Utopia or Dystopia Film Review free essay sample

Welcome back your listening to 104. 7 FM Radio National Breakfast and it is time for films with Jane Smith. Today I’ll be reviewing Gattaca, There is no gene for the human spirit. Gattaca enters the same category as Contact (1997). Starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law Gattaca is a Science Fiction film about a possible future dystopian world. The movie draws on what it means to be human and the concerns over reproductive technologies which facilitate eugenics, and takes the possible consequences of such technological development to the extreme. It also delves into the idea of destiny and the ways it can and does govern lives. This film has been constructed very cleverly with many things having hidden meanings, a perfect example is the title Gattaca in the opening credits the letters GATC are highlighted, these leters are used to lable DNA strands. Sutle hints continue throughout the picture. The Gattaccan world is a scary example of a world valuing genectic engineering and eugentics it presents a new kind of discrimination â€Å"we’ve now got discrimination down to a science†. We will write a custom essay sample on Utopia or Dystopia Film Review or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Children are no longer a product of there parents, they are only the best parts. Gattacca is a world accepting only genectic perfection â€Å"My father was right. It didnt matter how much I lied on my resume, my real C. V. was in my cells. Why should anybody invest all that money to train me, when there are a thousand other applicants with a far cleaner profile? Of course, its illegal to discriminate –â€Å"Genoism its called but no one takes the laws seriously. † development in technology made easy identification â€Å"If you refuse to disclose, they can always take a sample from a doorhandle or a handshake†¦ even the saliva of your application form. But for the most part we know who we are. And if all else fails, a legal drug test can just as easily become an illegal peek at your future in the company. † Hawke plays Vincent Freeman a utero, a faith birth, an in-valid or genectically imperfect man who has a desperate dream of becoming an astronaut however because he was concieved naturally an uncommon and frowned upon practice in the world of Gattica he is not genectically superior or a valid. After discovering that he was infact capable of the same feat as his valid brother Anton played by Loren Dean, Vincent leaves home. Vincent knows that the only way he will get to space is by breaking the law and posing as a valid. Vincent takes the plunge; he has heard about a man, German played by Tony Shalhoub who can offer him a valid identity. â€Å"Vincent, come down. Ive found him. He has the heart of an ox. He could run through a Goddamn wallif he could still run. Actually, he was a big college swimming star. † Jude Law is Jerome Eugene Morrow a man with genetics ‘second to none’ however after competing as a swimmer and winning only a silver medal Jerome attempts suicide but yet again falls short and instead paralizes himself from the waist down. And when, for one reason or another, a member of the elite falls on hard times, their genetic identity becomes a valued commodity for the unscrupulous. One mans loss is another mans gain. † As Jerome’s ‘accident’ occurred in â€Å"Australasia somewhere† it is not on file Vincent buys Jerome’s identity under the conditions of paying 25% of all earnings to German and financially supporting the real Jerome Morrow. Vincent is proving to be a successful Jerome impersonator and develops a relationship with Irene Cassini played by Uma Thurman a Gattaca Aerospace Corporation collgue. Irene has anâ€Å"’Unacceptable risk of heart failure. ’ I think thats what the manual says. The only trip Ill take in space is around the sun on this satellite right here. † Each of these characters is battling the burden of perfection in some way. By the end of this film you are left wondering why humanity as it is, is moving toward a genetic future. Gattaca is carefully constructed using a lot of symbolism that is obvious to some viewers and others will pick up on in time. The characters names all have a hidden meaning, Eugene symbolises the concept eugenics, Vincent’s valid brother named Anton means pure, ideal or perfect, Irene’s name means peace a fitting name for a honest, accepting character who often keeps the peace between characters and makes Vincent feel at peace with his true identity and finally Vincent Freeman symbolises his journey to become a free man once he has overcome all obstacles and made it to space. Viewers are positioned to accept the reading that we must either accept a genetic future or humanity as it already is. The world of Gattaca values Genetic Engineering Eugenics, Genoism, Social Order and Perfection. These values are underpinned by Gattacan people only socialising with people in the same genetic class as them and are honoured by the friendship of those in higher classes. The quality of your genes determines your position in the world, â€Å"blood has no nationality†. This idea of perfection is clearly evident throughout and heavily impacts viewers raising questions about the burden of perfection. Gattaca was directed by Andrew Niccoll it was made to firstly make money as well as to shock audiences with a controversial comment on human condition. This film uses film techniques to its advantage they are used to make the viewer aware of the foreground, middle ground and background as well as creating tension, making the viewer feel as though they are in the action, adding variety and most commonly used in Gattaca to create drama and suspicion. This done by using extreme close ups, these create suspicion, drama and inform the viewer of what is happening this technique is exploited in Gattaca. The main character Vincent narrates the film; this positions you to view what is happening from his point of view, from an in-valid point of view. It instils the belief that Gattaca is a dystopian future. The characters are developed cleverly so that we as viewers can relate easily to many aspects of their personality. For example Vincent is the determined underdog, a position many of us have taken on at same point in our lives. This film is absurdly structured but the idea can be explained by the two quotes at the beginning of the film As night-fall does not come at once, neither does oppression It is in such twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air- however slight lest we become victims of the darkness. This acts as a warning about the second one I not only think that we will tamper with Mother Nature, I think Mother wants us to. This theme is continued throughout the picture, this text was constructed for a clear purpose, in was constructed to comment on what it means to be human and the concerns over reproductive technologies which further eugenics however Niccoll has taken necessary steps to imbed it into the film as if it was to obvious it would not attract enough veiwers, he has secretly encoded his message into Gattaca to attract more veiwers and in the long run make money. You’ve just been listening to Films with Jane Smith on 104. 7 FM Radio National Breakfast its now time for the 9 o’clock news.