The human odyssey

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2010)

This movie is still a puzzle to me, even more so than the first time I saw it fourteen years ago. Curiously, that very first time I didn't thought much of it. I was hoping for something that could shed some light in to the events described at the opening of its sequel, "2010: year of contact" (of all things!). That really put the hook on me. But then again 2001 is not a movie to provide fast or conventional entertainment, let alone to provide you with answers.
If one has to write a review on a movie such as "2001: A space odyssey", the very first problem that comes to the central fore is the fact that there is no conventional plot line for the viewer to follow. The way I see it, this movie is made of an overture, three acts, and a (very) long epilogue. The first act deals with the misshapenings of a group of pre-historic men fighting with a rival gang for possession of a water lake. We then leap to the twenty first century, traveling with scientist Heywood Floyd to the moon where he has to deal with a ground breaking discovery. In the third act, aboard the spaceship Discovery and half way in a mysterious mission to Jupiter, a drama unfolds as the on board supercomputer HAL 9000 appears to malfunction and plunges astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole in a struggle to survive. Along these seemly unrelated acts, the only thing resembling a plot line is the close encounter between the characters of each story and a mysterious object in the form of a black monolith. However, the only time where this plot is actually followed through is in the long epilogue, where Dave Bowman chases several of those enigmatic monoliths in a psychedelic journey through outer space. Never the less the end comes, and we still don't get an answer to the nature of these mysterious objects and their undisclosed relation to mankind.
This very unsatisfying finally alludes to the absence of a solid (or conventional) plot line within the whole movie. Of course we could indulge in some free interpretation. Assuming that the whole monolith plot is a red herring, if we search for something to connect the movie together, there are several recurrent motifs, one of which, the evolution of mankind. Some examples of it are pointed out through musical cues: Kubrick's use of "Thus spoke Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss is presented whenever that recurrent motif comes up. Parallel scenes like the encounter between the ape-men and the monolith which is mimicked by the astronauts on the moon, indicating the possibility of another step in mankind's evolution. Never the less, Stanley Kubrick avoids any explicit conclusion, or opinion that could direct the viewer to what he intends to. Every time evolution is suggested, we are presented with all possible consequences that come from it, good and bad: the most obvious example of this is the dramatic third act and it's memorable character HAL, a symbol of man's achieved perfection, playing God. And yet when the computer malfunctions and the crew has to fight for their survival, Bowman has no doubt but to destroy Man's own creation. Human kind at its best and at its worst. So when the end comes up and the immortal all powerful star child is looking at you, we can't help wonder what will prevail, good or evil. I believe Kubrick's intention was to leave it up to us to make our own minds. Furthermore, this possible story line and its interpretation don't make for the whole film. In fact, there are many aspects of the movie that strike an impact on the viewer just by their visual presentation, along with other artistic choices from Kubrick that don't follow the standard use in film industry. For example, the leap in the story, that ends the "Dawn of man" act with a transition shot so fluid and perfect that surpasses any significance within the story and could be enjoyed just for its sheer beauty. There is the docking of a spaceship that lasts for 4 minutes without contributing to plot development, but mesmerizes you with its space choreography, aided by the Blue Danube waltz playing in the background. And of course there is HAL, one of the most memorable characters put on screen. He chills you out with its soft voice and glaring red eye (as a friend of mine described it), and draws your empathy when facing his own death, pleading for his life just like a human being: " please stop, Dave. I'm afraid." An iconic scene in movie history!
All these aspects give a feeling that the director's intention was not only to engage in philosophical introspection about human kind's evolution and destiny, but also to present what could be call an abstract movie, aesthetically provocative, with much attention paid to form, images and sound, as much as content, breaking all ties with conventional film making. These two facts put together capture your imagination and senses as no other film in the mainstream production industry.
To sum it up, this movie is a unique visual experience, as much as a mind challenging picture!