Watch when you are mentally alert

Rating: 8/10 (30 August 2005)

I had to watch this movie three times, I fell asleep during the ape part twice. Anyway, my advice is to watch the movie when you are at the peak of your mental capabilities, so that you can analyze what is going on. Yet I will warn you, even then you will never really be sure.First of all, if you don't believe in the theory of evolution, you may feel compelled to fast forward through the ape scenes. However, you should still watch to understand the relevance of the apes to the storyline. The first part of the ape sequence shows the savagery of the species, who are under attack from each other and other animals. Then the black monolith arrives and makes a strange sound and fascinates the apes. It stands tall and erect and is intimidating. Next, you see a lone ape, who I consider the leader of the pack, figure out he can use a bone as a weapon. Shortly after that, the two packs of apes that were fighting for territory earlier, meet up again. However,the apes armed with bones, are standing upright and show their strength when they kill one of the members of the opposing pack. This pack of apes seemed to have developed a more advanced form of intelligence and show the advantages of dominance.
Cut to a space ship in space, which seems similar in shape to the bone the lone ape was holding. The ship looks like it is free falling in space, when you realize it is actually orbiting. I have to pause to address the music in the movie. I think Kubrick made a wise choice of music for this film. During the ape scene, we get what sounds like a chorus mumbling/singing unintelligible words, they sound other worldly and the chorus gets louder and their singing frenzied. Once we get to space, we have the most famous waltz of all time, that everyone on the planet has heard at one point. That waltz is universal. Using a waltz, instead of sci-fi music, gives the audience a sense of familiarity, while venturing into an unknown world. Also the waltz has a certain monotonous feel to it, which may heighten the sense of orbiting in space. When things get out of control,we get the chorus again, which heightens the audience's sense of anxiety.
Next, we move to the audience seeing space travel, the effects of anti-gravity, how one eats in space. We move on to meeting company man, Dr. Floyd, whose purpose was to smooth over any concerns about problems on Jupiter. The movie feels tedious at this point, but you have to listen to the conversation he has with the other scientist and the presentation he gives at a meeting for some basic information that sets up the heart of the film. Once we get on board with Dave and the crew and meet Hal, whose voice is seductive and menacing at the same time, the film picks up steam again. We come across the black monolith again, this time on the moon. The monolith makes a piercing sound,which harms the scientists. Now at this point, the monolith seems to be an enemy of man. Very contradictory to the way the monolith behaved with the apes, who suffered no harm when in the presence of the monolith. Is man getting too close and about to overpower the monolith, or is the monolith afraid of losing its dominance over man? 18 months later we are on the journey to Jupiter with Dave and the crew. Before any dialog takes place, Kubrick visually gives the audience a sense of the ship, the isolation on the ship, the routine of the ship, and the dominance of HAL. Now another theory at work in the movie is man versus computers, which back in 1968 must have seemed like a portal into doom. We see the level of trust the crew has in HAL. Yet, through the use of the monotony of HAL's voice, the audience is encouraged to develop a distrust of the computer before anything goes wrong. Then the "Judas event" happens. Hal fakes a problem with the ship and the astronauts realize he made and error on purpose and they propose to in effect "kill" him. However, HAL strikes first and tries to take out the two astronauts. In a battle between man and machine Dave gets back on the ship, only to discover through a message from Dr.Floyd, that was played once HAL demised, that HAL really had no control over his actions after all. Free will versus destiny. Again there is mention of contact with the monolith, but we never see the rest of the message.
Dave then sets out to finish the mission. Again we see the beauty of Kubricks visuals, with the use of primary colors, a kind of Andy-Warhol effect on Dave's eyes. You also get a sense of the horror, which the chorus underlies. Now we get to the the planet, which is really a room? At this point, you have to make a decision as to if this is really Dave's mind and his way of coping what is happening to him, or is this the end of the journey? The monolith is back acting as a mechanism that alters perception and reality. Dave is old when he arrives, due to the effects of the travel or from being in space for a long period of time? There seems to be a trinity of Dave: the old man in the bed, the man at the table, and the fetus at the end. Is Dave suddenly reborn, because he accepts an alternate form of being? Dave dies at the end to be reborn. At the end, you see the fetus orbit in space, or in the womb of space and seems in harmony with the other planets. Everything has a feeling of resolution, and the waltz starts again.