SSC 02: Gattaca (Niccol, 1997)

Tim and Tay dive into a pair of scenes from Andrew Niccol’s thought-provoking and economical sci-fi film Gattaca. Can a simple race from shore to horizon reveal a person’s potential? 

In the “not too distant future”, advances in eugenics have lead to a genetic caste system — those with manufactured, ideal genetics, and those conceived naturally, possessing the expected hereditary pitfalls and risks. The film follows Vincent, who endeavors to overcome the limits of his naturally developed genes to become an astronaut. Starring Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, and Uma Thurman, Gattaca was directed and written by Andrew Niccol, and was released October 24, 1997.

 Gattaca is available as a digital rental.

Scenes (16:41 — 18:20 & 1:30:47 — 1:34:07)
click here for a PDF of an early draft of Gattaca’s script.

The scenes star Chad Christ as Young Vincent, William Lee Scott as Young Anton, Ethan Hawke as Vincent, and Loren Dean as Anton.

Brothers Vincent (Chad Christ) and Anton (William Lee Scott) challenge each other to a game of chicken to see who can swim the farthest from shore before turning back. The genetically superior Anton handily wins each time they swim. One day, a determined Vincent recklessly swims beyond his limit, but surprisingly it is Anton who needs rescuing. In spite of his prophesied heart deficiency,  Vincent is miraculously able to swim them both back to shore safely.

Many years later, long after Vincent’s heart is supposed to have stopped, the brothers reunite. Still unaware of how Vincent could have swum that distance and back, Anton agrees to a rematch. Stripping down, the brothers swim out far in the misty night. 

After refusing to turn back once, Anton confronts Vincent, who tells him that “it’s too late to turn back” because they are “closer to the other side”. Vincent reveals that “this is how I did it”; “I never saved anything for the swim back”. Despite hearing this Anton tries to turn back, but once again, Vincent must save him and drag him back to the closer shore.

Links

5:15: La Jetée (Chris Marker, 1962)

18:30: Making waves with a forklift

39:00 — Wearing suits in space (via blu-ray bts featurette)

Recommendations

Tim: First Reformed (Paul Schrader, 2017) — available for digital rental

Tay: The Vast of Night (Andrew Patterson, 2019) — available on Amazon Prime

All links verified at the time of publication and based on availability in Canada.

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