2001: A Space Odyssey
by dweller - 2024-11-06
Recently I decided to (re-)watch some movies I missed out on or forgot about. At first I didn’t think to write my thoughts on them here, but, evidently, that idea did come to my mind now. So, this is probably going to be a “series” of sorts, although I do not play to schedule a movie night every N days on my calendar. These will not be reviews in the sense of I will score them on some arbitrary metrics, rather these will just be my thoughts on the movies after watching them. A very subjective write up of the things I liked or didn’t like.
“review” verb
- To look over, study, or examine again.
- To consider retrospectively; look back on.
- To examine with an eye to criticism or correction.
– The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Tonight’s movie is “2001: A Space Odyssey” produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. With screenplay by him and Arthur C. Clarke.
This is not my first time watching this movie, but it has been a long while since I watched it for the first time. I don’t think my views changed on it much upon the second go around. In fact, I think I only like it more.
Right away, I suggest not finishing reading this and watching this film for yourself first! You can come back here later if you’re curious about my thoughts. (why?) The website shouldn’t disappear! :P
Visuals, Direction and Cinematography
I want to open this up with the visuals of the movie. I just can’t express how amazing it looks even as of writing this blog post, 56 years after its release. Sure, some things looks dated, mainly the moving planets viewed from space, but everything else? Wow, it’s a treat for the eyes. The space stations, space ships, costumes, interiors. The consoles, computers, screens and all the other props. It all has so much attention to detail. Honestly, the space scenes look better than most modern movies. To think this movie was made in 1968!
The lighting, use of color and reflection is also one of the highlights (get it? heh) of the movie for me. Sometimes the lighting is harsh and monotone, but the movie doesn’t shy away from color. Oh boy it doesn’t, the lights of the retro-futuristic (for us, just futuristic for its time) tech bouncing and reflecting of the characters and filling the scene is simply pleasing to the eye.
I want to emphasize how grounded, for lack of the better word, the art direction is. It really is not impossible to imagine an alternative timeline where most of what we (the royal we, the humanity) see on screen could be real. If only we kept putting more effort into space exploration with the same engineering and scientific rigor as we did during the Apollo program. It’s like a projection of that time’s optimistic views on space and rapid technological advancements into half a century forward. I mean we did get video conferencing calls… The impeccable attention to details really does sell you on all this, and this goes for everything throughout the movie.
The movie doesn’t rush itself, it has a slow pace letting you soak the spectacle in. The first act of the movie gives you a tour of the landscapes, the second act is full of graceful dances of space ship maneuvers and the closing act gives you a ride into whatever is beyond. Maybe for “modern audiences” the shots dwell too much. But to those who enjoy letting their eyes steep in the fictional universe it’s a must watch.
Score and Sound Design
Instead of trying to create a futuristic sounding score (that no doubt would get dated) the film features an orchestral and classical music which makes it feel more timeless and generally fits it very well. I didn’t say “graceful dances of space ship maneuvers” just to make it sound cooler. The soundtrack really does make it feel like docking procedure is a ballet dance between two spacecrafts.
I remember when originally seeing 2001, I was somewhat put off by the “creepy” score of the Monolith (the “real” main character of the film?). But now I take it back, it’s less creepy and more mysterious, maybe even a bit ominous. It certainly adds a mood to it that wouldn’t be full with just visuals. Especially since movie doesn’t feature much dialog and mostly uses the visuals and sound to convey what’s happening. In fact, the first act of the movie doesn’t feature any dialog.
The attention to details is seen everywhere here too, like no sound in space, and uses what can be heard to its advantage by accentuating certain elements, like breathing in a space suit.
Story and Acting
I, once again, implore you to watch the movie before reading the following text, even though I won’t be retelling the story or anything. But I will be mentioning certain elements. You’ve been warned! (I also assumed you know the story so I can skip the context.)
Obviously the mission to Jupiter is the most story rich part of the movie, hence my favorite. Not only does it tackle an ever interesting topic of Artificial Intelligence, but it also has our characters overcome obstacles adding drama and tension. But, I also grew to like the opening act with our ancestors discovering tools. I find it fascinating how much is shown, not told or eluded to by some other means. A story fully told by primary means of a moving picture, what’s on screen. The acting of the proto-humans is on point. The skittish, jerky movements, as well as, show of force and fear is made so well you forget that its humans in costumes. My favorite moment in that act is torn between the approach to the Monolith and realization that a bone can be a tool, specifically a club.
In the second act, the movie at times feels like a documentary. With long shots of people just getting to where they need to get and almost handheld shots. This act is full of world building, showing us viewers what is possible in the world of 2001. Spaceflight is as trivial as air travel, video calls are commonplace, artificial gravity is achieved with controlled spin and everything is automated, with computer systems everywhere. Again, I remind you that this is from 1968.
In the next act, we’re traveling to Jovian system, and I want to pay attention to something. Throughout the movie we’re surrounded by technology and it, so far, worked flawlessly. The technology, personified by HAL 9000, even boasts itself how reliable and exact it is. HAL itself never making a mistake before and stressing that the only errors that occurred before were “human factor”.
Those who watched the movie, know that HAL will “go rogue” after making a mistake; fearing for its life it attempts (and mostly succeeds) to kill the human crew to not let them kill it. This is in contrast to humans we see in the movie, especially Dullea’s character David Bowman. Portrayed as a stoic astronaut always doing the right thing, you only see a glimpse of emotions on his face and only in very stressful situations, like shooting himself into no atmosphere environment without proper personal protective equipment. It makes me wonder if was a product of its time to portray technology as less dependable than good old humans. You know since it’s 60s and computers weren’t as sophisticated as in, say, 80s or 90s. I wanted to say these days, but these days we let things fail and just restart the docker or the VM with a bash script, so I don’t know about that ;)
The closing out of the Space Odyssey is the most polarizing, I’d assume at least. I remember not really liking it much during first watch. I don’t think it’s bad. First of all the psychedelic sequence is for sure a highlight for me, but I do agree that the symbolism of being reborn into the next stage of evolution or whatever it meant to be conveyed could be slightly better. But could it really? Maybe part of the charm is that the movie is not giving you all the answers. It makes you think, guess, imagine. Perhaps, if you look back at the whole movie, the fact that it gives you so little to grasp for forces you to just immerse yourself and find your own footing. Maybe that’s what makes me like it even more.
I do like stories that make you feel like they are just a little window into a different world. Expansive world building that is only touched upon. Unreliable narrators that contradict themselves. Tomes of lore to comb through. All of those things are something I really enjoy. It makes the world of the story, or movie, or video game so much more real. We never know all the details in the real world, we have to make assumptions and guesses. Maybe even take leaps of faith sometimes. 2001: A Space Odyssey sure is stingy on details with regards to plot and story. In return, it gives you a world almost as real as our own. A world you can immerse yourself for the movie’s runtime, and your night after it. And that’s all I can ask for! :P
Closing Thoughts
Suffice it to say, this is one of my top movies of all time. I don’t do ratings, as they are too arbitrary, so “one of” is the best I can give you. It’s definitely a “would recommend” piece. Stunning visuals, great direction, impeccable attention to details, and an interesting plot are what you are in for if you haven’t watched it yet.
Once again I find a huge contrast between many popular modern movies and old classics like this. Given way less resources, they managed to create this one of a kind film. While modern blockbusters having access to 3D rendering farms create obviously fake looking effects; write dull scripts that tell instead of show and treat the audience as borderline retarded and feel the need to over-explain everything. With characters written to always react and just “move the plot” instead of feeling like real people trying to achieve something. Or just acting childish. It’s like the writers never seen real people act, so they write children, self-inserts and straw men. Of course, not everything needs to be a meticulously crafted masterpiece, there’s room for just fun movies to relax or laugh to. Alas I do not see many movies in the same class as some of the older classics these days… Although maybe I just missed all of them, I don’t watch movies often these days…
Anyways, as a fan of detailed world building, retro-futurism, science fiction and cool tech consoles this definitely scratched an itch!
Thank you for reading
– dweller
P.S.
I am not sure about the format of these reviews for now. I don’t want them to be in depth or anything, as I don’t want to pretend to be a big movie buff/critic, I am not (even if I do have strong opinions). I just want to share my thoughts. Kind of like a journal or something, or rather, what I’d tell a friend if they’d ask me “hey what do you think about X movie?” Maybe I can just send them links to here then! :P
Perhaps this was too rambly, or maybe I should go more into the plot points? Who knows, I might do different things for different movies. Only time will tell!