In the world of the film Gattaca, genetic engineerining has been something that is ingrained in the society.

It is where the genes are manipulated, making perfect humans (for example people who are physically superior). The director of Gattaca, Andrew Niccols wanted to show the idea that in its desire to be perfect, Gattaca has squeezed any signs of humanity (such as emotion, personality) out. This is all showed and emphasised in the film techniques, such as setting, lighting and costumes. Throughout this film, Niccol showed the audience what a perfect society is. It is a society that consists of valids, people who are genetically engineered and considered superior, and invalids, people who are naturally conceived and considered inferior because they are not perfect. The main character Vincent was an invalid, but he managed to sneak into Gattaca as a valid by borrowing someone elses identity. In the end, he managed to achieve his dream, and this is all encapsulated in the films tagline: There is no gene for the human spirit. Genetic engineering doesnt guarantee that people will have a perfect life because human spirit cannot be genetically generated. He may not be perfect, but he has got a strong determination that he will somehow achieve his dream, and his strong determination was able to beat the cruel systematic discrimination. Throughout the whole movie of Gattaca, systematic discrimination has been continuously reinforced. It is shown by the continuous identity checks scenes (such as blood, urine, hair tests) performed in the film, symbolising the importance of perfection in Gattaca. Invalids are discriminated because they are genetically imperfect and therefore the lower class of the society. As an invalid, Vincent stated on how We now have discrimination down to a science, which supports on how he is discriminated because of his genes. The director has cleverly used the film techniques to highlight the theme of systematic discrimination. The film opens in the scene where there were extreme close-up shots and focus on fingernails, strands of hair, skin flakes and eyelashes. There were also a few other scenes where there were close up shots of identity (e.g blood) checks. This emphasised on the importance of body parts in a world dedicated to genetic perfection. A persons identity and place in the society is determined by their genetic make up, and its imprinted in their body parts. This scene was accompanied with blue lighting, which gave a sense of coldness and reflects the sterile environment, and a loud, booming sound effect (to draw the audiences attention) everytime a body part falls. This symbolised that the world of Gattaca is cold, sterile and believed strongly on perfection. Anything that is not perfect has to immediately swept away (from the perfect jobs/systematic discrimination). In its attempt to be perfect, Gattaca has squeezed any signs of humanity, such as emotion out. Most of the setting used in the film were all bare, functional spaces with smooth poslished floor, bare walls, and vast airy interiors which provide an overall atmosphere of modernism and minimalism. The majority of them were all also in a cold colour (such as steely gray), which suggests professionalism and less of an emotional attachment.There were no natural settings, except for the beach. An example would be the office in Gattaca. This suggested that in Gattaca, everything is smooth, clean and perfect because perfection is highly valued. ( Cleanliness..... its next to Godliness, isnt that what they say). Emotions were not shown, and this is reflected by the lighting, the cinematography and the costumes.

The world of Gattaca is shown through the extensive use of colour filter. For example, the colour blue, reflecting coldness, was used during the close up scene of Jerome burning himself in the incinerator. The workers in Gattaca are dressed uniformly.Their hairs are neat, and the plain dark coloured sharp suits worn by the workers highlights the order and stability of these perfect people. The characters in Gattaca, except for a few, mostly had a robot like acting style. There is no sign of individuality in the working environment. All those film techniques used really supports the statement of in attempt to be perfect, Gattaca has squeezed any signs of humanity out. Gattaca also conveyed a good moral to the viewers. Being genetically perfect doesnt mean that people are guaranteed to have a perfect life, as human spirit and motivation cannot be engineered. Gattaca also teaches you to stand up and fight when the situation seems unfair to you. Although Vincent was an invalid, he had such strong determination to achieve his dream. As a first step to achieve his dream, he became Jerome, a valid. He was introduced by a man to Eugene, and to support this scene a panning shot was effectively used, creating drama and interest. Later, more close up shots were brilliantly used to provide detail, such as when Vincent was preening himself to look more like Jerome. When Vincent finally achieved his dream, a panning shot was used. It stopped when it reached Vincents face, creating a drama. A mellow and heart-wrenching soundtrack reflects the sadness of Vincents departure, despite his dream coming true because Eugene has sacrificed himself for his sake. In a scene when Vincent and Anton had their last swim, sound effects of water splashing was used to engage the audience. Anton was so confident that he willl win because he is physically more superior than Vincent, and asked Youre sure you want to do this, you know youre going to lose? But it turned out that Vincent saved him. It as the one moment in our lives that my brother was not as strong as he believed and I (Vincent) was not as weak. It was the moment that made everything else possible. This quote supports the view of how perfect people will not always have a perfect life because human spirit cannot be engineered. (There is no gene for fate) In the world of Gattaca, people are discriminated because of their genes. Perfect people are highly valued, and in its attempt to be perfect, Gattaca has squeezed any signs of humanity out. But perfect people are not guaranteed to have a perfect life because without the determination to do so, life would not be perfect. The director has cleverly and effectively used film techniques to highlight and showed what a perfect society is, making this a visually stunning film to watch.

. Invalids are discriminated because they are genetically imperfect and therefore the lower class of the society. As an invalid, Vincent stated on how We now have discrimination down to a science, which supports on how he is discriminated because of his genes (not able to get the job he wanted because its only for perfect valids). There was a scene where Vincent (as Jerome) went for an interview for

Gattaca, and when he asked about the interview, the doctor replied, Congratulations... That was it (the interview). The interview process is nothing but a quick urine test. Vincent got accepted straightaway after the testing screen showed he was a valid.