2001: A Space Odyssey is a sci-fi/adventure filmed in 1966 and released in 1968. It won a BAFTA and fifteen other awards and 10 nominations. It was made on a budget of 10.5 million dollars and was based on a short story by sci fi writer Arthur C. Clarke. The short story which influenced the movie was called The Sentinel.
The film was directed by Stanley Kubrick who directed many other famous films like The Shining and A Clockwork Orange. He also wrote the screenplay for 2001 with Arthur C. Clarke.
Stanley Kubrick is a director who is known for his obsessive perfectionism and does many takes of the same scene until he gets it right. There are some reports that say that 200 times more footage was shot for 2001 than was actually used.
The film is seen as a classic now, but some audiences found it confusing when it was first shown. Arthur C. Clarke said it wasn't supposed to explain everything but he did add more explanation in a follow up novelisation and a sequel: '2010: the year we make contact' which was made on a budget of 28 million dollars. The sequel was set 7 years after the first mission went wrong. It's not directed by Stanley Kubrick and stars Roy Schneider from Jaws. The original film stars Keir Dullea as Dr Dave Bowman and Douglas Rain as the menacing voice of Hal 9000.
There is a lot of red lighting used to signify blood and danger in the film. This is used on the spacesuit, the chairs on the space station and Hal 9000 (the film's antagonist) is a red dot against a black screen. The film is completely dialogue free in the first 20 minutes and the cavemen only grunt.
This technique is used again in the last 20 minutes of the film. A key scene of the film is when it starts with australopithecines in front of a black obelisk appearing right in front of them. This is when they learn to use the bone as a weapon and learn to stand up straight. The tribe (which are now extinct, at the dawn of history and are close relatives of humans) turn violent and then start attacking each other.
The action then moves to a space station where an official from Earth travelling to the moon video calls his daughter on earth. This is to show his life at home when he's not travelling and the realistic dialogue makes the strange events surrounding the mission even more unnerving. We are shown the crew walking round the ship and on the ceiling in anti gravity mode. This is done by revolving the giant set around the cast while they are walking. The crew on the moon then find the obelisk which has been uncovered after being buried below the surface: it starts to make a high pitched wail.
The film then continues to 18 months later with Dave Bowman leading a crew along with ship's computer Hal 9000 who seems to be watching them and controlling their moves and sabotaging the ship. Concerned about Hal's behaviour, Bowman talks without Hal hearing to another crew member about his concerns but Hal can follow their conversation by lip reading. This is the scene where we realise Hal is a possible threat to the crew which is typical for a sci-fi film when a computer turns on the crew and starts to go out of control or act unpredictably. [KEY SCENE]
The film is seen as predicting modern space flight before it was possible and is about how technology in the future could take over and run our lives if we are not careful. The ending of the film is strange and reveals very little in way of explanation. Dave is in bed, an old man now, after we last saw him in space seeing stars shoot out from another obelisk he encounters. In front of him is another obelisk - maybe controlling him. The old man becomes a baby and floats back to Earth. Kubrick deliberately did not want an easy to understand ending, and neither did Arthur C. Clarke but the idea seems to be that technology although good, can take over and control our lives in the same way alien technology could, and make us lazy and useless until we grow old. The baby at the end could mean we have to start again and learn how to be ourselves as well as rely on technology.
The film's main narrative is the mission of a space crew to the moon to investigate the finding of a black obelisk which is buried under the surface. The mission is a secret so instead of telling Earth they've found extraterrestrial life on the moon which could cause panic they told them there is a possible virus and quarantine has been imposed. Hal 9000 seems to want to dictate the later mission to investigate events on the moon and accidents on board the ship seem to be deliberate and caused by Hal.
The film's soundtrack is very peaceful and eerie. The classical music used is called 'The Blue Danube' and is composed by Johann Strauss. This piece is very memorable and effective. one of the most memorable quotes in this movie is when bowman says 'open the pod bay doors, HAL'. this is when HAL 900 responds with 'I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that'. this quote shows how menacing he can be even when he's saying something that isn't threatening.
The voice of Hal 9000 is very calm, almost sarcastic at times. His voice is very low, careful and quite menacing which makes his character very unnerving to the viewer. The film uses a clever technique called a match cut which is when there's a cut from one image to something that looks similar. This is used here when a prehistoric ape throws a bone into the air and the shot cuts to a satellite in space of similar shape. [KEY SCENE] There is also a ship later on in the movie which is in the shape of a bone with the end of the ship that looks like a ball joint. this is a reference to the beginning of the movie with the cavemen when they find the bone can be used as a weapon.
Kubrick's directorial flair, use of light, impressive set designs and carefully composed shots make 2001: A Space Odyssey a very striking, exciting, unsettling and often impressively strange film experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment