2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter Script: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke Cinematographers: Geoffrey Unsworth, John Alcott Director: Stanley Kubrick Plot:  After discovering an alien monolith on the Moon, a secret manned-mission using an artificial intelligence-controlled spacecraft is dispatched to Jupiter to find answers but confronts disaster when they reach their goal.

Review:

Director Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut, Paths of Glory), a consummate, meticulous craftsman, and legendary SF author Arthur C. Clarke broke all the rules of the time when they created their vision of the ultimate science-fiction adventure, 2001: A Space Odyssey. This was as far removed from the Flash Gordon or B-movie alien invasions stories as Hollywood would ever get.

The narrative, visuals and general approach to its characters and situations is cold, objective, and distanced, set to a slow, deliberate pacing, all of which pays off admirably in the end, relaying the wonders of the universe and hitting home the insignificance of Man when compared to the mysteries and vastness of space. Kubrick, in fact, takes great efforts to show us, in minute, pain-staking "you are there" detail the complexities of intra-stellar travel and makes it look routine - and it's thoroughly convincing.

Many critics have been riled by this apparent coldness, and viewers have complained about its lack of any mainstream "thrills" and its testing the audience's patience. But on a deeper level than the usual genre's flamboyance and abject sentimentality, it's a film that captures the imagination and thrills the senses, that seeks to inspire awe and promote contemplation. Sure, some might view this as an "artsy" film, but for those willing to give it their full attention it's an endeavor like no other.

The terrific, intelligent script ensures that the narrative never tries to steer its audience to any clear-cut answers as to what is really going on. There is little dialogue or explanation to be had here, instead focusing on its visually stunning journey and allowing each of us to take from it something different. Even the aliens are truly "alien" in every sense of the word, so far removed from mankind that they are, and will always be, unknowable. In fact, one of the audience's favorite pass-times had been for years trying to understand their motives and figure out what really happened in the last sublimely surreal half hour.

The film is full of memorable moments - the first monolith appearing to our ape-like ancestors, the HAL computer's rendition of "Daisy" sung while losing its mind, and the final psychedelic trip beyond the stars, amongst many others. Indeed, when the monolith appears and the musical piece Thus Spoke Zarathustra begins, it's hard not to feel a tingle run up your spine.

One of the main protagonists, the most famous one of course, is HAL, the artificial intelligence that brought the ambiguities of the original Frankenstein monster to our new high-tech information age. As for the human characters, mostly made up of soft-talking scientists and government officials, they are secondary to the story and the ideas being expressed, though Dullea and Lockwood make for a convincing pair of professional-looking (if, at first, mightily bored) astronauts.

The spectacular cinematography and the excellent visuals are always impressive, giving the film an epic scope, none more so than during the flight sequence to Jupiter, as it heightens the sense of claustrophobia in the impersonal ship one moment and then strikes us with their unforgiving surroundings the next.

The Oscar-winning special effects, using low-tech methods such as miniatures and large rotating sets, are still state-of-the-art even by today's jaded standards. A meticulous attention to detail is also evident throughout, from the Velcro-like shoes used in the spaceships to the Howard-Johnson's sign up in the station, to the video pay-phones accessed with plastic cards. 

Apart from its unique look, the film also includes one of the most daring cuts in cinema history, a bone thrown into the air by pre-historic man bridges the gap of thousands of years of technological innovation to become a spaceship careening above Earth.

All these elements combine to form a grand, believable vision of the near-future that belies the film's age and still appears fresh.

The choice of classical music to accompany some of these long, stretched-out moments was a good one - who can, after seeing the film, ever think of Tchaikovsky's Blue Danube without thinking of a lone space-ship traveling through space and docking to the formidable looking station orbiting Earth?

The background audio also plays a very important role: though there isn't any sound in space, and no music to accompany or cue-in some of the more apprehensive events, the subtlest sound, be it the hissing of oxygen, the hard breathing in a space suit, or the electronic beeps of machinery, intensifies the tension and suspense.

This is meant to be an adventure beyond our perceptions, one of the mind instead of the soul, and it is a challenging masterpiece by one of filmmaking's acknowledged masters. Its sweeping epic tale, its philosophical implications, and its spectacular effects easily make 2001: A Space Odyssey the most visually stunning, mind-bending, influential and yes, even moving, science-fiction tale ever created, and one of the most exciting and intellectually stimulating visions ever put to the screen.

Drama / Science-Fiction: 10/10

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