2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Review
2001:A Space Odyssey (1968)
Runtime:
2 hours and 29 minutes Rated: G
Director:
Stanley Kubrick
Starring:
Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
To be honest, I may have bitten off more than I can
chew in deciding to make this my second film to review. Jaws is a fairly
straight forward film that isn’t really open to too many different
interpretations, but 2001 demands them. So, I guess I’ll start with a general
synopsis (if that’s even possible), but first I should mention that this movie
is broken up into several sections that each have their own characters and
settings. So, I’ll go section by section. We start with an overture of weird
vocals and noises that lasts for about 3 minutes. Which I guess must have some
sort of cue from Kubrick to tell all the people that walked into it expected a
campy B grade alien invasion flick to leave before it was too late. Then the
dawn of man sequence begins, with establishing shots of a dry arid landscape
with our ape human ancestors. This sequence plays out as follows; apes live
their lives and try to survive as another tribe of ape humans moves in on their
water hole. One day a giant black monolith appears where the tribe is sleeping
and eventually, they get confident enough to get near it, and the black
monolith starts affecting the brains of these apes and gives them the
intelligence to use bones as tools to kill their rivals. Then the leader of the
group throws a bone up into the sky (in one of the most famous edits of all
time) and the bone transforms into a spaceship mid-flight. So, there’s a lot to
unpack there, but in the interest of time I’ll simply mention that this first
section is a perfect example of how this high concept story is going to be
told. In the dawn of man sequence the only dialogue you hear are the low
guttural grunts of the apes, but the visuals are given a higher priority and
are the way Kubrick forces you to view it. Essentially 2001: A Space Odyssey
operates like a silent movie. This story is told entirely visually, which can
be hard for people to understand who are used to seeing movies where the
characters will tell the audience the information they should be getting from
the images. Film is a visual medium after all. But alas there are no such
safety nets in 2001. Sink or swim. Then after the bone turns into a space ship
we are introduced to the idea that man can travel through space. Which we may
snicker at now, but keep in mind that this film was made before man had even
landed on the moon. We then are introduced to Dr. Heywood Floyd (Sylvester)who
is traveling to a space station to travel on a mission to the moon. This shot
of Floyd traveling through space is chock full of great practical effects like
the orbiting space station, floating pen, and the accurate hand drawn image of
Earth, which I should remind people that nobody knew what it would look from
space yet. Dr. Floyd has some pointless, pedantic conversations that ultimately
don’t contribute much to the overall story. Then he travels to the moon where
he and his team find and identical looking monolith that has been recently
unearthed. Unlike the apes who regarded it with fear, the humans regard it with
confidence and pride. When they take a picture in front of it, a shrill
piercing affects them. We then have another title card that tell us that this
is now 18 months later and a manned spacecraft heads to Jupiter. This is where
we meet our characters Dr. Dave Bowman, (Dullea) Dr. Frank Poole, (Lockwood) a
few other astronauts in cryogenic sleep until the ship reaches Jupiter and the
ships A.I. HAL 9000. In this sequence Kubrick future predictions come true yet
again. Here we see tablets (iPad) and skype used. I wish I could delve into the
characters but honestly the only interesting character here is HAL. Which I
don’t think is an accident or a coincidence. Anyway, Doctors Bowman and Poole
believe that HAL might have made an error (which no 9000 has ever done before)
and decide that they might have to shut him down. They attempt to conceal their
plans from HAL, who ultimately finds out and kills all of the astronauts except
Bowman. Dr. Bowman, in the interest of self-preservation shuts down HAL in what
has to be my favorite scene from the film. He then travels to Jupiter and
beyond where he flies into a sea of ever-changing colors and sounds. Dave then
finds himself in an old 17th century room where he ages before his
very eyes. Then upon his deathbed the monolith appears once again and this time
Dave is evolved into a star baby (which according to this film is the next step
in our evolution) that returns to Earth to presumably use this newfound wisdom
to guide the human race further.
So, if you actually managed to read all that
you’re probably thinking 1 of 2 things; 1. Why did I waste my time reading this
review? 2. This plot sounds pretty stupid when you try to explain it. If you
thought number 1, then I’m afraid I can’t help you and you know where the door
is. But if you thought the later then allow me to explain. Yes, it does sound
stupid when you try to use words to describe it. Then again trying to describe
it this way is contrary to everything Stanley Kubrick wanted this film to be.
You see, Kubrick wanted this to be like music. Music can affect people on a
subconscious level that can’t be explained. It’s not a coincidence that some of
the classical music used in 2001 are some of the most provocative pieces.
Kubrick wants this movie to give the audience a deeply personal experience, that
is going to affect every person differently. From what I can gather, this movie
has accomplished this goal for many people. But what about me? Well sadly for
Mr. Kubrick, this movie just doesn’t do that much for me. I can appreciate all
of the hard work and dedication to get every little detail about space as
scientifically accurate as possible. All of the practical sets and ships that
can pretty much go head to head with most CGI. I can admire this film for
inspiring some of my favorite filmmakers (George Lucas, Steven Spielberg,
Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott) and redefining the look of spacecraft from sleek
1950s saucers to practical, detailed ships. Star Wars and Alien especially owe
a debt of thanks to 2001.I love that this movie challenges and provokes its
audience to try and figure itself out. I’ve always said that more movies should
focus on the idea of “show don’t tell”, which 2001 takes to the nth degree. But
despite all of these great features, the biggest detractor is that I am
ultimately not as deeply affected as Kubrick would have hoped. There are ideas
in 2001 I love, but I don’t love the end result. To throw Stanley Kubrick a
bone, I enjoyed and understood it more this time around. I have only seen this
movie twice, and the first time I was too confused with how the story was being
told, to actually think about the story itself. So, who knows, maybe every 3-5
years when I watch it, I’ll get more out of it each time. I doubt it. In any
case 2001 is a very ambitious film that (depending on who you ask) is either a
masterpiece or horribly boring. For now, I find myself closer to boring than
masterpiece (the pacing really kills this movie for me). Well I guess that’s
it. I’m not really sure who to recommend this to. If you’re curious I’d say to
check it out for yourself and form your own opinion on it. As for me I’ll
imagine myself hurtling through space to the tune of The Blue Danube. With a much
faster tempo.
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