Gattaca Film Analysis

The box office flop movie, Gattaca, which initially failed to recoup its own production cost, is a genius philosophical work that challenges extremity in the work of Science; specifically, humans developed out of genetic engineering. This film is about an individual’s determination to rise beyond limitations placed upon him, by the society. His determination enables him to not only achieve his dreams but also free himself both literally and figuratively from these constraints.

The film can be looked at from three scenes to define its goal. This goal is given in the films tagline, ‘There is no gene for human spirit’. It is a statement that is reinforced by biblical allusion in the opening sequence from Ecclesiastes 7:13 "Consider what God has

The first scene begins with the line from the bible, the above noted line from the book of Ecclesiastes. It is written in white against a black background. The white could be symbolic of Gods purity against the evil of men depicted by the black background. As this fades out, the statement ‘I not only think that we will tamper with Mother Nature; I think Mother Nature wants us to’ by Willard Gaylin, fades in. The latter is against a blue background which indicates fulfillment, loyalty, tranquility, peace and order; easily put, what God would wish. These colors contrast just as the statements, and, with the statements reflected alongside each of the colors. It is a scene that sets up the ‘battle’ between the nature that is tampered with and the one that is ‘pure’ or made crooked by God. The fading out of the second statement ushers in the scene of the child birth. The Child, Vincent, who is born out of love – albeit in a car instead of a laboratory – has numerous demerits with high probabilities of having genetic disorders and life expectancy of just thirty. In first narration, the protagonist explains the events of his birth noting that it is said that a child conceived out

There are three sequences in swimming. First episode has Anton refusing to play ‘blood brothers’ but then goes on to beat his brother quite easily. Through first narration, Vincent explains how he was always the one that quit. In the second swimming sequence, however, the impossible happened when he managed to save the drowning superior brother life. This part changes the perception and enables the viewer to see the flaws in believe of genetic superiority. At the beginning of this sequence Vincent is seen with glasses which is an indicator of the inferior genetic make-up. Significantly, immediately following this scene Vincent tears his picture off the family photo. The director intelligently captures the approaching Anton from this space of the photo where Vincent had occupied which effectively shows that that made the family complete with duplication of Anton and the absence of the weak Vincent. The final sequence in swimming is after the meeting of the brothers at the Gattaca Space Center with Anton still challenging his brother. Vincent not only beats his brother but also shows him the way back since they had been too far from the show. The film uses low key lighting to produce chiaroscuro that produces dramatic tension with the viewer being made to feel the sense of insecurity that the two were in and especially Vincent who was genetically inferior. The triumph and Vincent’s tracing of their