Birth...Breath...Soul....Science

Rating: Null/10 (26 June 2003)

When viewing a Kubrick film think of 2 things for beginners...
Sherlock Holmes and the Greek gods.
His films are just like Sherlock Holmes mysteries with one modification...You are the detective....
There are struggles between what seems to be immortal and mortal or, amongst the mortals or immortals themselves.
From the mannequins in "Killer's Kiss" to the shrilling voices emitting from the monolith in 2001 to Alex and his Droogies in "A Clockwork Orange" to the round table in "Strangelove" to the the creatures haunting the Overlook in the Shining to the functiuonaries of War in "Full Metal Jacket" to the underworld of "Eyes Wide Shut" and the
shifting of disguises and roles in "Barry Lyndon" these struggles ensue.
"2001" begins with a breathing planet, soft winds brushing a dried landscape with habitants struggling with their surroundings and each other...There are predators and prey and fear of the dark...
One moring they are disturbed, wakened by sound of voices, shrilling with female voices expressing a cautious sound as is asking, "are we pushing this too fast? They may not be ready!" They seem to be answered by the males that "it's too late we've already surged forward and our arguing has drawn their attention!"
The voices then split, changing from an"e-e-e-ee" sound to an "a-a-a- ah!" as if they created an opening, waiting to be filled...
To Kubrick, it seems consciousness operates like a stomach...it gets hungry and wants to feed....and, indeed, they act in accordance trying to feed this new felt hunger by trying to bend over and devour the monolith as they would some food....It doesn't satisfy them.
As the voices cease, a signal of their disperse rings with a spreading outward, looking at the random arrangement of things, just as the randomness of the voices suggested to them..
One of them picks up a bone, sensing an extension of his own arm into something greater than it ever has been...The hunger wishes and gets
more as the first tool use and tool making seems to satisfy mind's needs, making it want more discovery...and more...
We move to a scene where the necessity for protection drops, personified by a telephone call home to a child (played by Vivian Kubrick) who grooms herself, as compared to humans grooming each other in the previous part...She has no need for the attention needed in the past yet, still wishes for a "bush baby", a prehistoric leftover that shows up in any childhood...
Breathing picks up as a major constituent in the film and is very pronounced as the film progresses. Astronauts in their suits descend into a crator and find a calling card left behind...
Kubrick seems to suggest that the soul is something that is created with the first breath and dies with the last, finding some transformation....and it affects HAL the most...
On board Discovery he defeats Frank Poole in chess. Frank shows no sign of emergency at his defeat..
Could HAL be pondering what it is like to have a soul??? to be forgiven for simple mistakes? If he was to have a breath of some kind, would he be forgiven for a simple mistake as well? Breathing is something that humans do and HAL seemed to wish to feel the sound and experience of it.
Now, how would HAL get one of them to go on a space walk so that he could amplify that sound within his circuits? And, what little mistake could he make to see if he is forgiven?? They would forgive him, wouldn't they? Especially if the mistake was minor, like a prediction that a small unit in the antenna was about to go awry... That wouldn't be so major, would it? Did HAL get upset, knowing Frank could not beat him in chess? Frank's error is forgiven...HAL's should be as well..
The loud feeling of breathing fills the soundtrack throughout Dave's excursion to the antenna...Has a soul grown within HAL..? Will HAL respond like a child not getting its way? How will they respond?
In vengeance HAL takes breath away...first from Frank Poole and then from hybernating astronauts on board...Dave was saved for last.
And a narrow risk...a breath taking risk....a breath holding risk taken by Dave entering an emergency latch without being able to breathe...but holding out and responding in time to take what breath the Discovery can offer...
In disconnecting the computer the sound of breathing stops at the instant the HAL finishes singing "Daisy", yet Dave is still in his suit.
He picks up his breath again as a monitor informs him of the mission's secret.
Throughout the visionary voyage he falls with only his eyes in full function...Breathing picks up at his sudden stop, where breath leads to a new birth, a transformation....
The monolith was a doorway to other places...who or what was operating it kept itself out of reach....like a magician withholding, creating an expectancy violation to the audience...making some wish to peek behind the curtain or cape to find out.....