2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – S. Kubrick

I’ve watched this so many times over the years but, on this occasion, it seemed even more lyrical than before, the many wordless sequences (backed with classical compositions from Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss, or Ligeti) in Super Panavision widescreen (albeit on my 55” TV) creating absorbing moods (of tranquility or alternately, disorientation or terror). Director Stanley Kubrick collaborated with writer Arthur C. Clarke (based on his 1948 short story, “The Sentinel”) to develop the screenplay which contemplates how alien intelligence may have intervened to influence human evolution (via a giant black monolith). The film falls loosely into three parts: 1) australopithecines find the monolith and learn to use tools; 2) early 21^st century humans discover another monolith buried on the moon which emits a signal aimed at the planet Jupiter – astronauts are sent there to investigate; 3) one astronaut experiences another transformation.  Of course, the longest sequence (the second) is the most well-known and features HAL 9000, the artificially intelligent computer which becomes paranoid after the astronauts, played by Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, discover that it made a mistake. The final sequence drove some patrons out of the theatre back in the Sixties and continues to create a quizzical reaction. However, viewed as an experimental film, using analog techniques, it is pretty sublime (and eventually returns to the narrative, sort of). Indeed, the major achievement here is undoubtedly the painstaking craftmanship that went into creating the spacecraft (and illusion of space) with analogue methods (lots of models). Kubrick’s perfectionism may have driven some crazy but it achieved a masterpiece.