Movie Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Ok, whoa. First: this is unlike anything else (probably - if you disagree with such a statement, I would love to see the evidence).

Second: on some level, this must be an utter masterpiece. Or a complete disaster. No middle ground can be held, because it's clear at every moment that the creator (let's call him Kubrick) was reaching for the epic, the enormous. The visuals, the music, the ratio of image-to-dialogue. - everything is set on a hugely ambitious scale.

So. What to think?

As far as the sights and sounds go, I find 2001: A Space Odyssey fantastic. Gorgeous. High art.
The symphonic soundtrack is grandiose, and the slow, deliberate unfolding of every image is a wonderful thing to experience. And this ain't Star Wars space - this is a dreamy fictionalization of the real deal, silent and expansive, completely mystifying. In this one aspect - the presentation of a fantastic, imaginative universe - the film is brilliant.

Except for one thing: the on-board zero-G scenes. And this, I suppose, is simply a measure of the times (1968). But as I watch the people shuffling through spacecraft cabins in their Grip shoes, it's so very hard not to imagine how you'd really be moving around - in MID-AIR!! And this detail is especially nagging since the rest of what we see is so seamlessly great.

So. The style is four stars all the way, notwithstanding my one complaint.

Next up: the story itself, the themes therein, and pretty much everything that distinguishes a film from a mere sound/picture collage.

Let me say this: when I evaluate something I've read/seen/heard, I make every effort to understand it as well as I can. And not just in relation to myself and my own experience, but also (and maybe even more so) within the context of the work's creation (is that not they teach over and over in literature classes, anyway?). I mean, before condemning any aspect of a Stanley Kubrick film from 1968 I must be careful to consider where the thing comes from.

And that could be a lot of talking, but here's an example: in the last segment we are treated to a good 10 minutes of trippy color collages sliding by. If someone made that on a computer today, I would probably say "oh, nice. Bit long, don't you think?"

But knowing that this scene was put together in 1968, with no computer technology, in an era where experimentation with color and music was at an all-time-high; knowing that in its day this scene was a wonderfully original feat of filmmaking...well, I must give it greater respect (or at least, I must make darn sure I know what I'm saying if I choose to put it down).
The same sort of thing applies to the personification of HAL 9000 - he seems so familiar because it is THE prototype.


All that said, here is my analysis of the plot and theme(s) of 2001: A Space Odyssey:
ARE YOU JOKING?????!!!!

Now, if you haven't seen it, go now before reading further. Maybe you'll "get it."
But see, that's why I made that big spiel above: in a way I ALWAYS "get it." I may not get what's so great about "getting it", but I ALWAYS seek out the opinions of those who "get it", figure out what "getting it" means, and think "ah, I see how it could be this way - I see where those who 'get it' are coming from, even if I disagree"

But this time I. Do. Not. Get it. See if you can help: a black monolith descends upon the earth, endowing some ape-men with slightly higher cognitive (moral....?) function; later on, scientists discover a black monolith on the moon beaming radio waves toward Jupiter, but when a Main Character approaches it emits a piercing mechanical sound; later on, a little bit of philosophy involving a deviant computer occurs as a new Main Character travels toward Jupiter in search of yet another monolith; later on, the character views the monolith, which leads him quickly through the stages of his life and then full-circle into a giant-eyed fake-looking baby still encased in its amniotic sac....AND THEN THERE'S THE EARTH AND THERE'S THE BABY AND THE BABY'S AS BIG AS THE EARTH and then the curtain falls.

Boom. Here's my problem: it is what you make of it and only what you make of it. The greatness of what this film SAYS is merely the greatness of the words that others put in it's mouth. Because 2001 doesn't SAY anything. It is a pastiche, to be sure a dazzlingly beautiful one, but one that is completely incoherent. There is NO "aha!" moment where it all fits, where the 2 1/2 hours of spectacle are joined into some overwhelming (for it could not be otherwise) sense of truth or feeling or even just relief of tension.

No, the baby shows up and it's just a baby, and you can go back later and piece it together and call it poetry and explain how the baby and the monolith and the computer can be thematically enfolded, but then it's YOU doing the talking, honey. The end of the film is styled such that it suggests that some kind of "full circle" has been achieved, but it simply hasn't.

And that is my stand. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a collection of brilliant images, sounds, and ideas that have no inherent sense among them. They are open, wide-open to the point of having no shared thematic substance.

Stars aren't at all useful in describing such an out-of-the-box thing. Here are a some, anyway:


***