A Classic Solely In Its Unbridled Artistry

Rating: Null/10 (23 April 2000)

2001: A Space Odyssey is probably the most triumphant film ever made. It also happens to be the late Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece. This, of course, means that all action lies within a beautifully timed synchrony, that nearly every frame is perfectly symmetrical, and that the final product will near (or achieve) perfection. In a Kubrick movie, acting, plot, and dialogue all lie subservient to the much more dominant image on the screen. The methodical flow of all of his films is so consistent that one lies identical to the next. 2001 is inarguably the best of them.
2001 is a rare experience where the director created an Ozu-like time of his own. Those that allow themselves to be swallowed by the artistry of the movie do not feel the actual length of it. The sets and special effects are fantastic, even for today, and it comes off more realistically than any modern computer-generated effects. The story is cleanly delivered, and it is in itself very original.
It is the rare case that a film can be defended by such a lazy dodge as the one I am about to employ. There is always a minority of people that do not like a film, and the attack usually made by the blind defenders of it is that Â‘those that did not like it simply do not understand it'. In all actuality, this is never the case, but in this film, the only argument made against it is that the film is not understandable. Respectful critics of the era blasted Kubrick for his lack of communication with the audience. (I myself read the Arthur C. Clarke novel some years before settling down to the movie.) Even today, as people are slowly killing the messy and often inferior Eyes Wide Shut, most attacks are based on a hidden frustration with the film's lack of clarity. Kubrick fans themselves were, for the most part, disappointed that the film set itself up as no more than a thriller. 2001 deals with something on a much grander scale, and, unlike Eyes Wide Shut, it elevates itself as something Far above the genre it is borne into.