Biotechnology
BioFlick
Film Review “Gattaca”
Gattaca is a film set in the not so distant future, staring Ethan Hawke and Uma
Thurman as the main characters. The film comprises a clever mix of both science
fiction, romance, and some dramatic tension.
The film explores various issues in the society of that time. The main issue explored is
the issue of genetic engineering. In the time frame the film was set, technology had
advanced enough to allow parents to genetically engineer their children, to optimise
their change of being fully functional and highly intelligent human beings. The
downside to this is that people are assessed on their genetic code when they go to jobs
ect. This means that a person with a “potential” heart issue would be somewhat
discriminated against because of this issue. What is comes down to is to how much
money their parents spend on their genetic consoler as to how well they would turn
out.
The main theme of the film, is the issue of a genetically challenged person, trying to
prove that he has what it takes to do something greater than simply being part of a
cleaning team. This person is Vincent Freeman. All Vincent’s life, he has suffered
because of his genetic disadvantage, all through his childhood, and the beginnings of
his Adult hood. He had always dreamed of being an astronaught. To accomplish his
dream, he must somehow change his genetic code. To do this, be borrows another
persons genetic material, and lives the life of that person, Jerome Morrow. The real
Jerome Morrow because a paraplegic whilst travelling overseas. As such it was not
recorded in the United States that he has a disability, hence his genetic signature was
still valid. For Vincent to be able to pass as Jerome Morrow, he was required to
undergo various surgical procedures, such as extensions added to his legs. He was
also required to wear small plastic sachets on his fingers containing samples of the
real Jerome’s blood to pass as the real Jerome when going through security
screenings. Once the modifications had been made to Vincent, he was then accepted
into Gattaca, their equivalent of our NASA. Gattaca is a space organization,
constantly sending astronaughts into space to further space exploration.
Jerome was accepted into Gattaca simply by providing a sample of his DNA, through
a finger prick blood sample. No theory test, or vast amounts of training were required,
just a simple finger prick. From there Jerome began his training, and was put into a
mission to travel to one of Saturn’s many moons, Titan. This Journey was to take a
year to complete. Whilst at Gattaca, Jerome met a lady by the name if Irene. From
there their relationship grew to the point where they were in love. All was going well
until one of the directors of Gattaca was brutally murdered, and a full scale
investigation began at Gattaca. The police detective, armed with small vacuum
cleaners, picked up a trace of Jerome’s real genetic material, in the form of an eyelash
he had dropped. According to the computer system, Jerome’s real identity, Vincent
Freeman, was not meant to be in Gattaca, hence a full scale search began to locate
where/who Vincent Freeman was, or where he was currently residing. Irene did not
know the real identity of Jerome, and during one scene with a police officer, came
into contact with the real Jerome, followed by the fake Jerome, Vincent. She was not
overly pleased about this, and for a moment suspected Vincent of the murder, and did
not trust him. However later on, she grew to trust him again. The police gradually got
closer to Vincent, they got to the point where he was right under their noses, then in
the final scene, Jerome’s real identity was confirmed, he was Vincent Freeman,
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Biotechnology
BioFlick
Film Review “Gattaca”
however the genetic supervisor has suspected it for some time, and was not really
surprised. He was confident that Vincent had not committed any murder, and
basically told him to go and board the space craft. By this stage, the police had also
some across another suspect, and were pursuing another lead.
The final scene ends with the suicide of the real Jerome Morrow, who had been badly
injured, and become a paraplegic. Vincent Freeman was at this time just taking off
into space when he opened the letter from the real Jerome, saying that he planned to
travel, and to go someplace nice.
The film has several interesting features in it, first of all is its name, Gattaca, made up
only using the first letter of the four bases that make up DNA, G, A, T and C.
Secondly is the way it covers a whole range of ethical issues associated with genetic
engineering, and sciences in general. Finally, it explores the way humans discriminate
against other humans, in its many forms The form used here is that of someones
genetics.
The film was originally going to be called, “The Eighth Day”, however while the film
was still being put together, the name was taken and released on a film made in
Belgium. This was a serious set back for the film, and removed any link that the
general public could make with the films name to the content. The Eighth Day refers
to the day after God had rested when constructing the Earth. This has a strong link to
the main theme of the film, the theme of genetic engineering, the modification in a
sense of the human race. The new title for the film, Gattaca was one that most people
could not relate anything to, with only a few people in scientific communities making
the link that it was made up of the four based of DNA. As such, one gave Gattaca the
title of “The most underrated film of the 90’s”. This was an unfortunate blow for the
film, which had the potential to be a big hit.
Overall Gattaca was an entertaining and interesting mix of science fiction, romance
and drama. It is a good film that requires an element of thought to follow, and is not
overly predictable, with many trials and tribulations faced by the characters in it. It
was well cast, and provided insight into several potential scenarios that could
potentially arrise in the future.
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