The year is 1968. Up to this point, the world of science fiction movies has been like a classroom mostly filled with B students that keep throwing stuff to each other and at the teacher when he isn't looking (the countless B-movies filled with those hilarious rubber-suit monsters or aliens), the occasional hopeless oddball that seems to receive most of what's being thrown (Ed Wood's "Plan 9 from Outer Space" comes to mind...sorry, I need a minute to stop laughing after remembering that one), with the very few B+-graders, like Wise's "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and Haskin's "The War of the Worlds", smiling smugly in their little corner at the back of the classroom, but with caution, afraid that the rubber-suited bullies might come and kick their slightly more intellectual behinds. However, this high school classroom is about to become a university lecture hall. An upcoming director by the name of Stanley Kubrick, who has never directed science fiction before, is about to fall like a giant black monolith on the cinematic world's head.
In the world of cinematic science fiction, especially in the years before CG visual effects which allowed for easy corrections and more artistic experimentation, it would appear that directing a movie like you are running a concentration camp and being literally obsessive-compulsive about the level of detail that can be achieved on screen meant that you would probably end up with a good movie in your hands. Welcome to the wonderful world of endless script rewrites, vicious artistic arguments, multi-year production delays, where going severely over budget would almost become the norm and would cause many studio executives and producers to age prematurely. A lot of the drama of this movie's development involved Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, the writer of the original short story the movie is based on and the concurrent to the movie full novel that he proceeded to write to coincide with the film's release. Whoever said that great minds think alike was sorely mistaken in this case. This was a true clash of science fiction Titans which probably lead to as much of a depletion of the world's paper supply as Scott's "Blade Runner" before the dust had settled and the script and novel were in final form.Was this movie
worth the trouble it caused during its conception and production? That would have to be a resounding...."Huh? What the f... did we just watch??" initially that would turn to a huge "YES" in the following years (although my mother still doesn't get it). One needs to understand that Kubrick basically proved that time IS relative with his uncanny ability to predict the future and create movies that were (and still are) way, waaaaaaaaaay ahead of their time. If all things went wrong for him as a director, he could easily become a very successful fortuneteller or tarot card reader. Also, one needs to understand that Kubrick was interested in creating art, not just movies for the box office. He was a Picasso of cinema, not afraid to boldly go where no man has gone before (oh, Jean-Luc Picard, how much we miss you). Armed with those two realizations, you can now proceed to the rest of this informative, wonderful and generally awesome review (I rule, YEAH!!! Sorry, having a hard day today, I need the self-praising).I have an allergy for reviews that mention the whole plot of a movie. That is not constructive or helpful criticism, it feels like you are reading an elementary school essay ("and we went there and we did that and then we played and then we ate and then we went home"...someone shoot me). There is this magical way of finding out the plot of a movie that's called ..."watching the bloody movie"! So, I think I made it rather clear that I won't discuss the plot of "2001".
Visually, this movie is a monumental achievement. There hasn't been a movie before or since that has done so much to define what is visually possible on film. The life-sized sets, the costumes, the miniature-based spaceships and planetary special effects (that appear massive on screen), the attention of detail on the large and on the very small (the many stickers with instructions for use and warnings that appear on various imaginary devices in the many spaceships of the movie come to mind), all showcase the fact that people literally shed blood, sweat and tears to design and make them. Thankfully, the movie doesn't include smell-o-vision so that we can smell the results of all this intensive labor and the smell of the overworked actors that probably had to do every scene a gazillion times before Kubrick was happy. I can only imagine what this movie looked like when it was presented in its original 70mm print on a "Cinerama" screen, which was larger than today's multiplex screens and engulfed the viewers with its curvature for the most immersive experience to date. Unfortunately, those screens don't exist any more (not where I live anyway) and I personally feel sad that I am too young to have ever experienced this movie the way it was meant to be watched. Watching it on a normal TV still gives you a huge sense of mystery and grandeur, so one can only imagine what the people in the cinema felt like watching this for the first time. This is 1968 that we are talking about people! 1968! It would be almost a whole decade before Lucas would start ripping off older WWII movies scene-for-scene to make Star Wars and its space fight scenes.Aurally, this
movie is extremely effective. However, one needs to realise that, being a work of science fiction art and not some sci-fi childish drivel aimed solely at lining people's pockets (Goooood boy, Transformers 2 *pat on the head*. Sit quietly and play in your corner now), effective doesn't necessarily mean pleasant. Watching a rotating spaceship slowly dock on a rotating, wheel-like space hotel, in what resembles a choreographed technological space dance with the "Blue Danube" waltz playing in the background, is a unique, surreal, very pleasant and unforgettable experience. Equally unforgettable are the lengthy times of total silence that are supposed to represent the lack of sound in space, with the heavy breathing of the astronauts in their space suits dominating the soundtrack. It's supposed to represent how difficult and risky it is for man to be in space (that's what I think anyway, I will stop thinking too hard now before my head explodes). The scenes where the soundtrack turns to the most eerie collection of random, choral voices to convey the fear and amazement of humans faced with the unknown (a sound that would make the scariest of horror films proud) is also utterly unforgettable. But the last two are also extremely unpleasant. They are meant to be. They are meant to scare you, amaze you and make you think. Use that thing behind your eyes in your skull, don't be afraid. Sci-fi is not only about things going "boom" in space and aliens probing people's private places.
I've been avoiding this part, which will talk about the concepts and themes the movie tackles, for as long as I humanly could. Now, I will take one for the team (I really hope you are happy for the aneurysm I am about to have while trying to describe my understanding of this movie). One definite central topic is that of the evolution of humanity and our future and destiny as a species. The movie seems to think that we face and will face many dilemmas on how to progress, but it seems to hope for the best. We appear to have achieved a lot in the film, but to have also somehow lost our passion and soul (as apparent from e.g. the over-commercialisation of even space and space travel, shown through the endless brand names that appear on everything and the meaningless, frigid dialogues that take place there). It definitely also tackles the topic of artificial intelligence, though many argue that the A.I. in this movie is the most "human" character of them all, with the real humans appearing to be disillusioned, cold and bored, almost spoilt by their technological achievements. It definitely shows space travel as something difficult and new for humanity where humans have to re-invent and adapt themselves in order to survive, explore and expand. However, this exploration of humanity's real playground, the universe, appears to be of the utmost importance for our future destiny, no matter how difficult these first baby steps might be. The movie possibly discusses contact with aliens, but no one, in my opinion, can be absolutely certain if this higher intelligence is alien or something else in nature. Finally, the movie takes an ultimate stab at guessing our future destiny in a very surreal, trippy way which I could only describe as "hopeful" and as "I wish I had taken some illegal substances before viewing this part". Definitely worth watching, but make sure you are not too tired or you will start bleeding from your nose and ears from too much visual and aural stimulation. One can see how the excitement of the space race and the hopelessness caused by the wars of the time permeate the movie. It's a shame that contemporary movies don't bother with such heavy questions, it's not like things have changed THAT much since then. This was my humble attempt at understanding this movie...I used the word "definitely" way too many times...I and my confidence in my interpretation will now go and hide somewhere before we embarrass ourselves more.This
movie is like Picasso's "Guernica". Some people will hate it, other people will love it, but pretty much everyone will respect its vision. It caused very mixed reviews when it came out. People where not ready for a movie that takes almost half an hour before the very first words of dialogue are spoken. But as with every true work of art, it has withstood the test of time probably better than any other film ever made. A lot of the original criticisms, usually made by the older guard, were recanted when people had a chance to adapt to what was a truly new kind of cinema and understand its vision. This movie caused cult-like fanaticism and younger audiences would go for repeated viewings, keeping the movie in the cinemas for well over a year. People would be found screaming about not understanding it or screaming in joy when they thought they DID understand its meaning (an example of someone thinking they got it here). Don't fall into that trap, this movie will have its own meaning for you, as every good work of art should. Many people were actually inspired to become film-makers or scientists because of this film and many more where simply inspired and more hopeful about life in general. Some even wrote a university thesis about it. I'm not kidding. Unfortunately, the amazing future the movie predicted for 2001 has not taken place yet and that's a real shame. Where is the future promised to us? I can only hope that we are just not there yet and Kubrick's dates were simply just overly optimistic. I don't want to think that this future will never happen because we are squandering our potential in finding new and better ways of killing each other (wow, this movie has affected me again, despite having watched it multiple times before). I cannot guarantee that you will enjoy it in the traditional cinema, pop-corn and cola sense, but I can guarantee that you will never forget it. If "Blade Runner" was the visual Daddy of modern sci-fi, this is the Grand-daddy that started it all. View an HD version if possible. Prepare to meet higher universal intelligences and evolve below!________________________________
Movie Info:
- Year: 1968
- Director: Stanley Kubrick (IMDb, Wiki, The Kubrick Site)
- Cast: Keir Dullea, Garry Lockwood, William Sylvester, Douglas Rain and others
- "2001" on: IMDb (8.4/10), RT (96%); "2001" Wiki; Official Site
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Media:
Media:
- Trailer (Youtube) (Includes "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss, the movie's famous theme)
- "2001": The Making of a Myth (Youtube) (Hosted by James Cameron) Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
- Kubrick at the opening of "2001" (Youtube)
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