Seen before: Yes
The first film in my collection to have an 'intermission' halfway through (they seemed to be used frequently in the 60s), '2001: A Space Odyssey' is exactly that. Stanley Kubrick is of course widely recognised as perhaps the greatest director ever, largely due to his ability to make an outstanding film in whatever genre he turned his hand to (comedy, period drama, horror, in this case sci-fi, amongst others).
---Plot Summary---
A mysterious artifact is unearthed on the moon's surface, and is discovered to be transmitting a signal to Jupiter. An expedition is organised, and five crew members (three of which are in hibernation) are sent to investigate, along with the artificial intelligence unit HAL. The secrecy of their mission inevitably leads to complications....
---Review---
First off, I have to say that this film is not to everyones taste. If you are not a fan of extended sequences of minimal dialogue, watch something else. If you are not a fan of non-plot or character based films, watch something else. What this film does have for anyone who is lucky enough to watch it, is pure and simple. Beauty. From the first sequence, labelled 'The Dawn Of Man', in which primitive, early representations of man discover the use of tools, everything looks amazing (The 'ape' costumes are incredibly realistic, it's hard to establish that they are actually people in suits).
Kubrick's vision of the future is remarkable. From the fully rotatable living quarters in the 'Jupiter' section of the film, to the interior of HAL's 'brain', he has created some truly unique visual set pieces. The stand-out is of course the sequence towards the end of the film, when Dave (Keir Dullea) finds himself travelling through time and space, into his own future. For nearly 20 minutes, we are submitted to an assault on the senses, as wave upon wave of fantastical shapes and colour are pushed towards the screen, accompanied by a frenetic score. It is an absolutely mesmerizing part of the film (I can imagine if you were on drugs it would cause you to go crazy).
In HAL, the expedition craft's artificial intelligence, Kubrick and his screenwriter Arthur C. Clarke have created an entity of immense creepiness and cold logic. It becomes apparent from the moment we see his 'eye', a black circle with a small red light in the middle, that something is bound to go wrong. The idea is that he could convey genuine human emotions is toyed with early on, and this is just what happens, as he witnesses Dave and Frank (Gary Lockwood) trying to secretly talk about him, and becomes aware that they are suspicious of his motives when he informs them of a malfunction with the communication equipment that turns out to be false.
In sense, it is hard to interpret what Kubrick set out to achieve with his film. I believe that is a story of the evolution of man, which eventually leads to death and then birth once more. However, the presence of the monolith throughout the film does pose a great deal of questions as to what it represents, or indeed what it actually is. I like to think that it is an instrument in man's evolution through time, an immortal artifact that oversees all life and death. It certainly provides a wide variety of interpretations, which adds to the mystery and enjoyment of this frankly astounding achievement of a film.
With an eclectic score of now immediately recognisable music, that is used in everything from other films to advertising, and an unforgettable visual experience, '2001: A Space Odyssey' is perhaps Kubrick's masterpiece. Quite possibly the greatest technical achievement in cinema.
---Rating---
9/10
Tomorrow: 21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003)
The first film in my collection to have an 'intermission' halfway through (they seemed to be used frequently in the 60s), '2001: A Space Odyssey' is exactly that. Stanley Kubrick is of course widely recognised as perhaps the greatest director ever, largely due to his ability to make an outstanding film in whatever genre he turned his hand to (comedy, period drama, horror, in this case sci-fi, amongst others).
---Plot Summary---
A mysterious artifact is unearthed on the moon's surface, and is discovered to be transmitting a signal to Jupiter. An expedition is organised, and five crew members (three of which are in hibernation) are sent to investigate, along with the artificial intelligence unit HAL. The secrecy of their mission inevitably leads to complications....
---Review---
First off, I have to say that this film is not to everyones taste. If you are not a fan of extended sequences of minimal dialogue, watch something else. If you are not a fan of non-plot or character based films, watch something else. What this film does have for anyone who is lucky enough to watch it, is pure and simple. Beauty. From the first sequence, labelled 'The Dawn Of Man', in which primitive, early representations of man discover the use of tools, everything looks amazing (The 'ape' costumes are incredibly realistic, it's hard to establish that they are actually people in suits).
Kubrick's vision of the future is remarkable. From the fully rotatable living quarters in the 'Jupiter' section of the film, to the interior of HAL's 'brain', he has created some truly unique visual set pieces. The stand-out is of course the sequence towards the end of the film, when Dave (Keir Dullea) finds himself travelling through time and space, into his own future. For nearly 20 minutes, we are submitted to an assault on the senses, as wave upon wave of fantastical shapes and colour are pushed towards the screen, accompanied by a frenetic score. It is an absolutely mesmerizing part of the film (I can imagine if you were on drugs it would cause you to go crazy).
In HAL, the expedition craft's artificial intelligence, Kubrick and his screenwriter Arthur C. Clarke have created an entity of immense creepiness and cold logic. It becomes apparent from the moment we see his 'eye', a black circle with a small red light in the middle, that something is bound to go wrong. The idea is that he could convey genuine human emotions is toyed with early on, and this is just what happens, as he witnesses Dave and Frank (Gary Lockwood) trying to secretly talk about him, and becomes aware that they are suspicious of his motives when he informs them of a malfunction with the communication equipment that turns out to be false.
In sense, it is hard to interpret what Kubrick set out to achieve with his film. I believe that is a story of the evolution of man, which eventually leads to death and then birth once more. However, the presence of the monolith throughout the film does pose a great deal of questions as to what it represents, or indeed what it actually is. I like to think that it is an instrument in man's evolution through time, an immortal artifact that oversees all life and death. It certainly provides a wide variety of interpretations, which adds to the mystery and enjoyment of this frankly astounding achievement of a film.
With an eclectic score of now immediately recognisable music, that is used in everything from other films to advertising, and an unforgettable visual experience, '2001: A Space Odyssey' is perhaps Kubrick's masterpiece. Quite possibly the greatest technical achievement in cinema.
---Rating---
9/10
Tomorrow: 21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003)
Try Leonard F.Wheat's ''Kubrick's 2001;A Triple Allegory''(Scarecrow Press,2000)all the events follow those in Homer's Odyssey,eg HAL=Cyclops,but also==Nietzsche's version of God,created in man's image,ie Beyond the infinite=beyond God,his Thus spoke Zarathustra also starts at sunrise,ends with the hero's last supper being interrupted.
ReplyDelete