The Players : 
Ethan Hawke (Vincent/Jerome), Uma Thurman (Irene), Jude Law (Eugene/Jerome), Loren Dean (Investigator) 

Behind The Scenes : 

Don't you wish you could be perfect in some ways? Nose smaller, bust bigger, lips fuller, more intelligent, trimmer physique. In Gattaca, it's possible as most children are chosen and not conceived through Îlove'. Produced by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, the team who brought you Get Shorty, Gattaca is written and directed by Andrew Niccol.

Niccol is also responsible for the breathtaking set design of the movie. He says : "I always felt if you can't design and completely rebuild the future, then it is better to take the best from the past and present, and drag it into the future with you." 

The Story : 
Welcome to the future - where you are discriminated not because of your skin colour, but because of your genes. It's a whole new world where you are able to choose the genetic makeup of the child you want. Choose wisely because your child's whole future and fate depend on it. The world is now striving for perfection and the more perfect your child, the more likely he or she will succeed. 

Thus, if you are a "God child", a child conceived through love and not in a lab, you are a social stigma! Vincent Freeman is one of the very few. Labeled an "In Valid", Vincent is not allowed to do things a Înormal' child can. Such as chasing his dream to be a space ship navigator.

Not one to give up easily, Vincent is fiercely determined to do whatever that's necessary within reason to achieve his ambitions. Even if it means changing identity. Vincent enlists the aid of German, a so-called DNA broker who sells false identities to the genetically inferior. German sets Vincent up in a partnership with Jerome Eugene Morrow, once a superior genetic specimen who has since been paralysed in an accident and is now willing to sell his prime genetic material for cash. 

Vincent then becomes Jerome. Using the latter's blood and urine samples to go through an interview with Gattaca Corporation. Jerome then becomes a respected navigator at Gattaca and days before he is actually sent to Titan (his ultimate dream come true) a murder occurs in Gattaca. 

The director of the space agency has been murdered and everyone in the space programme is a suspect. An expansive search of the premises by a zealous investigator reveals the presence of an In-Valid's eyelash near the murder scene. Vincent's, now known as Jerome eyelash.

Did he do it? Will his past catch up with him? And what does the beautiful Irene know about him? 

The Review : 
A futuristic movie which doesn't look futuristic at all. I mean, when you read that this is a futuristic thriller, you'd come to think along the line of Fifth Element. Wrong! Nothing is futuristic here, except maybe the concept of the movie. The setting, dressing, lighting, props and even the theme of the movie give a 60s feel. 

It's 60s revisited and done quite stylishly. The opening sequence and the 10 minutes which follow show a modern approach in the old fashioned way. Think 60s series such as I Dream Of Jeannie, Get Smart and Time Tunnel. The setting is beautifully orchestrated - the almost bare-but-packed Îoffice', the narrow escalator, the 40s nightclub etc. The set is lit very drably, nevertheless stunning. The clothes also reflect the past. Evening wear for Uma Thurman's Irene is a long satin material, bareback - the era of Marilyn Monroe and Katherine Hepburn. Office wear is high collared dark coloured suits for Ethan Hawke's Jerome.

Two actors hold court here - Ethan Hawke and British actor Jude Law. Both are totally opposite individuals but at the same time, similar. Different because of science and similar because of the passion for their own dreams and how both are stuck in a circumstance where dreams cannot be fulfilled. Jude Law is so intense in his arrogance and helplessness that it is a good American debut. Jude has done theatre works all this while in UK. 

At this point of time, where the development in Science is frighteningly fast paced, this movie makes you stop and wonder - are all inventions/findings beneficial to the human race. But that's not the centerpoint of this movie. You view other age-old issues in this futuristic thriller as well - sibling rivalry, determination gets you where you want to, nothing's impossible and people are not what they seem to be. Even at present, where there's no genetic makeup and cloning of human, people are not what they seem to be. Beware! 

Posted : 28 FEB 1998