The premise for Gattaca is simple: in the not-too-distant future, we will have the ability to engineer our offspring so that they can have very specific traits, and no genetic mal-conditions. As the Geneticist in the movie explains to the main character's parents, "...this child is still you. Simply, the best of you." In this world, society quickly becomes divided between those that have been engineered and "faith births" who were conceived naturally. Gattaca is the story of Vincent (Ethan Hawke) who was a faith birth and early tests claim that he has a 99% chance of a heart condition and a short life. It is the story of Vincent's desire to break away from that label and prove that he can be as good as his engineered brethren that we see here.
Unfortunately for Vincent, his dreams to work at Gattaca and go to the stars are just that, a dream. Since this world is so versed in genetic decoding, it is a very simple matter to take DNA samples and analyze them in order to determine just how good of a candidate you are. So Vincent takes another path, with the help of Tony Shalhoub, he takes over the life of former Olympic swimmer, Jerome Morrow (an early American role by Jude Law), who has become wheelchair-bound because of an accident. So now Vincent will have to train himself to look and act like Jerome, while Jerome will provide Vincent any and all genetic materials he will need to fool the many sampling devices found in the world.
The movie actually starts off with Vincent employed by Gattaca and ready for his mission to the moon of Titan. But when one of the Directors turns up murdered and a stray eyelash leads the police into believing he is involved, he will have to do some fancy footwork in order to still make it into space.
Gattaca has a great film-noir feel to it since everything about it has a yesterday's tomorrow style. The cars look like they belong in a Capone movie, but with a distinct electric motor sound, and everyone, right down to the "Hoovers", wear suits and trench coats that also feel like they herald from a few decades ago.
Gattaca: Special Edition not only has the original making-of featurette and deleted scenes, but there is also an outtake where Gattaca's doctor has some fun with the genetic samples and a couple of new featurettes. The "Welcome to Gattaca" featurette is a retrospective that brings back several of the cast and crew members as they talk about making the movie and what impact it has had in the 10+ years it has been out. The other new featurette, "Do Not Alter?" is a documentary about genetic engineering and cloning. This film interviews many top geneticists about what genetic engineering and cloning really is, how it can help society and what the potential for genetic discrimination could be. I found it fascinating, but I can see how it would easily be considered boring by the general population.
Like I said at the beginning, this movie is one of my favorites. I think Writer/Director Andrew Niccol really put a great thing together with Gattaca and the Special Edition release is terrific for anyone who is currently a fan. If you haven't seen this movie yet, then definitely go give it a viewing, because I believe it is one that should be seen at least once by everyone. Who knows, everyone watching this film might just help to prevent its predictions.
