titan.

The exterior shots of the Gattaca Aerospace building in the movie were of the Marin County Civic Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Most of the interior shots were filmed in Hollywood, except for scenes near escalators.

The exterior of Vincent and Jerome's apartment was filmed at the CLA (Classrooms, Laboratories, and Administration) Building of Cal Poly Pomona, designed by the architect Antoine Predock.

In another dual pun, FBI agents are called "Hoovers" in the movie, referring both to former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and the vacuum cleaner company Hoover. The FBI agents use small hand-held vacuum cleaners to gather DNA evidence.

The vacuum cleaner in Vincent and Jerome's apartment bears an insignia that says "Revelation".

The fact that Jerome won second place in a swimming competition is ironic since Vincent also always came in second relative to his brother in swimming, until Vincent (Latin: Winner) gave it everything he had to finally beat his brother.

Announcements within the Gattaca building are given in Esperanto, a constructed international language.

The piece played by Ryan Dorin, the twelve-fingered pianist, is an embellishment of the Impromptu in G Flat Major, Op.90, No.3 by Franz Schubert. Notes were added to a recording of the piece so that it became, as Irene explains to Vincent, a piece that could "only be played with twelve fingers".

Gattaca’s working title was The Eighth Day, invoking the Biblical creation story of Genesis in which God creates the world in six days before resting on the seventh day. As noted in the DVD deleted scenes, The Eighth Day is the name of the center in the movie where children are engineered. The name could not be used because a film of the same name (when translated) had been released during Gattaca’s lengthy production.

Gattaca’s storyline shares parallels with Robert A. Heinlein's science fiction stories. In Heinlein's 1942 novel Beyond This Horizon, just as in Gattaca, doctors would design children by selecting the best of the parents' genes, and just as in Gattaca, people without engineered genomes were considered inferior. Also just as in Gattaca, they were forbidden to use any genes not already present in the parents. Furthermore, in Heinlein's 1953 story Starman Jones, the protagonist falsifies his identity and memorizes a book on astrogation in order to gain acceptance and employment. Vincent studies relentlessly to attain significant knowledge in his desired field, and as in Starman Jones, memorized a book on astrogation.

Gattaca is also reminiscent of Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, which explores the development of biological engineering as one of the means of creating a utopian society.

In contrast to the technologically sophisticated future the film is set in, most of the cars used in the film are from the 1960s (for example, the Rover P6 the police drive and Irene's Citroën DS).

A deleted scene shows a montage of famous people who may have not been born if science had decrypted and been able to manipulate the human DNA sooner: Abraham Lincoln (Marfan's Syndrome), Emily Dickinson (Manic Depression), Vincent van Gogh (Epilepsy), Albert Einstein (Dyslexia), John F. Kennedy (Addison's Disease), Rita Hayworth (Alzheimer's Disease), Ray Charles (Primary Glaucoma), Stephen Hawking (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), and Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Asthma). At the end of the sequence appears the sentence: "Of course, the other birth that may never have taken place is your own."

[edit] References

Hughes, James (2004). Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-4198-1