Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Possibly the greatest science fiction film ever made, Stanley Kubrick's 1968 opus manages to take the audience on an intense, enrapturing 160 journey from The Dawn of Man to Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite, standing apart from every other entry in the genre to not only be a genre milestone, but a milestone in film itself.

Kubrick helms the sprawling narrative with the precision of a true artist, steadily drawing you into the narrative by his expert use of lenses, Geoffrey Unsworth's spectacular cinematography, and the iconic use of music. A screenplay that is minimalistic, the film relies firstly on pure imagery to tell it's story, and to create a meditative experience on the evolution of humanity, and of our place in the universe.

The film, which is in three sections, is best explored in three separate parts, and the first part, The Dawn of Man, is put together with a precise hand, and an aura of a nature documentary. Fitting, given Kubrick's origins in documentary photography and film-making. With no narration or dialogue, Kubrick is able to perfectly tell the story through pure visuals, demonstrating the rise of a tribe of ape men from gathers fearful of prowling predators in the night, to a tribe on the way to conquering others, and gaining the upper hand, all due to the mysterious visitation of a tall monolith of unknown origin. Then, we watch a bone/club be hurdled skyward, and, in a match cut that boggles the mind, we jump ahead thousands of years to see a space vessel gliding through the vacuum of space. This takes us to the next section, where we follow one Haywood Floyd, an astro-scientist with possibly the most awesomely sixties name ever investigate the appearance of yet another monolith, this time on the moon.

After this, we blast ahead another 18 months and meet the crew of the spaceship Discovery, on it's way to Jupiter. The film now shifts genres, becoming a story akin to the sailing adventures of old, mixed in with an undercurrent of mystery that lurks in the pristine white interior. It's here were Kubrick shows his mastery of tension, creating a place that, initially, seems inviting, yet slowly and steadily becomes hostile. Using hyper minimalist sound design, he makes the interior of the Discovery feel cold and artificial, enhanced further by HAL 9000's omnipresent glowing red eye and eeriely peaceful monotone. Space itself is always shown completely silent, the only sound being the hiss of air from the astronaut's life support systems, and their own breathing (provided by Kubrick himself). This simplistic sound, contrasted sharply with the utter silence of space around it, makes the spacewalk sequences heavy with tension, as it's our only indication of life. Both Keir Dullea, and Douglas Rain give excellently understated performances, with Dullea's Bowman serving as both hero and audience surrogate. Dullea isn't giving a flashy performance, but it's a solid, strong performance. Contrasting with Dullea, is Douglas Rain's emotionless HAL 9000, in a role that has defined artificial intelligence in the mind of modern society in a way that few other roles have. Using only his voice, he gives HAL an otherworldly sense of false amiability and friendliness, and his clinical and borderline emotionless tone makes his calculated murder of the rest of the crew all the more chilling.

The film's final half hour, however, is what truly separates this film from the others. Spinning off into a strange, nightmarish, dialogue free symphony of imagery, 'Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite' remains an uncompromising showcase of pure visuals. Set almost entirely to the strange orchestral groaning and shrieks of György Ligeti's music, it serves as a strange, otherworldly coda to the film, and a fertile ground for rampant wild mass guessing and study. I myself cannot quite explain what exactly is going on during this last half hour, but luckily for me, neither can anybody else. And in a way, that's why it's so great. Explicitly because it refuses to answer the questions it proposes, it forces the audience to actively engage the film on an intellectual and philosophical level, in a way that few films can.

So suffice to say, I really do enjoy this film. It really is a one of a kind piece of cinema, often riffed and imitated, but never, ever equaled.

5 out of 5 stars.