Subject: Retrospective: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

From: [email-masked] (Jerry Saravia)
Date: 14 Nov 2000 01:54:37 GMT

In my early childhood, two images stayed with me and frightened me for a long 
time. One was the Mona Lisa, a reproduction that was hanging in my bedroom 
wall. The other was the Star Child from "2001: A Space Odyssey." I am still 
not sure why the latter frightened me so but I think a baby inside a 
shimmering, circular sphere would be enough to impress any 6-year-old. "2001: 
A Space Odyssey" has many memorable images and, in my mind, it is still the 
best science-fiction film ever made - the only one to truly capture the 
essence of space travel, from Jupiter to the infinite where the ineffable 
mysteries of what lies ahead holds a certain fascination for many of us here 
on Earth. I think that we tend to forget that we're a small point of interest 
in the universe and "2001" makes us feel how insignificant we are. 

Based on Arthur C. Clarke's short story, "The Sentinel," "2001" begins with 
the famous "Dawn of Man" section where numerous apes are seen living in 
cavernous surroudings. Leopards are predominant and hungry in the horizon. 
The apes shield themselves from other animals or fellow apes by mostly 
growling...but their peaceful existence is out to be demolished in one swift 
stroke. One particular ape, the Moonwatcher, develops the intelligence to 
realize that a bone can be used as a weapon - not only to eat meat by means 
of hunting and killing animals, but as a defense against other irate apes.  
And so, while his group of apes growls at the others, Moonwatcher strikes one 
ape with a bone. The peaceful, vegetarian apes have learned that violence can 
be instrumental in establishing order and change. And so the slow-motion shot 
of the Moonwatcher triumphantly throwing the bone up in the air segues to a 
magnificent transitional cut to the Orion spaceship of the 21st century - man 
has evolved and now space, which was a
 sight for the apes who gazed at the bright moonlit sky, has become the new 
frontier for more discoveries and perhaps new signs of intelligence.

It is the year 2001, as we see ships gracefully travelling through space. One 
of them carries Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester), an American scientist 
travelling from earth to a lunar space station. At the station, Floyd 
discusses to other Americans about the discovery of a monolith at Clavius, a 
station on the moon. There is a wonderfully subtle scene where, prior to the 
meeting, Floyd is reluctant to discuss the situation at Clavius to a couple 
of curious Russian scientists - he claims to know nothing about it yet admits 
he is unable to discuss it. 

The Clavius excavation is followed by the mission to Jupiter where astronauts 
Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) are 
travelling in the Discovery ship. On board are three scientists who are in 
deep hibernation for the length of the trip and the HAL 9000 computer (voiced 
by Douglas Rain), who is the brains and the eyes of the ship. Bowman and 
Poole are unaware of the purpose of the mission but HAL knows - 
unfortunately, HAL may have committed an error in judgment on a supposedly 
malfunctioning antenna. Bowman and Poole feel nothing is wrong with the 
ship's antennae, according to their thorough observations as well as that of 
another HAL 9000 computer's test from the U.S. Mission Control. Is HAL wrong, 
or are the astronauts erroneous in their calculations? Can a supercomputer 
like HAL make a mistake or are the humans at fault? 

The final half-hour of the film is one of the most superbly suspenseful, 
thrilling, visionary moments in the history of film. After Bowman realizes 
that HAL has intent to kill before letting anyone jeopardize the mission, he 
quickly disconnects HAL and begins a journey into the infinite when a 
floating monolith makes contact with him. Thus, Bowman sees a dazzling array 
of formations of geometric shapes of lights, clusters of stars, an infinite 
number of colored rays and, finally, an eighteenth century bedroom where 
noises and laughter are heard bouncing along the corridors of the unique 
decor. It is here where Bowman sees himself as a dying old man and 
ultimately, becomes the Star Child - the last evolutionary step for mankind.

Most audiences and critics were understandably puzzled by the film since more 
questions are drawn up than answers (imagine how poorly this film would have 
fared if it played in theatres today where implication is always eroded in 
favor of explicating). Does Dave Bowman become the Star Child? Is the 
monolith an alien intelligence or an evolutionary step in mankind, or both?

In answer to that question, I interpret the monolith, as I always have, as 
the next step in the evolutionary ladder and a sign of evolving intelligence, 
as demonstrated in the Dawn of Man sequence. Strangely enough, I never 
thought of it as an alien intelligence, despite the fact that scientists in 
the film allude to it as such. Heck, they could be wrong since scientists do 
make errors. 
 
Did HAL 9000 plan to fool Bowman and Poole with the faulty mechanism in the 
ship's antennae or did HAL really think there was a malfunction, thus making 
us believe that computers can make errors? 

I am willing to go with the latter since computers can make errors. Why? 
Well, they are man-made, aren't they? Humans make errors all the time so it 
is conceivable that a computer, like HAL 9000, could make an error. 
Ironically, as Kubrick seems to indicate, HAL is about as human and 
compassionate, to some degree, as most of the human characters in the film. 
Of course, HAL is also a murderer but he can express emotion - consider his 
final lines in the film where Dave is frantically unplugging his memory units 
("Just what do you think you are doing Dave? Dave, I am afraid.")
  
"2001" was once considered the ultimate acid trip back when it was released 
in 1968. 
There are also some who felt the film was too slow-paced and boring (Although 
I have heard the quote that Kubrick wanted to show that space travel was 
boring). I must disagree with the slow-pace - sure, it move slowly but it 
needs to. This is not the kind of story that requires the fast-paced, 
action-per-minute theatrics of "Star Wars." Instead, Kubrick moves his story 
slowly to show the beauty and mystery of space, the vastness of it, 
accompanied by the waltzes of composer Richard Strauss. Also noteworthy is 
the soundtrack, which is silent when Poole and Bowman investigate the 
antennae on the Discovery - occasionally you'll only hear them breathing 
which heightens the suspense. 

"2001" is not my personal favorite of Kubrick's (that honor would go to "A 
Clockwork Orange") but it is an extraordinary film of sights and sounds, and 
certainly the purest, most poetic and electrifying science-fiction film ever 
made. In its story of the vastness of space and beyond the infinite, we 
realize that in the end, our planet Earth is only a microcosm of the big 
picture. 

For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at 
http://buffs.moviething.com/buffs/faust/ 

E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at 
[email-masked] or at [email-masked]

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