Presented as « An epic drama of adventure and exploration », 2001, A Space Odyssey is a science fiction film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. As for the screenplay he wrote it with Arthur C. Clarke, an experienced science fiction author. Known as a perfectionist, Kubrick who was deeply interested in literature, photography and the cinema distinguished himself by his attention to details and often adapted novels.
This influential film was released in 1968 starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood and William Sylvester ; it was very innovative thanks to its visual effects and scientific realism owing Kubrick an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
This movie that “changed all movies forever” tells the story of evolution of humankind. A mysterious black monolith is discovered on Earth and another one later during an expedition to the moon; then a quest to Jupiter to find their origins is started. Astronauts are assisted by artificial intelligence in HAL 9000. The music of the film uses numerous works of classical recordings among which Richard Strauss “Thus Spake Zarathustra” in the opening of the film.
The film starts in the distant past with a tribe of ape men or primitive creatures discovering an alien artifact, after they touch it their behavior changes: they take bones for tools or weapons and use them to attack their enemies and kill animals for food. The action is then set in the twenty-first century (2001, supposed to be a near future back in 1968) and traces an expedition to the moon where some astronauts uncover another mysterious black monolith. Struck by sunlight, it emits a high-powered radio signal. Finally, a year and a half later five astronauts travel on board Discovery one on a mission to Jupiter but three of them are in hibernation so that commander Dr. Dave Bowman and Dr. Frank Poole are the one on charge of the mission. They are assisted by new technology : « HAL 9000 » referred to as « Hal » makes the sixth astronaut, it is an artificial intelligent computer that controls the spacecraft’s functions but his artificial male voice gives it a human personality. During the journey the computer develops paranoia that both astronauts take for malfunctioning. Hal will end up killing the three astronauts in suspended animation and Dave will be the last one to survive to disconnect Hal’s circuit. Dave reaches Jupiter to see himself at different stages of his life.
Robin Kenny says : « This movie is concerned with intelligence as the division between animal and human, then asks a question: what is the next division? Technology is treated as irrelevant to the quest--literally serving as mere vehicles for the human crew and as a shell for the immature HAL entity ».
Roger Ebert wrote : « What Kubrick is saying, in the final sequence, apparently, is that man will eventually outgrow his machines, or be drawn beyond them by some cosmic awareness. He will then become a child again, but a child of an infinitely more advanced, more ancient race ».
