Yes. There are lower-mammals on the screen. Apes? And none as cute as Helena Bonham Carter. At first I couldn't believe they were people in costumes. Scary.
Chapter one is a very odd chapter. If my intellectual self-esteem was any lower, I'd feel very left out of Kubrick's little zoo party. But our movie-time is usually filled with good conversation - and 2001 is an excellent movie for that as it is a silent one with classical music playing on the background. And I laugh myself silly with my friend orchestrating an invisible orchestra. I am reminded of myself on the opening credits of Star Wars. I love silly people. If you can get through Dawn of Men, you are in for a treat. I think it's exactly this: you are rewarded with the rest of the movie if you stick to your seat (for half an hour of a two hour and 20 min movie). Nice psychology foreplay Mr K!
Chapter two and three go together and actually tell a story. Wow, I'm impressed. In so many levels. He defined the genre "machine-goes-crazy-and-kills-the-crew". There must be at least 40+ movies with this plot line. The art/picture of some scenes, it's just perfect. Now I can say Spielberg is a copycat and ruined AI (or I can just parrot my friend, the connoisseur). And did you know that that entire IBM-HAL thing is crap? Although my conspiracy-theory-Mulderesque brain loved that. You know that HAL is actually a big Ipod with Saruman eye, right? The Ipod name and design came to Steve Jobs when he was watching 2001. Honestly. I-pod = eye-pod (Saruman's eye). Jobs is a big Kubrick's fan. So he was watching 2001 on his big screen (smaller than Gates') and eureka. Is the guy a genius or what? If you don't believe me, see for yourselves, a picture is worth a thousand words:
Intermission is over. Back to the movie.
Chapter 4 is truly Beyond the Infinite. Some images reminded me of fertilization in vitro, but then I am a horny med student, what would you expect me to see in abstract art? Then my friend who is in law school agreed with me. I was very pleased with myself when I read about the Star-Child thing. I know I couldn't scratch the surface of the philosophical debate on the fourth chappie. Is there one? Do I really want to know why there is a room in Louis XVI-style decor and the dude keeps getting older and older? Is the monolith going to kill Dave? Save Dave? Is the monolith really there? Is the Earth really there? Was there some acid and is Dave having a very Alice-like trip? (we settled for this one).
I had this professor once, literature professor. I came to him, desolated. I might have been crying. I was reading Shakespeare and I told him I was a big fat cheater because I would only buy annotated versions (like Folgers’s) and I couldn’t “grasp” Shakespeare from reading it, I had to read someone writing about reading it. He smiled kindly at me and told me very nicely that was a very smart young lady with intellectual humility and no one should pick up every single nuance in one read. One should always research. Alas, I took that to heart. And to-day my inquisitive mind beseeched me. I did some googling around, some wikipediaing. Oh well, if you truly read this far, you deserve this link. This is the short-and-explained-version-of-space-odyssey. It has some details that made me smile and I won’t spoil it for you. Very worth of your time. Nice, uh?
http://www.kubrick2001.com/
What can I tell you about Space Odyssey? You gotta watch it at least once in your lifetime. It is not a waste of your time - although you might be tempted into forwarding some scenes - and I wouldn't have regretted seeing this one on the theater. It is full of brilliance and great music. Sit back and enjoy an acid trip without the possibility of unpleasant aftereffects. Practice safe acid trips. Do Kubrick.
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