Fig. 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey poster.
Stanley
Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
(1968) will almost certainly leave you speechless, filled with heaps of
suspense and stunning visuals, it is definitely a great piece of science
fiction that still stands strong today. The story itself is somewhat hard to follow,
you can even argue that there isn’t actually a narrative at all, as Milne
points out ‘apart from a sequence
involving an endearingly sulky computer, so offended by a suggestion that it
has made a mistake that it announces in the silkiest of tones its intention of
taking over command, there is remarkably little plot to 2001. The film, in fact,
might be best described as a factual philosophical speculation, rather than as
the drama it sets out as but never develops into: and like all good
speculations, it leaves the spectator up in the air with a tantalising vision
as food for thought.’(Milne, 2010).
Kubrick leaves so many questions unanswered, leaving you to form your own
conclusions.
One of
the most influential factors of the film is the incredible music; it’s
noticeable from the start that it injects a huge amount of suspense into the
audience. Perfectly executed in every way, it was an extremely powerful tool
that held the film together. At times it makes you feel quite uneasy and almost
uncomfortable; the sheer power of it definitely had the best impact on the
film. As Brayton states ‘2001
was the first film of the director's career where the music choices were
consistently thoughtful and extraordinarily important, especially his use of
three pieces by György Ligeti (without Ligeti's permission), with the
composer's jarring micropolyphony creating a sense of unearthly aural
sensation, chaotic without actually being formless, that ideally suits the
film's depiction of human beings getting in out of their element (of course,
the iconic use of the fanfare from Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach
Zarathustra" - itself based on a Nietszche work where he discusses, among
other topics, the idea of the Superman, which makes it thematically cunning and aurally pleasing - is also
brilliant, though a bit damaged by almost a half-century of parodies).’
(Brayton, 2014).
Fig. 2. Journey to the moon still.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a ground breaking film for its
visuals, each aspect was carefully conceptualised to create the futuristic
world. As Spiegel points out ‘The
cuts from shot to shot, scene to scene, are so precise and never rushed. Some
may see this as overindulgence, but the deliberate choices throughout, visually
and aurally, combine to create one of the most exciting and challenging
pictures of the decade.’ (Spiegel, 2014), Kubrick did a fantastic job at
creating and displaying every little detail of the future to the audience. This
ranges from the larger details like the spaceships and HAL, to the more subtle
things like the food trays, anti-gravity slippers and hair nets (see fig. 2.).
Fig. 3. Monolith still.
It’s
possible that the black monolith’s appearance is connected to the advances in evolution.
This seems to be the case as at the start of the film when the monolith first
appears in front of the apes (see fig. 3.);
they take the first steps into evolution. Survival of the fittest springs to
mind as the ape beats a rival ape to death with a bone, this is cleverly mimicked
later on in the film when Dave is terminating HAL. During that scene Dave has
an almost lifeless face; it reflects the brutality of survival. Shortly after
HAL is terminated, Dave is faced with the monolith; he survived and was ready
to take the next step of evolution.
Kubrick’s
2001: A Space Odyssey is definitely a film for any sci-fi lover to watch, it’s
packed with superb visuals, chilling music and a ton of suspense.
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