| World Film Classics: 2001: A Space Odyssey | |
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Directed
by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester
UK/USA 1968. 139 minutes.
I must have been about 12 years old when I saw Stanley Kubrick's 2001 for the first time. Like everybody else my age, I was Star Wars crazy, loved Space: 1999, Flash Gordon, and anything else that involved spaceships. When 2001 was playing at the gigantic revival house in town (still the biggest screen I've ever seen short of IMAX), it was a no brainer. Little did I know, of course, that there were no laser fights and space ship battles in this sci-fi flick.
I think I cursed quite a bit, actually, and felt cheated and disappointed. Three hours, and I didn't even know what the hell happened. The first half hour is entirely devoid of dialogue while some prehuman monkeys hop around and kill each other. Then there are two chapters of awfully slow space stuff, humans on the moon, a trip to Jupiter (come on -- no hyperspeed drives?) -- and the last half hour is spent with psychedelic lights and a surreal finale that made no sense to me whatsoever. A complete waste of my time.
But you know what -- for a movie I hated, I kept on talking about it quite a bit. It captured my imagination even back then.
The
next time I saw 2001 was in college. Let's just say I was in a better
position to appreciate the movie's mindbending conceptual and cinematic fireworks.
Suddenly, everything clicked, and I have since studied 2001 again and
again, with seminars, articles, and reckless personal experimentation, all the
while watching it over and over again. To my mind, the film's majestic scope
(it reaches literally to the ends of space and time) and the absolutely mindboggling
aesthetic pleasure it provides are worth revisiting ad infinitum.
Based
on a story by Arthur C. Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey sums up humanity's
history. The prologue shows humans discover tools; a monkey smashes the skull
of a tapir and, thanks to this boost in bone technology, commits the first act
of homicide ever. The cut from the thrown bone to the space ship, from tool
to tool, is the most famous montage in the history of film.
But if you're a 2001 lover like me, you know all this already. What, though, do you respond to the nay sayers, the people who don't seem to want to understand the film, or refuse to bother thinking about it, or even sitting through it?
Maybe
you don't say anything. Maybe it's a love-or-hate kind of thing, like licorice
or the Grateful Dead. But if you're in doubt, if you're not sure that you hate
this film, give it another chance. Or two. Or three. Hey, even if you've already
seen it five times, go and see it again. (From what I hear, a restored version
is due out in theaters in, well, 2001.)
There have been times when I thought I had this movie all figured out, but on the next viewing I found something new to think about. I'm a firm believer in the theory that you can't watch this movie enough. With 2001, Kubrick reached a level of filmmaking that is sublime, that digs at the most basic questions of life in the cosmos. It's a film of mythic proportions and unparalleled grace. See it. See it. See it.
2001
Resources
Don't miss Sci-fi
Guide Nick Johnson's excellent collection of 2001 links
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