2001: A Space Odyssey

A Film Way Ahead Of It's Time

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Release Date: 1968

Running Time: 161 mins
Rating: U

Genre: Science Fiction
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood

Stanley Kubrick is able to admirably confuse and put audiences to sleep with this slow moving science fiction about a couple of space explorers embarking on a mission to Jupiter. The film on the whole is very slow burning and doesn't really withhold much dialogue, consequently stopping the audience from being allowed to really form any emotional attachment with the characters at all. The first half an hour or so is mainly just focusing monkeys dancing around a plank on cliff and then the film cuts to way into the future where we see a spaceship embarking on a space mission of sorts, very confusing stuff.

Credit where credit is due to Kubrick, both his concept and vision for this films narrative and cinematography should be highly commended, remembering that this film was released before man even first set foot on the moon, and therefore, placing ‘2001’ way ahead of it’s time. The camera work and shots involved in developing this film is truly astonishing given the limitations Kubrick would've faced whilst making it. However, I would in many respects consider ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ to be seen as more of a work of art than a film, in the way that it is representing the evolutionary landmarks of humanity and allowing us to ask ourselves what the next evolutionary steps might be in forming the perfect being. Kubrick manages to do his by showing the simplicity of Neanderthals and how they have evolved into now showing how humans are trying to generate the perfect being. Despite Kubrick trying his best to carry this message across to audiences, it’s not the easiest narrative to understand and, subsequently, he did end up loosing me in the middle both because of the confusing narrative and moreover the fact I began to fall asleep. Consequently I found myself asking ‘what the hell is going on?’

I would say to audience members who have not seen ‘2001’ before that it’s a highly confusing but at the same time, dull, narrative that you will have to be very awake for in order to fully appreciate. The music and the sound effects used as well really did create the feeling of being in space and being on board a spaceship, which would have been really exciting for audiences in those days, yet nonetheless I found the monotony and repetition of the sounds caused me to drift off on multiple occasions and left me very lethargic. I only really began to pay attention to this bizarre space story towards the end when the narrative began to get a bit more heated. Despite this though Kubrick once again lost me at the ending where I was left baffled, confused and altogether slightly disappointed as we are never really able to find out, or even guess for that matter, what happens and I find the film digresses off on one unnecessary and weird tangent.

For more younger audiences I don’t know if ‘2001’ will be appreciated in the same way that it would've been 45 years ago, not because it looks old but because they just won’t get it. Despite the ‘Universal’ certificate I wouldn't show it to younger audiences, purely because for me, it’s a film that you have to persevere with and for a lot of viewers, it’s either too confusing or just a bit dull. By the time the intermission came around I found the film to be getting tedious and moreover I found the intermission to be a wholly unnecessary thing to do. I think it’s safe to say that if you have a short attention span and you don’t like old films then it would probably be a good idea to give this one a miss.

Equally however, this could just be me being cynical. I think it should be pointed out I am not the biggest lover of sci-fi and furthermore I did really enjoyed Kubrick’s adaptation of ‘The Shining’, so maybe it was more just the genre than Kubrick’s filming techniques. After all, I found that the experimental camerawork and frames to be ‘out of this world’ and they were truly mesmerizing to behold, given that I still have no idea how he managed to film at such angles, let alone for the time that he did. So overall I suppose it’s fair to say the ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ has its ups and downs, I reckon I probably would give it another watch to try and make sense of it all, plus I might try to pay more attention in the middle next time which might help. Fair to say, hats off to Stanley Kubrick but if you’re looking to watch a good exciting film then stay clear of it. ‘2001’ is a very interesting piece of cinema but I’d make sure you watch it when you’re feeling very awake and you’re not going to get distracted because it’s a tough one.

7/10