GREAT SELECTION: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Ok...this is going to be a challenge writing an analysis to arguably one of the best movies in film history. And, I have to write down, to be honest, this is the first movie that I actually had to write notes because 1) I had to know, in my opinion, what each symbol, behavior or mannerism represented and also why does the character do in order to move the mission or story along. 2) I do not want to go back and watch a movie scene very carefully and nitpick details to interpret what the characters are doing and how each scene is photographed and structurally organized. It is sort of exhausting but not in a bad way because you have to ponder for yourself as to what some symbols and what events stand out.

I wish I could time-travel back to 1968 when this movie came out because I read that even though some critics hailed it as a masterpiece in its initial release, some critics panned the film or a few filmgoers walked out not knowing what the hell the movie is about. Arthur C. Clarke, the author of the short story, "The Sentinel" and the screenwriter, responded to an audience member's criticism of not understanding the clear message behind the film. He said that if you had understood the film, then he and the filmmakers have failed. When I read it, I said to myself, "well, you and Stanley Kubrick have certainly succeeded."

The movie opens with the Dawn of Man in which four million years ago, a tribe of man-apes are surviving by eating food and drinking water from a water hole but have to fight off another tribe of man-apes to survive. But, all of a sudden, between these two tribes, there is a black Monolith in the waterhole that guides them to realization as to how to stand up to the other tribe. One man-ape realizes that he can use the bone as a weapon to kill the other ape and defend the waterhole.

Million years later, Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester) travels to a space station for a layover to his destination to Clavius Base. He talks with his Soviet colleague and a few others about a rumored epidemic at Clavius Base but he does not take the liberty to answer. Even though Floyd apologizes for the epidemic cover story, the objective for his trip is to investigate and examine a monolith that was buried four million years ago. Sunlight comes out and strikes the monolith and ignites a high-pitched sound.

We jump to the third story in which it jumps 18 months later on a mission to Jupiter. On board of the U.S. spacecraft, Discovery One, Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) are doing some maintenance on the ship scouting around while as three other astronauts are in cryogenic hibernation. Most of the Discovery's operations are in control by the most advanced computer, HAL-9000. Based on the BBC show interview, the host indicates HAL is "foolproof and incapable of error". However, when the astronauts check out the "failed" antenna control device, everything is all right, but Mission Control reports later that HAL has made an error whereas, vice versa, HAL responds that it is human error, indicating that maybe David and/or Frank messed up. David and Frank talk privately to shut down HAL but there are consequences amidst them.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

I have watched this movie about five times in my life. Watching the movie for the first time over, I thought it was a special film with many questions unanswered and I was fairly young when I saw it, but I did enjoy it. Watching this movie recently, as a young adult, I was more patient in its pacing and its symbolism in almost each scene and examining what that scene could play out throughout the entire film and I did find that.

In the "Dawn of Man" sequence, we see the Man-Apes being naive near the second waterhole scene in which the black Monolith is between them. They do not know what the random artifact is and it does not matter because the monolith is open to interpretation. I think it is an allegory of an extra terrestrial or alien because the monolith came from nowhere and the audience member does not know what the object is and potentially, his or her jaw is agape because there is something subtle and mysterious surrounding an object that we have to care about because it is an alien. I think Kubrick's intelligence as a director is noticeable because we think of an alien as a stereotypical martian with three ears and having a high-pitched voice. But, how do we know? What does an actual alien look like? There is no answer and the monolith is a certain representation of a naive feeling of knowing nothing and asking endless questions. The genre is science fiction and the genre is always open to interpretation and any opinion can be embraced whether if it is crazy or it could potentially make sense.

Also, the time-jump after the Dawn of Man sequence is brilliant because regarding weapon technology, weaponry and arms have come a long way as to how advanced they are protecting themselves and harming potential enemies. But also when Dr. Floyd and a few colleagues discover the monolith, they think of it as an object but not as an alien. After the high-pitched audio sound, Floyd could also report that it could potentially be an alien. He does not know initially but he would may be think about it after a loud auditory experience.

HAL-9000 is one of the best villains ever created arguably because he seems to have genuine feeling based on the BBC interview but nobody knows. And, HAL talking to Dave regarding the mission and why Dave and Frank are on the way is fascinating because it could be certain that HAL could be toying with him and its mission which could make it start an error by persuade Dave and Frank to attempt to shut down HAL. HAL kills everybody except Dave and disobeys orders. HAL-9000 emotes his "feelings" when he causes error or feels guilty especially during the scene in which Dave is silently furious and shuts his hardware down slowly and with a bit of emotion. We may not know HAL's feelings but we know what he sees and observes and what he can do.

The final sequence in which Dave discovers another monolith, he is pulled into a vortex in which he is in an interstellar travel. It looks he is hypnotized or under a spell by many colors that takes him in a cosmic voyage and maybe into a stargate into another stage of evolution which is shown in a classical space setting with some European design but has a clean, spacial look. But, Dave observes evolution in three stages in a rapid aging process until he becomes a starchild in front of the monolith.

Now, even though I said that the monolith is an allegory of an extra terrestrial, the star child negates the purpose of violent annihilation or earlier, an epidemic which ties up to Floyd's cover story because they and we do not know what it is. In conclusion, the monolith could now not be considered as an artifact of cataclysmic interference but an artifact for peace from aliens of advanced intelligence and higher intelligence quotient as Dave, as a star child, represents a birth of a new generation that could live in peace and harmony. We will never know where the monolith came from but again, it is science fiction and there are theory and interpretations to examine with other filmgoers and also, scientists.

Stanley Kubrick, before 2001, has made a few great films before that such as Dr. Strangelove and Paths of Glory but has initialized a new chapter in science fiction history because certain people's milieu could be exposed as to how you can think and communicate with others regarding difficult or controversial topics. This is a movie that could potentially to make people look smarter or be allowed in the conversation. It opened the doors for filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan to make grand films for entertainment and for a cerebral experience such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind or Interstellar. This movie inspired many filmmakers but also fans of the science fiction genre. If you are going to watch this movie for the first time and finish it and you do not get the experience, it is fine because you can talk to another person who has seen it and explain the story as best as the person can. Remember, cerebral science fiction is always open to interpretation and this masterful movie started people having conversations for a long time.