One man's interesting view of humanity

Rating: 10/10 (17 July 2011)

And that man is Stanley Kubrick. And the film is 2001: A Space Odyssey. The science fiction film of all science fiction films (well along with Metropolis and Bladerunner). An outstanding achievement in special effects, space travel, complex storytelling, scientific realism, surrealism and just filmmaking in general, 2001 boggles the mind with Mankind's most enduring and interesting philosophical questions.
Who are we? Why are we here?
And some interesting and probably more appealing questions to the public such as: What else is out there? Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood who play astronauts seek to answer that question but Stanley Kubrick seeks to raise the other questions. Questions that we may never find out. But 2001 raises these questions with powerful images and outstanding special effects.
A two and a half hour visual treat that really has withstood the test of time (well apart from some minor things), 2001 captures the mind with its eerie soundtrack, inspiring effects, powerful symbolism and story. A story that certainly takes its time but never bores. The most amazing thing is: the story lies in the mind of the viewer. What does the viewer think of the meaning of life? Why we exist? Are there extraterrestrials out there in other galaxies? Kubrick wisely doesn't try to strictly answer those questions but certainly fills the mind with wonder at his ideas and theories on the screen. Some you may not agree with, others you might. But he never gives you a flat out answer.
Starting years and years back to our ancestor apes and fast forwarding to 2001 where space travel is frequent and mankind has lost touch. Despite the awe and wonder of the Solar System, Dr Heywood Floyd is sound asleep on a flight to an orbiting space station and again on his flight to the Moon. Astronauts Dave Bowman (Dullea) and Frank Poole (Lockwood) are quiet and distant men. Frank Poole doesn't even spark up an emotion when watching his birthday celebration from his parents back home on Earth. Kubrick nailed it. We are losing touch with humanity. Like the characters in 2001, we constantly rely on technology. The astronauts consistently rely on HAL, a supercomputer, who keeps frequent watch over the space shuttle Discovery One. Technology isn't always reliable for obvious reasons. And you see that in 2001.
Kubrick once famously stated that 2001's deepest psychological level is "the search for God, and it finally postulates what is little less than a scientific definition of God". A statement that stuck with me ever since reading it, Kubrick also raises the ultimate religious question: Is there a God? Controversial straight away, 2001 shows us that God could just be a metaphysical creation. God could be the cosmos itself. We look up at the night skies and see a vast and wonderful array of stars, planets, suns and galaxies. We could be staring at God everyday without knowing it. God watches over us from the heavens. A spiritual being, the creator of the Universe, the Man who has eternal existence, God could just be a nickname for Universe. The Universe is vast, limitless and timeless, ever expanding (from what we know so far), watches over us (philosophically) and has a great amount of power like mankind's view of God. I know that's a touching subject and I don't necessarily believe it as it is just a theory but Kubrick is telling us to think about life and these surrounding questions. It makes you think.
A tense, sometimes creepy, enlightening and moving film, Kubrick's 2001 is his penultimate mystery tale (The Shining comes very close). It manages to haunt the mind with questions we may never find the answer to. But ultimately, it shows us a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel telling us we might still have hope. Hope to survive, to live perhaps forever...