December '15 Movie of the Month: GATTACA

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G...A...T...T...A...C...A

I loved the opening title credits. The way the names appeared on the screen with the 'fade in' letters, very cool...and that really set the mood for the film. And wow! does this film have mood!


Uma Thurman sure looks good in this film. But what's really impressive is how her (and the other characters) are handled by the director. She's coldly dispassionate and emotional controlled. All the genetically superior employees of Gattaca are like that.

That photo I used really conveys well the 'perfect world' of those who have superior genes...they're almost dehumanized by their superior conformity. And that's just what the corporations want.

The director plays on this perfect genes-equals cold as ice theme with other character pairings:

Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is the natural born child, who's full of spirit but with crummy health...In contrast is his genetically superior manufactured brother Anton, who's icy.

With the two police investigators pairing, there's: Alan Arkin who's eluded to being a natural born child, full of personality but not as bright as his younger but superior partner, who's got the personality of an machine.

Gattaca
is an awesome film and one of the best examples of existential Sci-Fi. The director expertly down plays any sci fi elements in the film, which gives it credibility. The cars are old models, the clothing is sedate, there's no high tech CG props...in fact the film starts off by saying it's set in the very near future.This isn't your typical Sci Fi film!

I thought Ethan Hawke was excellent. The huge amount of effort that he was willing to undertake so that he could go on a space missions, said a lot about the human need to overcome obstacles. And that's what the film is really about.

Jude Lawe as his counter balance was a perfect metaphor for having it all and being miserable. He too did a great job in this.

This is one of the best existential Sci Fi's I've seen.





Excellent review Citizen! (better than mine imo )

I had a feeling that you would like this one, and I'm glad you did! Even though I didn't rate it quite as high I was able to understand its appeal and how others would like it more.



Thanks! False Writer, I'm glad you liked my review, heck I'm happy if somebody just reads it I actually preferred your review as you gave much more of an idea of how the story flows. I just kind of rambled on about stuff that caught my eye.

There were a couple of scenes that I think should have been edited out (but I still love the film). GBG said the romance didn't work...I agree big time with that.

I thought the two romance scenes (in bed) between Uma and Ethan seemed tacked on, the scenes broke the pacing of the film and removed the attraction-tension between the two characters that had worked so well for most of the movie.

I also thought it inane that Ethan's character who has a heart condition that is suppose to kill him by 30, would be smoking. He was suppose to be willing to do anything to get into space, so why would he be smoking with a heart condition?



Women will be your undoing, Pépé
The REAL SCARY thing is I READ the review and was thinking: These are points I wanted to express and failed on the proper eloquence and then posted: hear, hear!


SPOOKY



Thanks! False Writer, I'm glad you liked my review, heck I'm happy if somebody just reads it I actually preferred your review as you gave much more of an idea of how the story flows. I just kind of rambled on about stuff that caught my eye.

There were a couple of scenes that I think should have been edited out (but I still love the film). GBG said the romance didn't work...I agree big time with that.

I thought the two romance scenes (in bed) between Uma and Ethan seemed tacked on, the scenes broke the pacing of the film and removed the attraction-tension between the two characters that had worked so well for most of the movie.

I also thought it inane that Ethan's character who has a heart condition that is suppose to kill him by 30, would be smoking. He was suppose to be willing to do anything to get into space, so why would he be smoking with a heart condition?
Yeah I agree. What's really ironic is that their romance didn't work on screen but Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman actually started a relationship when they met on the set of this movie and even had kids together.



Watching this again tonight, and recording a podcast with a couple of other MoFos (one longtime, one relatively new) on Sunday.
Awesome, can't wait!



Just finished recording the podcast! It came out really well; hopefully I'll be able to get the editing done in the next day or two.
CAN'T WAITTTT!!!!



I rarely love science fiction films, but with this one being set on earth, and just being futuristic helped me a lot. I think I just have trouble connecting with the genre as a whole for whatever reason. I loved the beginning when the focus was on Vincent's birth, him growing up, and the competition with his brother. From there, I thought the main story was very good, but I became disconnected. It's a great movie to look at, and extremely well done with a very good cast. I don't like rating movies in which the quality exceeds my overall enjoyment, but for me
+ feels about right. I've heard some mention the slow pace, but I was never bored with it. Not my type, but I liked it well enough.



Podcast is up! I literally just finished editing it this evening, so hopefully I didn't miss any weird mistakes.

The conversation itself is pretty great, I think: both guests did a fantastic job. The first voice you'll hear is that of Slappydavis, who's a newer member I know from another site. The other non-me voice is bluedeed, who you'll remember from our last podcast.



The best way to get it is to subscribe with iTunes. The next best is to plug the podcast feed into your RSS reader, or to download it with this link. Or you can just listen with this embedded player:



Enjoy.



YESSS! Psyched for this, I'm in the middle of a TV show right now but right when it ends I'll be downloading and listening asap!



Nah, it's just a discussion about the film. Definitely intended to be listened to after you've seen the film, though. Spoilers and all that.

Oh, speaking of which, we do sorta spoil Her in the process. Just, you know, in case.



What part of the Podcast do you spoil Her? When I listen to it, I wouldn't like Her spoiled for me.

Anyway, I just watched Gattaca and I thought it was great. Possibly the best MotM film so far.



Just listened to it, great job by all 3 of you! You guys had great flow and were very insightful on the film's themes and meanings. Some of the things you all talked about were things that I would've never realized on my own, like the meaning of Eugene's climb up the stairs.

Something else I liked was that all 3 were loud and spoke clearly. Sometimes on a few random podcasts I'd listen to there would be one or more people who were very low or you could barely understand them. Definitely not the case with this one!

Once again, great job. Everyone needs to give this a listen!