Influential but imperfect

Rating: 8/10 (25 April 2018)

Another extremely slow-paced movie (not necessary a bad thing).
As the movie begins, I'm wondering if it's really a movie or opera. Then, I'm wondering if it's a National Geographic documentary about evolution and paleoanthropology; immediately after that, I assume it's a documentary about paleoastronauts; finally I understand it's an epic science fiction movie based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel.
Combining Western Classical Music and space imagery somehow works, and at the same time it doesn't; it just makes it more epic, but it creates an antithesis with the concept of space.
I must say that this movie is somehow more accurate than most recent sci-fi movies: first of all, there's no sound in space! Also, everything happening looks quite plausible.
It's a movie not based on dialogues, but on visuals and symbolism.
Probably the movie has more meaning if you read the book first (the same goes to "Stalker").
A very influential sci-fi movie, but this doesn't make it a perfect one.
Another case of a movie that enters the category "good but not THAT good".