Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is one of those who were conceived naturally and in this DNA-dominated futuristic world, he was born to be incompetent- with a congenital heart condition and is destined to die by the age of 30. He dreams of travelling in space, teaches himself and is transferred from one place to another to do manual work- and he ends up being a caretaker at Gattaca, the corporation associating with space travel, using the finest men and women, chosen according to their genes. Vincent assumes the identity of Jerome (Jude Law), a wheelchair-bound former swimmer (his disability is due to an 'accident'...actually, NOT an accident at all, as you shall see when you have seen the film), using samples of his hair, skin tissue, blood and urine to become one of the Gattaca people, plus Vincent's determination to undergo the intense training. Right before his assigned mission takes off, the director is murdered and Vincent has accidentally left his eyelash in the premises. Now the police have the evidence and they begin to search for the murderer. Vincent's safety is at stake.
When Vincent finally reaches the outer space, he opens the letter which Jerome has left to him...as Vincent's dream becomes true, Jerome has gone to the opposite direction, the other path...with his silver medal and his broken heart caused by being 'the second best'...
As I used the word before, the film is very futuristic. Discrimination now is about your genes, rather than your gender, race or religion. But Vincent makes it. He proves that he can get what he wants, as long as he refuses to give up. The movie is magnificently written and made, well acted by Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman. Hawke is smashing at playing strong characters (eg 'Alive'), Law is very convincing as the depressed former athlete and Thurman as one of the Gattaca people whom Vincent meets and falls in love with, realising the somewhat stunning truth. This film is a moving journey of the human spirit, towards both direction- up there or down the road. Simply spectacular.
When Vincent finally reaches the outer space, he opens the letter which Jerome has left to him...as Vincent's dream becomes true, Jerome has gone to the opposite direction, the other path...with his silver medal and his broken heart caused by being 'the second best'...
As I used the word before, the film is very futuristic. Discrimination now is about your genes, rather than your gender, race or religion. But Vincent makes it. He proves that he can get what he wants, as long as he refuses to give up. The movie is magnificently written and made, well acted by Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman. Hawke is smashing at playing strong characters (eg 'Alive'), Law is very convincing as the depressed former athlete and Thurman as one of the Gattaca people whom Vincent meets and falls in love with, realising the somewhat stunning truth. This film is a moving journey of the human spirit, towards both direction- up there or down the road. Simply spectacular.