A quarter century of Gattaca
On September 7, 1997 at the International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, the premiere of the film "Gattaca" was held. The film was directed by 33-year-old native of New Zealand Andrew Niccol. "Gattaca" was Niccol's directorial debut. But for Niccol-screenwriter, this film was the second in his career, since the first was his script for the film "The Truman Show".
The film "Gattaca" received 6 film awards, however, none of them can be classified as prestigious. At the box office, the debut picture of Andrew Niccol also actually failed: with a budget of $ 36 million, the film grossed just over $ 12 million in the American box office.
The range of opinions of professional film critics on the film "Gattaca" turned out to be very wide, from devastating to restrained laudatory. For example, Los Angeles Times film reviewer Jack Matthews, in his review, filled with negative epithets about the film, formulated the following conclusion: "It's far too serious to be taken seriously."
However, the most authoritative film critics have devoted laudatory reviews to the film. So, James Berardinelli gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4 possible and ended his review of the picture by Andrew Niccol with this paragraph: "The average thriller, even if it's set in a faraway or futuristic world, tends to offer visceral, ephemeral excitement, and not much else. However, while Gattaca has the energy and tautness to compare with the best of those, its thought-provoking script and thematic richness elevate it to the next level. Gattaca is not a perfect motion picture (I would have appreciated a little more political background), but, at a time when so many science fiction films are dumber than dirt, it makes for a refreshing change-of-pace, and is a fine addition to the Fall movie season."
American film critic guru Roger Ebert also gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and in his review called Andrew Niccol's debut film "one of the smartest and most provocative of science fiction films, a thriller with ideas." According to Ebert, "Science fiction in the movies has recently specialized in alien invasions, but the best of the genre deals with ideas. At a time when we read about cloned sheep and tomatoes crossed with fish, the science in “Gattaca” is theoretically possible. When parents can order “perfect” babies, will they? "
A feature of the film by Andrew Niccol "Gattaca" can be considered that it is reflected not only and not so much in the publications of film critics, but in the articles of experts in various fields of science and technology. Thus, the well-known Russian ecologist, head of the National Association for Genetic Safety, Elena Sharoikina, in her article on the use of advanced gene editing technology in agriculture, noted: “The film (“Gattaca” - FG) describes a future in which people have learned artificially “edit" the genetic properties of unborn children. As a result, this led to the formation of a society based on genetic segregation, and new, previously unseen forms of inequality and suppression." And the American space agency NASA, in its list of science fiction films, which most reliably reflects existing scientific theories, put "Gattaca" in first place.
But the highest score for Andrew Niccol's film "Gattaca" was given by ordinary moviegoers: 67% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users rated this film from 8 to 10. Taking into account this indicator and the above, the rating of Andrew Niccol's film "Gattaca" according to FilmGourmand version was 7,879 , which allowed it to enter the Golden Thousand and take 895th Rank in it.
