Film Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Director: Stanley Kubrick

2001: A Space Odyssey is an amazing visual spectacle

Released in 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey was co-written by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. On watching this film again I found it incredibly difficult to review in the conventional sense as it is very different to most other films. The dialogue in the film is incredibly limited and most of the film is portrated visually and by the use of classical music throughout the film. It is a triumph of visual art especially in the final 20mins when Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) approaches Jupiter in his pod and is transported into a tunnel of light displaying many strange astrological phenomena.

The film itself is in 4 distinct sections which are all based round a large black monolith that is present all 4 parts that emits a loud radio signal that deafens anything nearby. The first section depicts the dawn of man as early humans search for food and slowly learn to use tools before we are transported into space where a Pan Am Space Plane where there is a rumour of a mysterious epidemic at the base. They also run into the black monolith that emits a loud radio signal just as they are being photographed in front of it. The third and fourth section is most renowned in the film where a crew are in deep space with HAL 9000, an intelligent computer that runs the ship.

HAL 9000 intelligent computer that seems to be capable of having emotions

The computer HAL is quite a sinister character, the red dot in each room which represents the computers eye which could even read the lips of the crew members who were having a conversation out of hearing range for the computer. It has an ominous feel and by some people has been used to represent God as HAL controls everything on board the ship. There are numerous shots of just the red dot which is quite unnerving as it is an inanimate object that controls so much.

The monolith is the central figure in the film as it continues to re-appear, after being buried on Jupiter and being found by the first space crew. Writer Arthur C. Clarke referred to it as as ''the alien Swiss army knife'' as a tool used by advanced intelligent life in the books but is certainly given a different and more ambiguous meaning in the film. It's possible that it is a star gate which transports people like Bowman at the end of the film to another universe or another time.

The black monolith at the dawn of man

It's difficult to review this as a normal film, as a spectacle to watch its fascinating and memorable. The plot is a secondary thought throughout the film and takes a back seat to everything else that is happening, in this sense it is a film without comparison except for maybe Begotten by E. Elias Merhige which was released in 1990. To criticize the lack of plot would be missing the point about the deeper meaning of the film that can be derived from what is seen. There are still so many questions asked and left open by the film that it doesn't need more plot development, something which is still hugely effective over 40 years later. That is the sign of a truly great movie and is probably one of the only films that would really benefit being in 3D.

4/4 visual masterpiece with amazing score but certainly won't appeal to everyone.