A SPACE ODYSSEY
Fade to Space. Glaringly bright light, and Stanley
Kubrick’s signature cinematic shots, symmetrical. As the music slowly builds up
and the glare from the Sun breaks through the atmosphere of the Earth, there is
a certain element of something impending on you soon. “But it makes you wait.
Its
five bold opening notes embody the ascension of man into spheres reserved for
the gods. It is cold, frightening, magnificent.” (Ebert,
1997) For such a calm and slow shot it builds tension, and suspense. You
want the Sun to be in full view but are also scared what will happen when it
does.
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figure. 1 |
With an extremely symbolic yet slightly foreseeing
beginning, the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey starts with the dawn of man. Apes
are shown living their lives, and frankly not much else; whilst becoming
partially sentient they are still only apes. Kubrick’s film up to this point
had looked like a nature documentary until one of the most important yet simplistic
assets to this film appears. The Monolith. (figure. 2) The Apes are confused by its static
appearance and so is the audience. We don’t understand what this object is and
neither do the apes. Relating us back to the age old theory that we are derived
from Apes. Hence, the dawn of man. A
bone into a spaceship…
We skip into Kubrick’s 2001. Spaceships, space
and classical music! Futuristic planes that look all too familiar yet
different. Women dressed in slimming though simple outfits to help them walk
slowly around in anti-gravity, not for the attraction but as an asset to the
ship. All of these things are considered and the more you see the more you
realise every single item in Kubrick’s 2001 Space explorative world is
re-designed but not too far away from normality that we feel alienated. Kubrick
knows when and not to evoke uneasiness but this is not one of those times. As Johann Strauss II’s “On the Beautiful Blue
Danube” plays in the background it is clear Kubrick wishes for us to be
just as amazed by the idea of future space-exploration for the masses as he is!
2001: A Space Odyssey shines in the regard of revelling
in its own genius. “Moments of sheer
brilliance and it is undoubtedly their stark visual power that lends this piece
of cinema its famous visionary qualities.” (Haflidason, 2009) Nothing
apart from the monolith is pushed forward to be noticed, withal but being the
most simple. No questions are asked in the film, and Kubrick tries all too hard
to not have an answer to your own. You are slowly fed strands of stunning visuals
with almost ulterior conversations in the middle, patience endued the story
eventually becomes apparent. This is
where 2001 becomes an oddity of it’s own. There is such strong symbolism and concrete
visuals that the actual narrative of the film is hazy. Arguably, there might not be one, but it
leaves everything but the visuals up to your imagination as to what the film
entails. As Kubrick’s imagination runs wild with the idea of space travel yours
does too figuring out just what Kubrick is trying to tell you. This is not a
story of politics or karma, but philosophy and the human race.
The Monolith seems so outer-worldly yet has
opera-like voices radiating from it. Sounding menacing, but ultimately, human. This
distinguishes 2001 from many other Space-travel related films (such as Alien 1979 and Forbidden Planet 1956) in which it does not deal with Aliens in
Space. Any problems that Dave faces are not against Aliens, but against
something manmade. Dave against HAL, Apes against Apes. Everything is
circulated around mankind. From beginning to end. You could say it is making a
point about what our nature as a species is rather than a story based on
fiction. Perhaps cynicism from Kubrick’s part; or just a simple observation.
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figure. 2 |
With intermission included, 2001: A Space Oddyssey
is almost 3 hours long. A slow-paced and almost dormant movie, but with good
reason. Every slow shot makes you analyse and reflect on what you had previously
seen, but not ahead. “it's through the
film's silent, deliberate hypnosis that it achieves its ballet-like majesty,
with every painterly image and effortless pan and cut communicating not only a
necessary narrative/emotional cue, but the wordless beauty of mankind as a
creative, conscious entity at work in the universe.” (Humanick,
2007) Scenes so still but with
sudden change to another, you are left processing what you witnessed before
without a chance or even inkling to what comes after.
HAL-9000 is the only life form that does not
resemble nor come from the physical being of man-kind. The monolith is never
present when HAL is around and only when HAL has been ridden of does the
Monolith finally appear, back to Dave, the human. As well as the Monolith,
there is an absence of music too. Infact, from the first mention of HAL up to
the psychedelic breaking point of the film, there is no music at all. As the
sequence of struggle against HAL continues the feeling of impending doom builds
yet again further and further, lowering it slightly each time a false alarm created
by Kubrick happens – Creating the spontaneous and un-guessable future this film
holds as mentioned earlier.
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figure. 3 |
The one part of the massive psychedelic shift change of 2001:
A Space Odyssey that really stands out apart from it either being film filters
galore, or a distanced philosophical look on the world we inhabit, is Dave’s
eye. (figure. 3) It can only be described as the “Predator Shot” and is frequently seen
with animals before they are being hunted. We focus on the eye, it emotes the
most feeling and depth. This brings us back to the main clause of the film. The
dawn of man. At the beginning of the film the Apes are hunted by other Apes,
man vs man. They are their own predator and prey. Equally, we are shown this as
Dave being the prey but we do not know what to. That will remain a mystery as
Kubrick does not give you a point-blank resolution to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The subject of much debate as to what the 1968 Sci-Fi film really was trying to
get across. But remember, no matter the perhaps morbid outcome to the film, in the great words of HAL-9000,
"Everything is going extremely well."
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figure. 4 |
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Illustration List:
Fig. 1 - Kubrick, S. (1968). Film Still 1. [image] Available at: http://puu.sh/cliCs/531a3e9bfc.png [Accessed 21 Oct. 2014].
Fig. 2 - Kubrick, S. (1968). Film Still 2. [image] Available at: http://puu.sh/clmkC/5a5d23ff4e.png [Accessed 21 Oct. 2014].
Fig. 3 - Kubrick, S. (1968). Film Still 3. [image] Available at: http://puu.sh/clp7A/87dad2a050.png [Accessed 21 Oct. 2014].
Fig. 4 --Kubrick, S. (1968). Film Still 4. [image] Available at: http://puu.sh/clqfj/255f6d64e2.png [Accessed 21 Oct. 2014].
Bibliography:
Ebert, R. (1997). 2001: A Space Odyssey Movie Review (1968) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-2001-a-space-odyssey-1968 [Accessed 21 Oct. 2014].
Haflidason, A. (2009). BBC - Films - review - 2001: A Space Odyssey. [online] Bbc.co.uk. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/09/18/2001_review.shtml [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014].
Humanick, R. (2007). 2001: A Space Odyssey | Film Review | Slant Magazine. [online] Slant Magazine. Available at: http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/2001-a-space-odyssey [Accessed 21 Oct. 2014].
Further Reading (FYI:)