Thursday, July 2, 2009

Gattaca - a review


I discovered this gem of a movie released back in 1997. Directed by Andrew Niccols, who directed one of my favorites - Lord of War, Gattaca is a movie that weaves elements of sci-fi, romance, suspence and drama around the theme of human spirit.

The movie's tagline "There is No Gene for The Human Spirit" reverberates in the rousing tale of its protagonist, Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke), an in-valid living in a future of genetically tailored humans who dreams the impossible - of flying into space. Asthma, a weak heart and physical frailness do nothing to deter his courage and perseverance to succeed. As he overcomes his challenges through his will, he inspires his stronger, more-gifted friends by the resilience of his spirit.

The plot is full of interesting twists and turns, and is extremley aesthetic. The screenplay, the cinematography, and the background score exude excellence, but never overshadow the fantastic drama that unfolds between the well-developed characters. Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman bring their roles to life. The movie is filled with inspiring moments. In one, when Vincent and his younger, genetically-superior brother Antoine are swimming out in the sea to see who can swim farthest before chickening and turning back, Antione says "We are too far out. You do realize every stroke forward means a stroke back." Vincent says "That's the difference Antoine, I never planned on swimming back."

The movie reminded me of Guruji. No obstacles lessen his love, sincerity and efforts to care for creation, which are provided with utmost simplicity, sincerity, innocence and humility. I am reminded of the Vikram Batra IOCL advertisement, which read "For every step we take, there is an inspired Indian leading the way."


9 comments:

Random Reflections said...

Interesting movie certainly...though I wasn't moved as much. The name is quite interesting every letter from the A T G C letters from the DNA code. Also a stark indication of what science can do to the human race if not tempered by human values...which is what ultimately wins in the END (oops that was a spoiler) :D

Unknown said...

The ATCG aspect is interesting. Any movies you recommend?

Amrita Sinha said...

Hi Abhishek, I follow your blog but first time commenting on it. Firstly I would say this is a very nice blog, and about the movie I think that this is really interesting one I'll watch it!! Cheers, Jaya Gurudev :)

Unknown said...

Hey Amrita, i really appreciate your comment, and i liked your blog too. The background track is thumping!

Random Reflections said...

Hi Abhishek : I love movies with a scientific / academic / spiritual /life theme. Here are a few :

1. ONCE
2. Good Will Hunting
3. Apollo 13
4. Twister
5. Armageddon
6. Scent Of A Woman
7. Adi Shankara

JGD !

Unknown said...

@RR : yep i love the theme too. My all time favorite would be the Matrix trilogy

Amrita Sinha said...

The track is uploaded on youtube and its title is "Youth Empowerment Seminar Montreal-April 24-29" Cheers :)

Unknown said...

thanks for that

Pratibha said...

Wow! ATGC never occured to me! Thanks for sharing!

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