1998
witnessed the 30th anniversary of 2001:
A SPACE ODYSSEY, Stanley Kubrick's epic
film about the rise of the human species
on earth and into outer space, our technological
advancements, and the significance of
a reappearing monolith. The 33rd anniversary
may not seem as numerically symbolic,
yet it is the year we can finally look
back on the myriad creations woven throughout
the story and compare them to a reality-based
version of 2001. Amazingly (excluding
very few fashion and architectural details)
a picture of minimal disparity emerges.
Certainly, we are years away from inter-stellar
travel and we're discovering that moon
colonies may not be the way to go, but
real human astronauts began permanent
habitation of space in November. Even
Kubrick's most ambitious attempts at predicting
a future world will probably have some
foundation in reality before our time
is up.
Many
have found the available narrative to
be an eternal enigma, wrapped in a riddle,
and secretly shrouded by mystery. Countless
different opinions exist regarding the
message in 2001, but the visual decadence
that the filmmaker indulges in is (even
by special effects standards in the new
millennium), unquestionably, amazing and
significant to the story in and of itself.
Though seemingly simple by design, all
the complexities of man's journey through
the ages are at work here. From the howl
of the enlightened apes reclaiming their
drinking pool to the slowly slurring speech
of the dying HAL-9000 computer aboard
an American spacecraft almost 50,000 years
later, carefully chosen events bluntly
shape a remarkable picture of humankind's
naive fragility. The fear that human inventions
might someday turn on their creators and
destroy us has grown into a fully realized
social issue, another example of life
reflecting art.
Multiple
viewings of the film may expand your concept
of what Kubrick saw when he looked to
the heavens. It is a matter of principle
with me, however, that any calculated
definition of the meaning behind the monolith
is viable, so long as your faith in the
entire tale holds true. Those who see
the film and determine to find a simple
understanding of what transpires between
the "Dawn of Man" and the "Jupiter Mission"
are in for a frustrated conclusion to
their movie experience. This film is a
happening that must be consumed with all
the intensity of a universal phenomenon.
The few verbal exchanges serve to emphasize
the magnitude of the situation, and each
new scene with Dr. Floyd represents the
progression of politics from a localized
effort to the global village of information
and technology we are accustomed to today.
Projections
in the areas of technology and politics
progressed new stylizations in the realm
of cinematography also, lending several
special effects images to the collective
consciousness, including the HAL-9000's
fisheye point of view and Dave Bowman's
chromatic experience at the end of the
film. And, the humming orchestral accompaniment
for this precise, deep-space ballet serves
to remind us how beautiful it is to practice
the recombination of humankind's greatest
acheivements. For the last 30 years, film
and artistic productions have been borrowing
from every aspect of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY,
indirectly forming our present and future
expectations of life beyond our planet.
This is too important a video rental to
pass up at this poignant time and place
in space.
—
Freida Peoples
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While we would never encourage anyone to destroy a video... 
