2001: A Space Odyssey review

 2001: A space Oddity?

‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ was a milestone both in cinematic history and the development of the science fiction genre. There are positive and negative points to the movie. What struck me the most, was the visual beauty of the work. Every single cell of the film, every frame could have been taken out on its own and viewed as a painting for artistic study. The amount of effort invested in composition and aesthetics was astounding. Kubrick’s penchant for symmetry and framing is not a secret, but his influence was palpable from the first shot. The score was intense and instantly recognisable to a modern audience from later products of the genre, but also cleverly utilised. The background music would build up and depress tension at appropriate moments within the action. Simple things like taking away sound had so much power on the audience’s attention. Occasionally, in stark contrast to the loud, prominent music that had appeared sporadically, some scenes or sections of scenes were filmed in total silence. This is a technique I was not that familiar with but that had a massive impact on the scene. It gave Kubrick the power to determine the level of attention or intensity the audience gave to each moment in the film. Other directorial decisions such as having the astronauts breathing for long periods of time as the only sound heard were interesting and innovative and served to affect my personal breathing pattern which was probably the desired outcome, making me identify with the character and feel everything he felt. Some of the scenes were ‘hammed up’ a bit, either making them go on for an uncomfortable length of time or using extended slow motion. It was no wonder why the film was so long, there was an elongation of every scene and sequence to it’s limit, even featuring slow motion prominently- yet there seemed to be a frustrating lack of action or indeed purposeful content. There we certain problems I had in terms of plot and narrative. The film seemed to be following one story, of the two men on the mission to Jupiter with the rogue computer, yet this was somewhat abandoned in favour of a cryptic and abstract ending sequence that left the audience dazed and confused. It is obvious that the film is open to interpretation and highly metaphorical in its resolution, but it left me somewhat cold, without conclusion. There is a ton of discussion and differentiation in interpretation surrounding this film and rightly so. I felt that the desire to remain ambiguous and interesting has overwhelmed the films ability to make a statement. It would only be from asking Kubrick himself what he was trying to say at the end of this film that you would fully appreciate the artistic effort. As it stands, everyone takes a unique confusion home with them. However, I found myself ignoring the head-aching concept of the ending due to the visual spectacle. For the time it was made the film is highly advanced in special effects, technological ideas and creative impetus. I can completely understand why this is a must see film for a motion picture student. I think people will either love it or hate it, being too annoyed by the ending to appreciate the achievements of the entire work. The movie was rife with clever, intriguing ideas and concepts and was filmed in an interesting and uniquely stylised manner. I believe the meaning of the movie was to convey a fear of advancements in technology and human dependence on computers. Suffice it to say, If I could provide a final comment that summarises the feel of the overwhelming ‘2001…’ it would be this: Notwithstanding the intense subjectivity of one’s reaction to the work, the overarching feeling you get and are left with can be summed up in a single word: epic.