Gattaca (1997) Dir: Andrew Niccol
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This Andrew Niccol directed sci-fi film from 1997 has been on my admittedly extensive watch-list for some time, although, it was only thanks to a film community collaborative post that I finally watched it. I had fairly high expectations, though I wasn't getting carried away or anything.
Very early on, I noticed how good the soundtrack was. The film had a beautiful classic score, which had an atmospheric, quintessentially science fiction ambience to it that I enjoyed very much. I thought that it accompanied the surprisingly emotional story in a very complimentary way, and certainly added to my enjoyment of the film.
Another strength of the film, I felt, was the world-building. Whilst, no, it wasn't as bold or obviously sci-fi as other films and stories of the genre, but even so, I thought that the dystopian world that the story took place within was very neatly constructed, felt believable, and had a good balance between realism and science fiction to it.
I found the story rather fascinating. It played like George Orwell's '1984', in many respects. The dystopian world, the rampant classism, the anti-authoritarian protagonist; it all fed into what was a fascinating and noir-style film. I loved the emotional core to the narrative and how it was at odds with the established rules ot the world - it made for compelling storytelling.
Ethan Hawke is often, in my opinion, a little under-appreciated when it comes to his acting abilities. This leading role was a perfect example of just that notion. He was terrific. He balanced his protagonist's weakness with confidence, desperation with determination, and fear with faith. It was just all-around a very good performance from a very good actor.
I loved Uma Thurman's acting in this film; I thought she was exquisite. She nailed the mix of classic noir mysterious woman and endearing, vulnerable, love interest. I loved seeing her character open up as the film progressed, and Thurman's performance was just the right degree of expressive to make it feel natural and somewhat gradual.
Jude Law is often very good at playing the sympathetic and typically well-spoken British character, and he did so, albeit with a couple of other folds to his character, excellently. One could argue that it would have been nice to have an actually disabled actor in the role, but, for what it's worth, I thought that Law committed to it with respect, and his performance certainly justified his casting.
Of the supporting cast, the best displays came from the pair of Alan Arkin and Loren Dean, particularly the latter, who had a couple genuinely very well acted and emotive scenes that I was very impressed by. Beyond those two, the likes of Gore Vidal, Ernest Borgnine, and Tony Shalhoub, also deserved a mention, at the very least.
Overall, I found this to be a very solid piece of science fiction, which mixed in its romantic angle very smoothly, to create a film that I think fans of both the sci-fi and romance genres could enjoy quite easily. It takes inspiration from some classic stories and creates its own, fairly unique, world for its narrative to unfold within.
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