RATINGS: IMDB ― 7.8/10, Rotten Tomatoes ― 82%, ME ―78%
Irene: How many launches are there each day, Vincent? A dozen?
Vincent: Sometimes more.
Irene: You're the only one that watches all of them. If you're going to pretend like you don't care, don't look up.
Uma Thurman as Irene and Ethan Hawke as Vincent
Trivia (From IMDB):
When Gattaca was first released, as part of a marketing campaign there were adverts for people to call up and have their children genetically engineered. Thousands of people called, wanting to have their offspring genetically engineered.
Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke became a couple during the filming of this movie. They eventually married, but divorced in 2005.
Was voted the most accurate science fiction film ever made, by the scientists at NASA.
Jude Law's character asks to be called by his middle name, Eugene. "Eugene" comes from the Greek for "well born," which he is. "Eugenics" (the science of improving the hereditary qualities of a race or breed) is the central theme of the film.
Many of the "futuristic" buildings in the film are actually quite old. Many of these represent a type of postmodern architecture called "brutalism", which was popular in the 1950s. The two massive arches seen behind Jerome and Irene during their talk are actually the spillway of the Sepulveda Dam in Los Angeles, which was built in the 1930s.
The name "Gattaca" is composed entirely of the letters used to label the nucleotide bases of DNA. The four nitrogen bases of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) are adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine.
The FBI Agents are called "Hoovers," a reference to legendary top G-man J. Edgar Hoover, but also a clever reference to a vacuum cleaner brand. There are numerous shots of vacuums being used to gather DNA evidence.
While it has been identified that "GATTACA" uses the four DNA nucleotide abbreviations of G,A,T,C, more specifically, when identifying genetic markers, the tests measure "short tandem repeats" at specific DNA marker locations. These are known as "GATA or CA" repeats - hence GATTACA.
The winding stairs in Jerome's apartment have a helical structure, like DNA.
The film was shot under the title "The Eighth Day". This was a reference to the Biblical creation story, which states that the earth was created in six days and on the seventh day, God rested. The original title implies the tampering of man with what God has already made, and "The Eighth Day" is still the name of the center in the movie where the children are engineered, as noted on the DVD deleted scenes. By the time the much-delayed release of the film came around, the same title had been used by the Belgian film The Eighth Day (1996). Because of this, writer-director Andrew Niccol was forced to choose a new title for his film. "The Eighth Day of Creation" is also a history of molecular biology, written by Horace Judson in 1979 and updated in 1996. The coincidence of the second edition may also have forced reconsideration.
Uma Thurman's character is named Irene Cassini. Cassini is the surname of the seventeenth century Italian astronomer, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, who discovered the prominent gap in Saturn's main rings, as well as the icy moons, Iapetus, Dione, Rhea, and Tethys. The space mission, in this film, is destined for Saturn. In 1997, NASA launched the Cassini space probe, bound for Saturn. It carried the Huygens space probe, which was dropped into Titan in early 2005, and discovered ground under the clouds.
Public address announcements, in the Gattaca Corporation headquarters building, are in Esperanto, an artificial language invented in the nineteenth century.
Film debut of Maya Rudolph.
In the restaurant scene, when Vincent blows smoke into his wine glass and describes Titan's atmosphere as being surrounded by clouds, the song playing in the background is called "Nuages" ("Clouds").
Some interiors and exteriors of the Gattaca building belong, in reality, to the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957. The largest Wright design ever constructed, it was largely built after his death in 1959. The central dome (prominent in the roof-cleaning scene) contains the county library.
As Vincent explains at the beginning of the film, "I was conceived in the Riviera. Not the French Riviera, the Detroit variety." He narrates over the shot of his parents laying in the oddly shaped, rear windshield of a Riviera - a 1971 Buick Riviera.
The Marin County Civic Center, filming location of the Gattaca Corporation, was also used in George Lucas's THX 1138 (1971).
Andrew Niccol's directorial debut.
In the opening minutes, Loren Dean is shown swimming in an Endless Pool (swimming treadmill) to help establish the swimming theme and futuristic setting.
Johnny Depp turned down the role of Jerome Eugene Morrow in order to make The Brave (1997).
The cars driven by the "Hoovers" are Rover P6's (sometimes called the Rover 2000), built in Britain from 1963 until 1976. They were extremely popular with the police force in Britain, where the 3.5 litre V8-engined model was used as a high speed interceptor. Three of the four P6 Rovers in the movie, were North American market 3500S versions of the 3.5 litre V8 with triple hood scoops. The fourth was a North American 2000TC with triple hood scoops added by Columbia Pictures. All four of the vehicles had triple hood scoops.
The exterior shots of Ethan Hawke and Jude Law's apartment is actually the CLA (Classrooms, Laboratories, and Administration) Building of Cal Poly Pomona by architect Antoine Predock.
End credits - The letters G A T C that appear in blue in the end credits also spell Gattaca.
Many character names are symbolic. "Vincent" = "He shall conquer," which is what a "Freeman" does. Detective Hugo Coldspring = Human Genome Organization, which operates out of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. "Caesar" = Julius Caesar, who suffered from epilepsy. Ernest Borgnine typically plays strong leader roles, but here is limited to being a cleaner. "Cassini" = Cassini's division in the rings of Saturn, the destination of Vincent' flight. "Josef" = Josef Mengele, an SS doctor responsible for 'medical experiments' (Might this be a mistake for 'Gregor' = Gregor Mendel, Father of Genetics). "Eugene" = Eugenics, a program to 'improve' humans by selective breeding. "Flatfoot", used as an insult for a policeman, is also a genetically influenced condition. When Marie and Antonio consult the genetic counselor, they specify 'blue eyes, brown hair, and fair skin." The dark-eyed, head-shaved black counselor repeats these back, with a slight smile of condescension.
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Vincent's car is a 1963 Studebaker Avanti.
The letters G, A, T, and C are bold in the opening titles.
The car that Uma Thurman's character drives is a Citroen DS Cabriolet.
The first draft of the screenplay had no title.
The telephone Jude Law uses when answering Ethan Hawke's warning call is a B&O Beocom 5000 wireless.
Spoilers ―
The icons used to denote a Valid versus an In-Valid have significant meaning. On the scanners, an infinity symbol appears next a Valid's name, denoting their "infinite potential." Next to an In-Valid's name, a dagger appears. In taxonomy, a dagger next to a taxon indicates extinction. In addition, the dagger symbol resembles a cross, a reference to In-Valids being referred to as "God Children" (As Irene states when Vincent reveals his true identity to her).
To fully assume Jerome's identity, Vincent (at 5' 11") undergoes extension surgery in his legs to match Jerome's recorded height of 6' 1". In reality, Jude Law and Ethan Hawke are both 5' 11".
From IMDB and Google.
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