Sunday, June 12, 2011

Belated Film Quiz Friday


So it's Sunday. So this will be a holy film quiz.

Anyway, as Angela H. correctly suggested, last week's film was Gattaca, the 1997 sci-fi film written and directed by Andrew Nicol. The thing I enjoy most about this film is how effectively it created a sense of being futuristic with little more than well-chosen locations, costume design, photography, and sound. Frank Lloyd Wright's Marin County Civic Center stands in for a kind of Mission Control. Buildings from Cal Poly Pomona with a filter on the lens look like housing tenements from the future. Even when Ethan Hawke's character drives his little car, the sound of a turbine engine is dubbed in to make even that simple thing seem slightly different. You never see a laser gun or even a space ship up close. People wear regular clothes and go to work in cars and yet, it doesn't quite seem of our time. I think it takes a lot of cleverness and creativity to pull that off.

Of course, the movie was very forward thinking in terms of genetic engineering, etc. but that can be a discussion for another day. It features a young Jude Law, which is why my mother-in-law recognized the quote immediately. She's a fan of ol' Jude. And, as I mentioned, it's the film that brought Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman together. Is it just me or did Ethan seem to go downhill after they split up? Uma looks essentially the same but he looks like he's been whittled down to a sliver of irritated anxiety.

Anyway, Angela asks for all things Uma so here's her prize:



So, here's this week's quote (and remember -- it's Sunday.)

"From this day forward, I am enlisted in His service. I offer Him my fortune, my sword, and my life. And this I pledge to you on my honor as a Roman."

P.S. This week's winner, Angela Hallstrom, is, among other things, an excellent author. If you haven't bought and read her novel-in-stories Bound On Earth, you are missing out. You need to repent, click here, and buy it ASAP. It's only eleven bucks, it has a cool, newly redesigned cover, and the stories will make you love people more. You will thank me later.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

"The Robe"?

Paul and Linda said...

First guess puts me behind Clark this time.

Second guess "Ben Hur" ???

Ang said...

Thanks, Mark. For both the wonderful prize and the nice compliment.