The movie I chose for the month of March is Gattaca. I will admit to having a slight ulterior motive in choosing this movie--I'd really like to watch it again because I don't remember it that clearly. :-) That said, I recall it had some interesting themes on faith and science, set against the background of genetic manipulation. Rather than try to further pique your interest in it, I will merely say that I remember it as being a fine movie, and refer you here for more details.
Since I'm vague in the details this is your chance to catch me in an error about the movie I'm recommending; so be sure to watch Gattaca some time this month and come tell us how I was all wrong about it. :-)
Raquel
A place to talk about the art of movies and what they tell us about our world and our Creator.
The Big Wig Waggles:
Gabrielle Ben-Ezra
Adiel Gardner
Raquel Mutton
Adiel Gardner
Raquel Mutton
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8 comments:
ooo ooo!
We just picked this one up on sale at Dollar General last month.
It's one of my favorites--I'll reserve comments for after I watch it again.
Hey guys, I've never seen this before, but hope to watch it before the month is out! Just thought I would report my internet wanderings here. I went over to imdb to check it out (thanks for the link) and noticed that it was up 31% since last week. I thought, "Could the waggle room be generating this much hype?!" Then I noticed the sidebar ad for Gattaca out on DVD and Blue-Ray Disc March 11th. Hmmm, that might have something to do with it ...
*sheepish smile*
I watched Gattaca yesterday with Raquel. I enjoyed the experience of watching the movie, but I don't I liked it very much. The movie felt like it was trying to be too many things and didn't settle on any one thing to do it well. The makers of the movie wanted to tell a story about a man overcoming trials and difficulties to reach his dream, but in the end Vincent goes on the spaceship because a doctor is kind to him. I saw him tricking the system, but not truly overcoming it which is unfortunate because that is the story the movie wanted to tell.
There was great possibility for the movie to tell the story of a society that is ruled by genes, but the scope of the story was too small to get a good idea of the society. The story was about one man and his dream, not really about the world he lived in. The world existed to be a difficulty for him to overcome which is cool, but I really wanted to see more of the society. I wanted to see the society that is ruled by the genetic elite and see it whole because from the bit I could see I think the movie makers understood what they were talking. But the movie wasn't about the society and culture genetically engineered children would bring. Again, the society just existed for Vincent to overcome.
There was a good possibility for a genetic murder mystery. I would have thought that was very cool. A side story of the movie is two detectives solving the murder of the director of the space program Vincent works at. I thought that segment of the movie was fascinating, but it wasn't the central tale so rightly the movie makers didn't dwell on it. There was a small amount of cat and mouse between the detectives and Vincent, but not enough to be gripping.
There was good material for a character drama, but I didn't really get a good fix on some of the characters to care about them. Irene is almost a closed book and I thought I understood Eugene until he went and killed himself. That I didn't understand and it made me feel like either there was something I'd missed or it truly didn't make sense. There was such promise. I mean, the main character is living a lie and is wooing a woman under an assumed name, an assumed life and assumed genetics. There could be a lot of fascinating angst in that story. But the movie just breezed on past it virtually without comment.
I really wanted to see deep things in Gattaca. I think maybe I was looking at it a bit too hard, in fact. As it was, it was a very fun movie, but I didn't come away with any great new insight on the world I live in or the possible world that could be if science keeps on as it's going.
Alright, I don't think I can handle the full scope of that comment right now, so I'm going to focus in on one thing.
The point of the movie was not that Vincent could trick the system. The point of the movie was that he really was good enough, regardless of his genes. He earned what he wanted every step of the way (with flying colors even)--tricking the system was just the way he got a chance to earn it in the first place. And I actually see the doctor's aid in the end as another victory. I don't think it was random kindness. I think the doctor wanted to be on Vincent's side at least partly because of who Vincent actually was. Do you think he would have actually cared whether the original Jerome made it or not?
I just finished watching the movie. I had purposefully not read the comments on it until now, but I think I'd say pretty much exactly what Gabrielle said. I felt frustrated that the characters were not more fully developed and the plot lines were a bit weak at times.
I thought the detectives were cool with their old fashioned trench coats and hats and I was hoping for more interesting stuff to happen in that quarter.
I did like the relationship between Jerome and Vincent, but it wasn't clear enough why Jerome was going through all that trouble for Vincent. Sure, he was getting paid, but it didn't seem worth all that. I greatly enjoyed the way Jude Law played that role.
I thought at one point that Irene was working undercover for the cops- because of the scene where she is told to assist them and because it didn't seem possible for a character to be so flat- but she was all she appeared to be. Part of my problem could be that I don't much care for Uma Thurman and I think she had a tendency to over-act.
I liked how there was a blend of the 1940s (I think that's the decade I'm thinking of) with all the futuristic stuff. That was a neat effect.
There were parts of the society that didn't seem to make sense so I wish more time had been spent elaborating on the world. It was such a unique and fascinating idea that I was really interested in it, but a lot of my questions about it went unanswered. For example, if their science was so exact why didn't anyone notice his contact lenses? Why weren't there surveillance cameras anywhere?
Why exactly were they launching spaceships and where were they all going? What did the Gattaca people do up there? Maybe I missed something, but I'd really like to know what was going on there.
I did watch this movie over the course of a few days so that could be part of my confusion. I'm going to watch it again with Joshua so maybe I'll like it better this time around.
Just wanted to point out something that appears to have been missed.
The doctor was Vincent's father. That makes a huge difference to me.
Raquel is correct, the movie is about Vincent being good enough, about not judging someone without knowing them. Basically the movie was about racism, looking down on the poor, thinking we are better than Pakistanis since we have HDTV.
I haven't seen this movie in years, but obviously I liked it enough to remember the moment when Vincent's father allows his dream to come true at the risk of his own status.
I was hoping someone else would comment on this since I was confused. I thought at first that the doctor was his dad, but then looking at it again, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't.
So what's the story here? I thought it was a great moment when Vincent's dad let him through, but then I though it was an only okay moment after discovering that it wasn't his dad.
Am I wrong here? Who is the doctor?!
According to the Great and Powerful IMDB the doctor and Vincent's father were two separate and distinct persons. The doctor, Dr. Lamar, was played by one Xander Berkeley. Vincent's father, Antonio Freeman, was played by Elias Koteas. They were not the same person. Unless, Jonathan, you were speaking in more of a symbolic way.
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