Summary
From the age of prehistoric man to the future space age, man and technology have coexisted, but when an incredibly powerful supercomputer on a manned mission to Jupiter goes haywire, man must evolve beyond.
Like the First Time
I don’t remember the first time I saw “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but I do remember the last. It was at an IMAX screening this year (2018) and it was one of the most transcendent cinematic moments of my life. There is no substitute for seeing one of the greatest films ever made with the best picture and audio available.
“2001" is a little like a Tarkovsky film. It’s long, not always clear about what it is trying to say, and mostly wide shots of large slow movements interspersed with hushed dialogue. It is a meditation you enter into as much as it is a film you watch or try to understand.
Being Free
This may seem a little strange but one of my favorite things about this film is that I don’t feel like I have to understand it. Anyone telling you that they know exactly what Kubrick is trying to say is as much a lier as if they claimed to have guessed the ending within the first five minutes of the film. Knowing that you are one amongst many who love this film but don’t totally understand it is to be set loose from the pressure that I sometimes feel when putting my opinion out there about a film.
I know that if I share what I feel when I watch this movie no one is going to say, well you just don’t get it. Of course I don’t. Know one does.
What I Think I Get
This movie is a phenomenal technical achievement. The realism in the space scenes and almost prophetic knowledge of the future in this film is simply astounding. Compare the visual effects in this film to anything else in its day and it is simply stunning to see the difference. Man had not even landed on the moon yet and these are the images that Kubrick is coming up with. Space shuttles, stations, and rotating sections. All still staples of the modern SciFi genre and here they are in Kubrick.
This movie is boring. I’m not going to try to shame people who don’t dig this movie. I get it. It’s long. It’s slow. It doesn’t give a rip whether you understand what is going on or not. For me, the lengthy plodding pace is actually a positive. First, because it forces me to think about what is happening and contemplate it rather than see and forget about it. Second, because it is thematic.
One of the themes Kubrick is meditating on is the evolution of man over time. With certain sections it feel like the film is saying “Look how young the human race is.” In others it says, “They grow up so fast,” yet by playing out long sequences it seems to also be saying, “They move and evolve so slowly.” Kubrick is hard for many modern movie goers because he actually communicates his ideas with things other than words. Even the pacing of the film is trying to engulf you in a thought.
Verdict
I’m not going to go into some plot breakdown because it doesn’t really matter. If anyone sees this movie either because it is a space movie or because they like monkeys, they will be equally disappointed.
This film is a thesis statement on humanity. I meditation on evolution, time, the human race, technology, and purpose. I can’t imagine why that wouldn’t interest anyone.
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