Tropic

Daring science fiction adventure drama from France, this surprising feature, not destined to wide audiences but really worth the watch. I hesitated a bit before the viewing, but I was wrong. I could not watch such item every day, or even week, but after all I am not that surprised by the French movie industry. Since a couple of years, the French director offer us sime topics around astronauts; I don't remember the titles, because they are all confidential movies. Any movie buff will think of Phil Kaufman's THE RIGHT STUFF for the first part of the movie and then it will be David Cronenberg's atmosphere which will be the most obvious influence. Good stuff;

Bearing more than a distant resemblance to "Gattaca " starring Ethan Hawke and Jude Law, "tropic" is perhaps less original ,unique, than it appears at first time .Sci-fi ,with a few exceptions ,has never been Europa's forte.

Two twins are part of an elite ,intellectually and physically fit for the great future of the conquest of space ;their training is demanding ,be it in mathematics ,physics and sports training ; and there's a mission afoot and only one of the -male and female- candidates will be the chosen one .All that concerns the military project is credible ,semi-doc. And absorbing.

But it's not all good news: turning one of the brothers into a monster with a horrible face after a contamination is perhaps not a good idea ; it does not bring anything substantial to the plot (it's a variation on the "Gattaca " theme) and ,in my book , seems a commercial cheap trick ;besides the character of the mother is embarrassing ,which the actress does nothing to rectify .

The twins relationship could have been an interesting psychological drama without this awful make-up and ,from that point of view ,it's a missed opportunity.