Word: gattaca
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Dates: during 1997-1997
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...Gattaca...
Literally so, in the case of an "in-valid" (nice pun there) named Vincent (Ethan Hawke), who since childhood has dreamed of being an astronaut. As we discover him at the beginning of Gattaca, he's on the brink of achieving this goal--he has formed an alliance with a valid (Jude Law) who has been invalidated by an accident. For a fee, the valid supplies Vincent with the stuff he needs--including blood and urine--to satisfy the endless identity checks at the space agency where he works...
...intriguing premise that goes a long way toward making an impressive though uneven feature film debut for writer-director Andrew Niccol. Gattaca, unfortunately, fails to explore the subtler ramifications and genuinely disturbing socio-economic implications of the situation it introduces. This lack is less than satisfactorily replaced by the individual drama it centers on instead--it's the old, old story of the lone hero who refuses to play the hand that's dealt...
...Gattaca sucks you in visually, drawing attention away from the dramatic flaws. There's a cool, postmodern bleakness to Niccol's vision, and a deftly understated mingling of present-day genetic and computer/technological paranoia, which proves more effective than a flashier sci-fi approach would have been. Niccol also has a way with suspended images, and his most inspired moments, in fact, are purely visual: a pool of blood, spreading from an unseen source, blots the frigidly hygienic, monochromatic polish of Gattaca; a conventionally romantic evening at a piano recital turns suddenly surreal with the appearance of an immaculate...
Nonetheless, Gattaca, despite a certain emotional shallowness, does hit a nerve with its glass-and-chrome model of a society obsessed with the potential for human perfection. Perhaps its best spokesperson is the courteous, kindly-looking genetic "consultant" who, early on, advises Vincent's parents on the birth of their second child. After sketching some of the wonderful and more reasonable tweaking possibilities that lie before them--prevention of genetic defects, diseases, bad eyesight, predisposition to obesity--he finally concludes, in the most quietly persuasive tones in the world, "[The child] is still you...It's just the best...