After taking the Christmas week off, I am back with the start of what I hope to be a new series. ‘Indian Timing’ will see myself watch or re-watch a relatively famous film. There are a lot of holes in my film knowledge and hopefully this series will see me close them or on the flip side, relive some classics. Today we start with my introduction to Stanley Kubrick and there’s only one way to start; with the classic ‘2001: A Space Odyssey‘.
Directed and produced by the legend Stanley Kubrick, who also co-wrote the film with Arthur Clarke, 2001: A Space Odyssey hit screens in 1968 and immediately planted itself at the front of cinema history. Although initially receiving a mixed reaction it quickly garnered a cult following and ended a successful year with four nominations at the Academy Awards, earning a win for the visual effects. It is now regarded as one of the most influential and greatest films ever made; inspiring the minds of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas who themselves went on to achieve great things and cement their names alongside Kubrick as legendary figures of cinema. It opened doors for many films of which some may be among your favourites. It sits among the top on many ‘greatest’ lists compiled among the years and is noted as the AFI’s No.1 Science-Fiction film (not including films released post 2008). But what did I think of the film?
(2001: A Space Odyssey poster – credit MGM/Robert McCall)
So I literally just watched the film for the first time, it’s maybe been half an hour since it’s finished. I actually don’t really know what I have just seen to be completely honest with you. I mean if you’ve seen it then you can probably relate, it’s a lot to take in. Can I claim it to be a great film? Personally I’m not too sure where I would rank it on my own list of science-fiction films. It certainly hasn’t hit me right away like Inception did, it’s definitely one which I believe will grow on me, it leaves you thinking about which is the mark of a great film. So maybe it is a great film. More knowledgeable and intelligent people have said it is and I am inclined to believe them.
Let’s go through the story, I will try to avoid spoilers as much as I can. I guess there is a story but you shouldn’t be disheartened if you don’t understand it. Kubrick himself said it is open for speculation; you can take away from it what you will. It truly can be a unique experience for anybody who sees it. In that way, it is a masterpiece. We start off millions of years ago in a dry part of the world. A group of hominids stumble upon a large monolith which influences them to use bones of deceased animals as weapons in order to drive away a rival tribe; the monolith is shown to have sped up their learning and the shots used clearly show it’s relation to space. We are then transported millions of years later to space, we see Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester) traveling to a base on the moon where something mysterious is occurring. We come to find another monolith, similar to the one seen earlier, had been buried under the lunar surface. Again we jump, this time to 18 months in the future. Aboard a spacecraft on a mission to the planet Jupiter, here the story truly picks up. We follow two pilots/scientists Dr David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) who are accompanied by the ships computer HAL 9000; which seems to be artificial intelligence with personality and emotions. The second half of the film is my favourite part, the tension between the scientists and HAL is intriguing and has you glued. The slow pace of how the story pans out sucks you in to the twisted mind games taking place. As you watch the evil nature of HAL unfold, the film easily shapes into a horror and would rightly fit into that genre too. Eventually we get to the end; now you probably should prepare yourself for the last 20 minutes of the film. It gets pretty trippy and weird, we follow Bowman through the vast different regions and plains of space ending up in a classical style bedroom where Bowman sees himself age before being transformed into a fetus orbiting alongside the Earth.
Yes, that really happens.
(Credit – MGM)
It’s important to remember that the film was released in 1968 because visually it holds up; revolutionary at the time the film is still an easy watch. It’s age does not show too much. The set design is incredible and the cinematography is truly incredible, you can definitely see how it influenced many world famous directors and films since it’s released. I absolutely have to recommend you watch this on as large a screen as possible but more importantly you need to have a good sound system or if you watch it on a laptop/tablet you must have quality headphones because the sound design is stunning and powerful; it adds a whole different element to the film. The score and soundtrack are memorable, they are in your face and absolutely mirrors the atmosphere in the film. The voice of HAL 9000 (Douglas Rain) is incredible, the eeriness haunts you throughout the film, the shift of tone is genius and bring the character to life. Yes, the computer really is a character in this film.
(Credit – Warner Bros Entertainment/MGM)
2001: A Space Odyssey is quite something, it’s memorable, it’s thought-provoking and it’s masterful. It’s also wonderfully weird. It’s a must watch film and one I would love to talk to people about. If you ask me my thoughts on it right now, I don’t think I would be able to do it justice; I will definitely need to watch it again or have more time to soak it in.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the start to this new series. If you’ve seen the film I would love to hear your thoughts on it, if not then I hope I have intrigued you enough to check it out; I definitely don’t think you would regret it. If there is a classic film you would want me to check out and write about then please let me know.
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Robbie Dhesi 