Beyond The Infinite

Rating: 10/10 (10 January 2015)

2001: A Space Odyssey deals with the elements of human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence & extra-terrestrial life. It is divided into 3 segments & an epilogue, each connected with an extra-terrestrial reference. Kubrick's first venture into the science fiction genre features all his usual trademarks but its treatment is very different from his other works. The pace is intentionally slowed down, the narration is through visuals & music, the exchange of dialogues is minimal and the engaging & confusing plot only gets better, more transparent & satisfying on multiple viewings. 2001 is a visually stunning experience to behold on the big screen. It asks a lot of its audience and caught in the right frame of mind a cinematic experience of the first order. I had read Clarke's short story The Sentinel shortly before, and I therefore had a pretty good idea of what the story was. Standing back and looking at the movie and imagining myself in the position of someone coming to it cold, it must have been a nightmare. I guess it would be possible to figure out the link between the monoliths, although possibly not until encountering the one on the moon - fabulous though the jump-cut from bone to orbiting satellite may be, I'm not sure it actually explains anything. The Jupiter mission is straightforward enough, but the final sequence is baffling to anyone not in the know.