2001

A Space Odyssey

Figure 1. 2001 A Space Odyssey poster

2001 produced in 1968 is a science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The film is an epic
journey of a crew on a ship in space with a computer entitled Hall9000 as its brain and central nervous
system, which operates everything in the ship. The Film is a meditative film, which is set in 3 different stages
as the first stage is of the dawn of man and shows Apes discovering that a bone is not just a bone, the second
stage is a mellow lethargic dreamscape of interior shots of the spaceship and third stage is a psychedelic trip
for the eyes. Kubrick as a producer has his own iconic style as symmetry and rule of thirds is used to convey
a sense of not belonging and adds eeriness to the ships interior shots. Many of the shots contain mind
boggling trickery as the cabin crew and stewardesss are walking up walls and ceilings which could only
apply to having no gravity in space but Kubrick is phenomenal in achieving this as the film was designed
with a close relationship to Nasa and is one of the reasons why the visual effects of 2001 lives on in its
impressiveness to this day.
Kubrick also doesnt rely on the actors
emotions to convey the idea of what is
happening in any given moment and more so
relies on visuals and the iconic music
soundscape to make the viewer think. Roger
Ebert describes Kubricks approach as He
reduces each scene to its essence, and leaves it
on screen long enough for us to contemplate it,
to inhabit it in our imaginations. Alone among
science-fiction movies, 2001" is not concerned
with thrilling us, but with inspiring our awe.
(Ebert 1997) Anyone that watches 2001 will
Figure 1. interior of Ship
instantaneously recognise the music score for
the films most epic and mellow moments such
as Richard Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra and Johann Strauss II - The Blue Danube Waltz, as many of the
movies score has been rehashed countless of times in cinema and television shows to represent similar
experiences of epic proportions.

2001 certainly reflects the time period in which it was made as space exploration was at its forefront and the
60s was a time period in which belief in rebirth and optimism was at its peak. Perhaps Kubricks creation of
2001 was a prediction of what space exploration could be like. The Apollo 11 mission to make man land on
the moon was set in 1961 and in 1969, one year after 2001 was produced became the fist successful moon
landing as Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Kubricks ideology of space exploration
puts the viewer in the conditions of what it would be like in space as isolation is a big factor as well as
reflecting how mundane real life is in comparison as we see Frank Poole played by Gary Lockwood being
wished happy birthday by his parents while floating around space.

Figure 2. Hall9000

When Halls memory banks are being dislodged one by the one the viewer is left feeling sympathy for the
machine as in this given moment he seems more human than any of the crew as they rarely show any
emotion at all which is ironic that a machine shows more emotion than the people.

Figure 3. Light Tunnel

2001 ends in a trippy, psychedelic light driven epiphany as the conclusion is left to the viewers own
interpretation. The ending in particular is easy to see why the film was rereleased as the ultimate trip as
viewers would take psychedelic drugs before watching. The psychedelic sequence that accompanies the
former is one of the preeminent accomplishments in all of filma climactic, orgiastic sequence of alien
landscapes, exploding nebulae, and wafting tides of organic space that practically leaps off the screen
(humanick 2007)

Kubric has managed to create a masterpiece of cinema that has and will stand the test of time as the special effects could
be seen as better than todays and as the whole movie gets the viewer thinking for their own understanding of it makes it a
clever way of finding your own interpretation for it rather than just showing it to you. Roger Ebert concludes the film with
We became men when we learned to think. Our minds have given us the tools to understand where we live and who we
are. Now it is time to move on to the next step, to know that we live not on a planet but among the stars, and that we are
not flesh but intelligence. (Ebert 1997)

Illustration List

Kubrick, S. (1968). Figure 1 2001 A Space Odyssey poster poster.
http://blog.signalnoise.com/2011/02/23/2001-a-space-odyssey-poster/
Accessed on (20/10/16)

Kubrick, S. (1968). Figure 2 interior of Ship.

https://drnorth.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/2001-this-way-up/
Accessed on (20/10/16)

Kubrick, S. (1968). Figure 3 Hall.

http://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?t=42681
Accessed on (20/10/16)

Kubrick, S. (1968). Figure 4 Light Tunnel.

http://nofilmschool.com/2013/08/learn-how-to-create-slit-screen-sequences
Accessed on (20/10/16)

Bibliography

Apollo 11 unknown author, unknown date, nasa.gov
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html
Accessed on (20/10/16)

Humanick, R. (2007.) slantmagazine.com
http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/2001-a-space-odyssey
Accessed on (20/10/16)

Ebert, R. (1997) rogerebert.com
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-2001-a-space-odyssey-1968
Accessed on (20/10/16)