Gattaca Final Scene "going Home" Analysis

I. SCENE OVERVIEW

GATTACA is a film about a possible future. Man has mastered genetics and has taken over evolution. Superior children are made simply by manipulating genes. It's an examination of one of man's greatest aspects. In fact, the film's tagline is "There is no gene for the human spirit." The superior are often complacent, confident in their inherent abilities. Those who've been conceived naturally are considered lower class, but really are the fighters, constantly struggling to earn what others are handed.

One of the main characters is Vincent (Ethan Hawke), a "disadvantaged birth" who dreams of space travel. Another is Eugene (Jude Law), a superior man, ex-Olympic swimmer, who after a paralyzing accident is no longer of use to society.

This final scene is actually a sequence of inter-cutting between two scenes. One is the triumph of Vincent, the realization of his dream. This is compared to and contrasted with the other scene, Eugene's suicide.

II. SHOT ANALYSIS

Shot 1: 15 seconds, 8 frames

Size: This shot slips between a close shot and a full close-up as the character moves around in the frame.

Sound: A very light classical style score is played throughout these two scenes. This shot includes sound effects emphasizing Eugene's struggle to enter the incinerator. His hands thud against the door frame, and he gasps as he works to get inside. The scene begins with the hard, cold mechanical whoosh and whirr of the door opening, against which the character's organic noises are contrasted.

Contrast Dominant(s): Shortly after the shot begins, Eugene's hands appear at the bottom of the door frame. His hands contrast sharply with the frame, immediately drawing the eye. When the rest of his body appears, he's dressed in a dark suit. The sides of the doorway are light as is his face. The contrast draws attention to his face, but his dark body is not lost as would be the case with a darkened door frame.

Character Movement: At the beginning of the shot, the paralyzed Eugene is laying on the floor out of frame. The character moves up, pulling himself up and into the lower portion of the door frame and the center of the camera frame. He struggles to get into the incinerator and halfway through the doorway turns to back in. In doing so, he occupies the left two thirds of the frame. At the end of the shot, he has almost completely turned and returned to the center of the frame.

Character Proxemics: When he comes into frame, he is directly facing the camera. As he turns, he first faces off-camera in profile and moves off center, occupying the left two thirds of the frame. Then by the end of the shot he has almost completely turned his back to the camera and returned to the center of the frame.

Camera Movement: Camera movement is minimal, but interesting. For most of the shot the camera pans and tilts slightly to keep the character centered. But when the character is mid-turn and moving to the left of the frame, the camera only partially keeps up. It doesn't pan so far as to lose any view of the doorway, apparently giving equal value to the character and his exit.

Camera Angle: The angle is low, which is eye level with the prone Eugene. This helps involve the viewer by bringing them to his level.

Lens Used: A telephoto lens was used for this shot, keeping the viewer focused on the character and increasing the cramped feeling of the confined space inside the incinerator.

Depth Of Field: The depth of field is narrow; only the character's plane is in focus. This helps to keep the viewer focused on Eugene, but also makes the outside world literally less defined, and figuratively more distant, less accessible.

Lighting: First, the room outside the incinerator is seen through the open doorway and although it's out of focus, it's lit in such a way as to create planes of depth. This more open feeling outside the incinerator contrasts with the small, prison feeling inside. Second, is the low-key, blue lighting of the incinerator itself. The fact that it's lit at all, that the character isn't pulling himself into abyssal blackness, gives some clue as to what Niccol wants the viewer to feel. And the color used supplements this.

Color Usage: The most obvious use of color is the lighting of the incinerator's interior. Instead of complete darkness, even white light, or a harsh red, a softer blue is used. And lush green foliage, nearly completely absent from the rest of the film, beckons from a distant window.

Screen Graphics/Composition: This shot has a very simple composition. It is mostly balanced throughout. Even when the character moves to the left of the frame, the right side is almost balanced by the weight of the open doorway, the path to safety. The character is accentuated by the doorway and the plants are surrounded by the window, frames within the frame. There are many more and stronger vertical lines than horizontal. The framing is tight, leaving only z-axis options for the character. The foreground is death; the background, life.

Editing Style: This is an A roll shot. Although short, it shows all of the necessary action then cuts to the parallel action in the other scene.

Time: Shown in real time, the intention is clearly to compare the final journeys of these two men.

Subtext: More interesting than what's obviously about to happen is the overall feeling toward this act and the character committing it. The music is not panicked. The light within the incinerator is almost soothing. The character is very calm. The feeling is not at all condemning of Eugene. The elements clearly show what's to come and pull the viewer in to be a part of it. But they then manipulate how the viewer should feel about it and toward whom: "Feel sorrow for Eugene, but feel disgust for this society." The brilliance of this effect is rather than condoning the suicide or lashing out at the character, it moves the target of the viewer's negative emotions, anger and revulsion, to his world. As if to say, "How sick is this society? How skewed have priorities become that this man will be happier dead than alive?"

Shot 2: 13 seconds,