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Gattaca's Unadorned, Yet Masterful Use of Color

posted 4 years ago by Fandango (535)
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In the film essay, The Language of Color in Gattaca, Daniel Tu expertly deconstructs how Gattaca's sublime use of color serves "to initiate the viewer into a powerful visual subtext."

The film uses three basic colors to denote what the author refers to as the character's identity—"yellow to illustrate Vincent's past, blue to depict his future and green to bridge the two." This use of color is further utilized to underscore and define the three stages of Vincent's life throughout the film, aligning perfectly with each act.

Gattaca's first act is dominated by yellow. The use of yellow here highlights Vincent's identity as an in-valid. This is reified as Vincent realizes his brother Anton, who is younger than he is, is growing taller than him; and then again when he realizes his endurance is worse than Anton's during the swimming scene. We also see yellow when Vincent is denied acceptance into the space program. The visual reinforcement not only highlights Vincent's in-validness but, as referenced above, denotes his past.

Over time, the film moves away from yellow, as Vincent realizes that his genetic limitations are not the ultimate mark of death for his dream. This is noted when Vincent leaves home to pursue his aspiration of space exploration.

Blue, artificial and unnatural, is used in the film to denote that Vincent is now Jerome, or at least transitioning to Jerome's status as valid (artificial and engineered). The use of blue is seen during all scenes referencing genetic material. It is shown when Vincent is in the shower, symbolically depicting the removal of his imperfect DNA. The sequence where Irene takes one of Vincent's hairs is also shown in blue, because the hair is in fact Eugene's, who is modified and valid. The dichotomous nature of blue and yellow serves as a stark juxtaposition between Vincent's natural state and Jerome's artificial one.

Finally, the use of green denotes the transition between these states (mixing blue and yellow makes green). Vincent's reverie for space exploration is denoted in this green, as he transitions from his yellow, in-valid state, to his blue, valid one. This is more beautifully depicted upon Vincent first meeting Eugene, where the former is shown under a simultaneously green and yellow background, once again denoting this transition. Eugene is primarily shown in green, as he is the bridge between the in-valid and valid world. Before Vincent begins his physical transformation, the use of green is subtle; the scene after his surgery and where Vincent and Eugene gaze at the stars is entirely backlit in green, denoting that Vincent is now ready to assume the identity of Jerome.

While green is used as a tone of transition, it also functions to represent a potential or dangerous situation where Jerome can change back to Vincent. This is shown in the scene where Vincent must keep a steady heartbeat as he runs on the treadmill, and is further shown when he is at the checkpoint with Irene, as the scene is thoroughly overwhelmed by green.

In keeping with this schematic, the most distinct scene shows Vincent watching a rocket launch into space. The rocket leaves a bright and yellow trail contrasted against a deep blue night sky. This symbolic scene illustrates Vincent's reverie as an in-valid (yellow) penetrating a genetically perfect society (blue).

The two moments in the film where color is completely absent provide a thematic function on the basis of the film's message of breaking away from limitations. The first moment is shown after Anton and Vincent swim for one last time, with Vincent going back to save his genetic counter. As the scene is entirely set in black, the subtext signifies that Vincent has now transcended his genetic limitations, and is no longer encumbered by notions of "validity, in-validity, or threats to his identity."

Gattaca's denouement depicts Vincent flying into space, referencing the moment he watches the yellow rocket launch into the blue sky. In this culminating scene, devoid of color, we see the film's message reified through this interplay of color, where black now sets the tone for a world where Vincent can be free, untethered to a colorful one set by genetic limitations and impositions.

[–] twinA (4921) 4 years ago

February 23, 2021 Tuesday 10:30 PM ET [Edited 11:30 PM ET]

Vincent's struggle for self-autonomy in a society confined by a spirit of conformity resonates with the notion that not all our desires, as human beings, are always geared towards realization of the self, but the acting pressures to fit into a mold, a product of purely strict cultural conditioning absent a reality which seeks to encompass beyond merely physical attributes.

Augustinian thought abounds with fiery discourse in the pretenses of this film. According to Augustine, the human soul is invariably tied to the Trinity; created in its image, no less -- intellect, memory (father), and will.

While memory can be unreliable at times, colored by its own perceptions and limited ability in feeding back cognizant info, it does tell us who we are, what our name is (in the name of... etc.); our unique identity. Thus is the inverted beauty of a passionate historical view, that is, from the opposing neutral and unemotional standpoint, while it may be considered a form of personal bias to inject one's own perspective into the world, it does encompass what a psychologist would recognize as the unparalleled nature of "self-conscieness".

Edit:
After showing a relative what I've typed here, she asked me "what is the point you're trying to make?" Here's a translation:

What defines a person is not how society defines them but what they do for themselves, by their traits and actions. There needs to be a give-and-take relationship between society and the self so both can enrich each other.

~~/o/

[–] Fandango (535) 4 years ago

Notions of spiritual triumph and transcendence are rich in the film. Eugene struggling up the DNA stairs is indicative of this latter concept, while Vincent's launch into space, the former. Consider the ending sequence where Vincent is shown flying into space juxtaposed with Eugene preparing to incinerate himself. While earlier in the film we see that Vincent's use of the incinerator was precisely and perhaps symbolically demonstrative of his pursuit to rid the physical body and leave only his individual self, Eugene's use is directly counter to this; for Jerome, who throughout the film is shown merely as a physical casing lacking any discernible identity, the incinerator is there to discard not only his body, but his self.

To tie it with St. Augustinian thought, we see the relationship between Vincent and Jerome as that of the body and soul. Vincent (soul) utilizes Jerome (body) to transcend Earth (the temporal) and enter space (the spiritual).

[–] BourbonKing (5787) 4 years ago

I thought the film and its story did a good job showing us the futility of man's desire for perfection and by displaying this apartheid-like society branching off secluded and entitled classes of genetically modified humans in no way reflects a more perfect world. In fact, it's a very repressive and convoluted. Jude's character represents the epitome of this flaw as he represents the essence of perfection run amok. His paraplegic condition is shunned by the greater society that holds him up due to his genetic "pureness" yet he's not allowed the social mobility, literally and figuratively, to enjoy his privilege.

Realistically, I don't think the future of genetic modification will pan out the way it does in this movie, but I do believe that the wealthy class will pursue this option as a means to breed out disease, increase life spans, and aspire to increase innate and cognitive skills and agility, but there will be an incongruent march towards that goal, not a unified effort.

[–] Fandango (535) 4 years ago

Of course there is a valid counter-argument to the film's message of spiritual invincibility. While the film makes strong claims about genetic limitations and, in fact mentions that Vincent is even aware of the exact time of his death, there is no deeper understanding or explanation behind Vincent's motivations. How will the main character, in spite of all these shortcomings and acknowledgements, overcome the very obstacles that make him him? The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Film questions Vincent's very motivations, stating that his crowning achievement is no more than an act of recklessness and selfishness, and its realization no more than an outcome of luck:

When asked by Jerome how he intends to pull this off, he responds, “I don’t know exactly.” It seems, to invert the well-known proverb, that there’s a will but there’s no way. What is at work here is an uncontrollable and self-destructive will that is not accompanied by a vision of any minimally recognizable path to the goal. We are witnessing the phenomenon that Heinrich Heine in another context called “fanaticism of will, restrained neither by fear nor by self-interest (Heine 1986: 159).

The overtly physical ambience present in Gattaca highlights the very notion of spiritual vacuity, where the concentration on aesthetic perfection (architecture, appearance, attire) is an attempt at overcompensating for the lack of human understanding and compassion—or, spirit.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Fandango (535) 4 years ago

Thank you for your insights. I can certainly see how one might believe the color symbolism link to be rather tenuous; however, I believe the case can be defended.

Yellow tint is used in nearly all daylight exterior scenes, regardless of context or characters. For instance, we see a strong yellow tint in the scene where Anton/Irene drive to the house of Vincent/Eugene.

As yellow references Vincent's in-valid history, the scenes where he is with Irene in daylight are moments of sincerity and compassion, such as when he tells Irene she is just as perfect as he is, and when he catches the glove in the restaurant (alongside the blue light over his face and body referencing his valid state).

Vincent is always at odds between these two states, until he finally transcends color and enters space, where color is absent.

Similarly, the green light is used in nearly all nighttime exterior scenes, regardless of context or characters. The exterior scene between Anton/Hugo where the Invalid's are rounded up is an example.

While green is suggestive of transition (i.e., Vincent -> Jerome), it can also have an opposite effect (i.e., Jerome -> Vincent). The reason green is prevalent during the round-up scene is the same reason we see green on the heart rate monitor during the treadmill scene, and during the road check scene—because it emphasizes a potential regression back into Vincent.

Indeed if you look at the early scene where Vincent is cleaning Gattaca and examining the security systems (in particular the blood testing machine), you can see all three of yellow blue and green light in the one wide shot.

I contend that my original phrasing is misleading, as you are correct that there is use of all three colors throughout the film.

continued

[–] Fandango (535) 4 years ago

Aside, I noted that there are also some scenes (particularly early in the movie) that use a lot of red and also scenes (mainly interiors) that don't seem to bias to any color).

The red is certainly interesting. In the teaser poster for Gattaca, there is an image of a cell adjacent to what appears to be Saturn, suggesting that the red imagery in the film refers to biology. With this in mind, we can see that red is symbolic of the genotype, such as the scene where a young Vincent must choose to give a urine sample, which may expose his genetic composition. It is also seen during the road check scene, as Irene and Vincent drive inside the tunnel towards a bright red light, with green in the background (green once again indicating a potential transition back into Vincent through the exposure of his genetic make-up).

With red being the genotype, or the cellular biology, blue is seen as the phenotype, or physical manifestation of the genes. This aligns perfectly with the blue scenes, such as where we see skin, hair, and nails in the incinerator, or when Irene searches his work drawer and finds a piece of his hair set against the bluish hue.