Post by petrolino on May 26, 2018 1:30:45 GMT
In 'Gattaca', coveted student Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke) dreams of manning a rare mission to Saturn's moon Titan. His role at the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation comes into question when a brutal murder is committed.
"Keep your lashes on your lids where they belong. How could you be so careless."
Uma Thurman
Saturn
'Holding On To Black Metal' - My Morning Jacket
The provocative science-fiction fantasy 'Gattaca' is a biopunk steamer set within a sterile, corporate police state. Its electric blue opening observes Vincent (Ethan Hawke) taking a shower before he carries out repairs on his synthetic biostructure before setting off for work. He's greeted at his work station by legendary author Gore Vidal who assumes the role of Kafkaesque monstrosity Director Josef. Vincent is clean, capable, meticulous and fastidious. Through Ethan Hawke's absorbing, nuanced narration we learn why he has to be this way.
Every student's dream at the Aerospace Center is to man a space mission but a tough regime built upon scientific advancement and studies in eugenics ensures few qualify. Vincent is a 1st class navigator who believes he was selected at birth to fly to Titan but it's a question of endurance. His job is to convince others that he has what it takes, for like his loving mother Marie (Jayne Brook), Vincent's a product of love who was built a Catholic in Detroit, Michigan. Vincent was gifted a competitive brother engineered to be a winner.
"What is genetic engineering, after all, but preemptive plastic surgery? Make the child perfect in the test tube, and save money later. Throw in perfect health, a high IQ and a long life-span, and you have the brave new world of “Gattaca,” in which the bioformed have inherited the earth, and babies who are born naturally get to be menial laborers.
This is one of the smartest and most provocative of science fiction films, a thriller with ideas. Its hero is a man who challenges the system. Vincent (Ethan Hawke) was born in the old-fashioned way, and his genetic tests show he has bad eyesight, heart problems and a life expectancy of about 30 years. He is an “In-Valid,” and works as a cleaner in a space center."
This is one of the smartest and most provocative of science fiction films, a thriller with ideas. Its hero is a man who challenges the system. Vincent (Ethan Hawke) was born in the old-fashioned way, and his genetic tests show he has bad eyesight, heart problems and a life expectancy of about 30 years. He is an “In-Valid,” and works as a cleaner in a space center."
- Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times
"In modern cinema science fiction is often just another way of saying science fantasy. It’s a fantastical journey to a galaxy far, far away where the need to keep the plot moving is aided by the fact that characters can be instantaneously beamed from place to place without all that tiresome messing about in hyper-space.
Green-blooded aliens are frequently presented as the bad guys – often a parable for our own darker character traits – a battle ensues, lots of adrenalin pumping laser-filled gun-fire is exchanged before the heroes in the white suits beat the villains in the black suits and order is restored before the final credit crawl.
Now, I love the twist-turn acrobatics of a good space opera as much as anyone, but, there should be more to science fiction than science fantasy. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys and Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report have shown that you can use science fiction as a means to have a serious discussion about the way that our planet/society is heading.
Writer-director Andrew Niccol’s film Gattaca is all about the ethics behind the science of genetic engineering. He asks the tough question: just because you can do something, does it mean that you should – even though, on the surface, it would seem to be a good thing to do?
Gattaca presents no easy answers but it asks us to look at the bigger picture. Andrew Niccol introduces us to a chilling world which is not too different from our own. It is a place run by multi-national corporations, where jobs are scarce and you need to be better than the person next door to get on."
Green-blooded aliens are frequently presented as the bad guys – often a parable for our own darker character traits – a battle ensues, lots of adrenalin pumping laser-filled gun-fire is exchanged before the heroes in the white suits beat the villains in the black suits and order is restored before the final credit crawl.
Now, I love the twist-turn acrobatics of a good space opera as much as anyone, but, there should be more to science fiction than science fantasy. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys and Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report have shown that you can use science fiction as a means to have a serious discussion about the way that our planet/society is heading.
Writer-director Andrew Niccol’s film Gattaca is all about the ethics behind the science of genetic engineering. He asks the tough question: just because you can do something, does it mean that you should – even though, on the surface, it would seem to be a good thing to do?
Gattaca presents no easy answers but it asks us to look at the bigger picture. Andrew Niccol introduces us to a chilling world which is not too different from our own. It is a place run by multi-national corporations, where jobs are scarce and you need to be better than the person next door to get on."
- Andrew Clarke, East Anglian Daily Times
Loren Dean
Titan
'Last War' - Haley Bonar
'Gattaca' is a parable set within a world affected by prejudice and driven by "genoism" which provides some intriguing subtext about the historic role of eugenics and the future threat of genetic warfare. Cinematographer Slawomir Idziak's pure compositions, clean images and crystalline backdrops are only half the story as there's magic at work within the production design. The sterile environment and empty spaces somehow evoke glacial atmospherics, assisted by Michael Nyman's sincere musical score which carries an emotional theme. A body of primary colours is rendered through neon tones which adds flavour to proceedings.
In many ways, writer-director Andrew Niccol has fashioned a future-noir with 'Gattaca'. Ethan Hawke is the story's suspect narrator who can't be trusted, so you can't trust his narration. Uma Thurman shines brightly as Irene Cassini, who may or may not be a femme fatale. Alan Arkin assumes the role of private dick as special investigator Detective Hugo who's answerable to by-the-book company man Detective Freeman (Loren Dean). As astro clinician Doctor Lamar, charismatic character actor Xander Berkley could have stepped out of a wartime propaganda noir and Blair Underwood also appears as a top geneticist. Tony Shalhoub is ice cool as underworld connection German and Jude Law delivers some of his best on-screen work as superathlete Jerome Morrow. Connecting this picture to the original film noir cycle (often noted as 1941 - 1959) is the great Ernest Borgnine whose career encompassed genre classics like Robert Parrish's 'The Mob' (1951) and Richard Fleischer's groundbreaking 'Violent Saturday' (1955), Borgnine appearing here as well-drilled cleaning company contractor Caesar.
"In 1997, just months before The Truman Show was released, Niccol directed Gattaca, and while the genetically deterministic society he portrayed was persuasive—the Human Genome Project was underway, after all—it was undoubtedly science fiction. Jump to today, and 23andMe is analyzing our saliva and Crispr targeted genome manipulation promises to make genetic engineering a snap.
Starring a slick-haired Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman at her most serene, Gattaca is a deserved cult classic, a highlight in the hubristic-humans-playing-God subgenre, the urtext for any discussion of the slippery slope toward eugenics. In 2011, it topped a NASA poll of the most plausible science fiction movies ever made.
Starring a slick-haired Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman at her most serene, Gattaca is a deserved cult classic, a highlight in the hubristic-humans-playing-God subgenre, the urtext for any discussion of the slippery slope toward eugenics. In 2011, it topped a NASA poll of the most plausible science fiction movies ever made.
After Gattaca and The Truman Show, Niccol continued to make movies that explored the intersections of technology and humanity, reality and artifice. In 2002’s S1mone, a megalomaniac director conjures a computer-generated actress, passing her off as the real thing. (In the credits, “S1mone” was boldly listed as having played herself; the film’s marketing campaign ran with the idea, withholding the identity of the real actress.) In Time (2011) takes place in a future when an aging gene is switched off at 25. Good Kill (2014) depicts the disturbing reality of drone warfare as a dehumanizing videogame.
“He manages to put his finger on the major emotional political and spiritual crises of our age,” says Ethan Hawke (Gattaca, Lord of War, Good Kill). “He asks questions you don’t have easy answers for.”
“He manages to put his finger on the major emotional political and spiritual crises of our age,” says Ethan Hawke (Gattaca, Lord of War, Good Kill). “He asks questions you don’t have easy answers for.”
- Darryn King, Wired
"Well, it’s the stories that dictate the style. They all have a slightly different feel. If you go back to Gattaca, characters are scared of leaving a trace of themselves, so the world is very sterile. And in The Truman Show, everything looks artificial because the protagonist is living in a counterfeit world. In Time is slightly different as well because time is precious, so nothing exists that would be a waste of time. For instance, there’s no graffiti, because why would you spend time scrawling on a wall? And in the world of Anon, there’s almost no signage because all the ads are really in your head. So the story often dictates exactly the look."
- Andrew Niccol, The Verge
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke on Paul Schrader & the Priesthood
Enceladus
'The Ghost Of The Girl In The Well' - The Willard Grant Conspiracy & Kristin Hersh
'Gattaca' was a box-office flop that was met with disappointment and disillusionment but it seems to have found a solid and appreciative audience since its initial release. It's a film that's really grown on me over time. I'd also strongly recommend Niccol's sophomore effort, the satirical fantasy 'S1m0ne' (2002). His new movie 'Anon' (2018) pairs Clive Owen and 'In Time' (2011) star Amanda Seyfried. Niccol's also been keeping busy working on the script for a big budget movie production based upon the historic board game 'Monopoly' which is played regularly around the world.
