Andrew Niccol
Gattaca

THE REVIEW

It's the first creation of Andrew Niccol, "Gattaca," a little gem of science fiction cinema in recent years.

In an unspecified near future, DNA becomes the defining trait of humanity: genetic and physical perfection is sought through technology, and birth becomes scientific, in order to create "pure" beings, as opposed to the "in-valids," the rabble of this society. Vincent (Ethan Hawke) manages, thanks to a series of endless subterfuges, to become part of the elite of the "valids," mainly with the help of Jerome (Jude Law), who, now paraplegic, gives his own identity to Vincent.

This is the basic plot of "Gattaca - The Door to the Universe," a 1997 film. There's a sort of surrealism in Niccol's "static" shots, enriched by the excellent cinematography of Slawomir Idziak. But what the film most succeeds in is intertwining themes that would seem antithetical, such as personal realization and a kind of "science fiction Darwinism," where the concept of ideological superiority is closely linked to the abilities and physical integrity of individuals. But there's more in Niccol's timeless storytelling: the disenchanted gaze of the film subtly reveals a melancholy expressed by all the main actors and beyond, almost to emphasize how these selection criteria for constructing a well-defined society everyone wants to belong to are somehow "limiting" of human affection. Asepticism, suspicion, and fear reign.

"Gattaca" manages to unite all these elements, blending them between science fiction (all still very "sober"), noir, and existential drama, which finds its highest expression in the figure of Jerome and Jude Law's performance.

The future is a "construction," something mankind wants to belong to without detaching from what has been. That's why the finale introduces the theme of "return," in a cyclical continuum that is not as painless as the last scenes would have us believe.