Gattaca

Welcome to Gattaca.

You keep your workstation so clean.

- It's next to godliness. - Godliness ...

I reviewed your flight plan. Not one error in a million keystrokes.

Phenomenal. It's right that someone like you is taking us to Titan.

Has the committee approved the mission? There's talk of delay.

You shouldn't listen to talk. You leave in a week.

You've got a substance test.

If you have to take a substance test, report to the testing centre.

Jerome. Never shy. Pisses on command.

- A beautiful piece of equipment. - You tell me every time I'm here.

I see a great many in my job. Yours happens to be exceptional.

Why didn't my folks order one like that for me?

- Have I ever told you about my son? - No.

Remind me to, sometime.

So you're about to go up. One week left.

Please tell me you're the least bit excited.

I'll tell you at the end of the week.

Congratulations, Jerome.

Thank you.

How many launches are there in a day? A dozen?

- Sometimes more. - Only you watch every one of them.

If you're going to pretend like you don't care, don't look up.

The most unremarkable of events.

Jerome Morrow, Navigator 1 st Class, is about to embark -

- on a one-year manned mission to Titan, the 14th moon of Saturn.

This highly prestigious assignment was guaranteed Jerome at birth.

He has all the gifts required. A genetic quotient second to none.

There's nothing remarkable about the progress of Jerome Morrow.

Except that I am not Jerome Morrow.

I was conceived in the Riviera. Not the French Riviera.

The Detroit variety.

They used to say that a love child has a greater chance of happiness.

They don't say that any more.

I don't know why my mother trusted God -

rather than her local geneticist.

Ten fingers, ten toes, that's all that used to matter... Not now.

Only seconds old, the ex act time and cause of my death was known.

Neurological condition, 60%, manic depression, 42% probability.

Attention deficit disorder, 89% probability. Heart disorder ...

... 99% probability. Early fatal potential.

- Life expectancy: 30.2 years. - 30 years?

- The name for the certificate? - Vincent Anton.

That's a good name.

I know he'll do something. You'll do something.

I quickly thought of myself as others did. Chronically ill.

Every skinned knee and runny nose was treated as a fatal threat.

The insurance won't cover it. If he fell ... There's nothing I can do.

Like most other parents then, they wanted their next child -

- to be conceived in what has become the natural way.

Your extracted eggs, Marie, -

- have been fertilized with Antonio's sperm.

We have screened two healthy boys and two very healthy girls.

Without predispositions to any inheritable diseases.

Let's select the most compatible candidate. What gender do you want?

We would want Vincent to have a brother to play with.

You have specified hazel eyes, dark hair and ... fair skin.

I've eradicated prejudicial conditions:

Premature baldness, alcoholism, propensity for violence, obesity.

We didn't want ... Diseases, yes, but ...

We would like to leave a few things to chance.

Give your child the best start. We have enough imperfection built-in.

Your child doesn't need any additional burdens. It's still you.

Simply the best of you.

You could conceive naturally 1,000 times and never get such a result.

That's how Anton came to be. A son worthy of my father's name.

- I'm proud of you, son. - See how much he's grown.

When we played blood brothers -

- I understood my blood was very different from Anton's.

I'd need a lot more than a drop if I was going to get anywhere.

We played chicken. When our parents weren't watching -

- we'd swim as far out as we dared and see who'd turn back first.

Come on, you coward!

Of course it was always me.

Anton was the stronger swimmer and had no excuse to fail.

300 million, 350 million, 400 million.

Maybe it was my love of the planets or just my dislike for this one, -

- but for as long as I remember I've dreamed of going into space.

750 million, 800 million, 850 million.

How many astronauts are there? I bet I could be one if I wanted.

Don't eat that. It's Pluto.

My goals didn't change a lot. Much to my parents' dismay.

Vincent ...

Be realistic. With a heart condition like yours ...

- There's a chance my heart's fine. - One chance in 100.

- I'll take it. - They won't.

You've got to understand something.

You'll only get inside a spaceship to clean it.

He was right. I lied on my resume, but my real resume was my cells.

Why waste money on training me -

- when there are 1, 000 other applicants with a cleaner profile?

It is illegal to discriminate. "Genoism", it's called.

But no one takes the law seriously.

If you refuse to tell, they take a sample from a door handle -

- or a handshake. Even the saliva on your application form.

A legal drug test can become-

- an illegal peek at your future in the company.

Sure you want to do this? You know you're going to lose.

It was the last time we swam together. Out into the open sea.

Knowing each stroke out was one we'd have to make back.

But something was different. Every time Anton tried to pull away -

he found me right beside him.

Until finally the impossible happened.

Vincent!

For once in our lives Anton was not as strong as he believed -

- and I was not as weak. That made everything else possible.

Like others in my situation I moved around getting work where I could.

I must've cleaned half the toilets in the state.

The underclass wasn't determined by social status or skin colour now.

- Welcome to Gattaca, gentlemen. - Today discrimination is a science.

There's your cleaning material. Start here and clean to the back.

I want to see my smiling face on that floor.

Dreaming of space, Your Majesty?

Come here.

Start by cleaning this space.

I knew how far away I was from my goal when I stood right beside it.

- Don't clean the glass too well. - What do you mean?

You might get ideas.

But if the glass is clean, it'll be easier to see me on the other side.

I knew it was just brave talk. No matter how much I studied, -

- the best test score in the world needs a blood test to match it.

I had to go to extreme measures.

The man who came didn't exactly advertise in the Yellow Pages.

Stand straight.

- How did you hear about me? - People.

Any distinguishing marks? Tattoos, scars, birth marks?

No.

Are you serious about this? I hope you're not wasting my time.

- I'd give 100%. - That'll get you halfway there.

That's an old edition, but I know it all by heart.

- The commitment is binding. - You have somebody in mind?

For the genetic elite, success is attainable, but not guaranteed.

There is no gene for fate.

And when a member of the elite falls on hard times -

- their genetic identity becomes a valued commodity.

One man's loss is another's gain.

He's got impeccable credentials. An unbelievable expiration date.

He'll practically live forever. His IQ is off the register.

Better than 20/20 vision. Strong heart. He could run through a wall.

If he could still run.

He was a big-time swimming star.

You could go anywhere with this guy's DNA tucked under your arm.

- You look so right together. - We don't look anything alike.

Nobody looks at photos today. Christ, you could have my face.

- How do I explain the accident? - It happened out of the country.

No one knows he broke his back. He's still a fully productive citizen.

- Just fill in his last year. - You're a foreigner.

They don't care where you were born. Blood has no nationality.

As long as it's got what they want, it's the only passport you'll need.

- Who lives up there? - Well, I certainly don't.

The process of becoming him began.

Myopia is one of the most obvious signs of a disadvantaged birth.

- Isn't there another way? - Surgery will leave scars.

It's contact lenses or a white cane.

- Besides, the colour doesn't match. - He's right.

My eyes are prettier.

I take 25% of all you make.

If it fails, all this equipment must be returned in seven days.

- And you lose your deposit. - Wait! You said 20%.

- 20%. - It's not negotiable.

- I guess that's it. - No. There's still the height.

How tall were you before the accident?

- His profile says he's 6' 1 ". - I can wear lifts.

Even with lifts you're not that tall.

So what?

No ...

- We never discussed that. - I thought you were serious.

I am. I'm not doing that.

No.

Now Jerome knew I was committed.

I endured the pain by reminding myself that when I did stand up -

- I'd be exactly two inches closer to the stars.

- Are you all right? - Yeah. Do you want to go dancing?

You had to be a right-hander. No one orders southpaws any more.

Jerome Morrow. It's a nice name.

- It's my name. - I can't be you without it.

What makes you think you can be me at all?

Look at this.

- Look at it. - It's nice.

- Is it real? - Are you colour-blind? It's silver.

Jerome Morrow was never meant to be one step down on the podium.

With all I had going for me, I was still second best.

Me! So how do you expect to pull it off?

I don't know, exactly.

Your signature needs work.

Soon we were put to the test.

Jerome had the genes to get into Gattaca, but not the desire.

- Do you really want to be in there? - Not in there. Up there.

- What's up there? - That's want I want to see, Jerome.

Call me Eugene. My middle name.

If you're going to be Jerome, you better start getting used to it.

- I must go. Where's my sample? - In the fridge. Door on the left.

- Which pouch? - Any of them.

- You think I should test it? - If you like.

- What's wrong with the machine? - You've been drinking again!

- I haven't. - Christ, it's eight in the morning!

This is no joke. My interview is in an hour!

- There's more vodka than piss! - I had half a glass to celebrate.

- Friday's will be all right. - There's only Wednesday left.

That's the one.