Review of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
Profound. This expression of humanity was one of the
strangest, most colorful, and stunningly composed that I've seen done on film.
It is most definitely a work of art, carefully and intensely crafted with
minute detail. The whole movie builds upon tension and curiosity. Though slow
moving, I appreciated the pace for its purpose in giving the audience time to
take in the beautiful shots and mise-en-scene throughout. I don't think I've
ever seen a movie with such epic colors and scenery - it was truly remarkable.
Beginning with "The Dawn of Man", Kubrick sets up the feeling that
this movie is something for the audience to observe and take in, without having
to think about the relationships between characters or any specific plot. We
simply sit and watch the magnificent sunrises and skies and then the behaviors
of the early humans as they react to each other.
The scene of the fateful
morning the monolith appears had me in awe. The jump cut to its presence was
nothing extraordinary and the shot had no unique perspective. Sunlight came
down upon the area where it stood like a spot light and in the distance the sun
is just rising over a beautiful light blue and yellow sky. The haunting
a-capella choir in the background is building and building, as the Neanderthals
scream louder and louder. The shots of the monolith get closer, slowly, and my
attention was held on this alien thing, so out of place, but so masterfully
framed. Finally a shot from the perspective of the foot of the structure
looking up is cut to, and my jaw dropped. It was so simple but so intensely
powerful and beautiful - the symmetry of the monoliths shape with how the sun
sat on its edge. Then, in the next jump cut, the music stops dead and all that
is heard is wind over an orange African plane. That was just…wow. The next
sequence of the ape’s enlightenment and the beginning of man’s use of tools was
just as stunning. The score behind all of it really drove it home. I loved the
use of jump cuts to the pigs collapsing and the use of slow motion in that and
the bones smashing. The close up of the ape’s face and the arms raising the
bone in the air to smash gave it such a primal and violent feeling, yet coupled
with the boundless sky and the epic symphony, it had such profound
implications. The bone was thrown into the air, thus transitioning the film to
the space age. Man had been using tools for a long time by now and it is
interesting how the spaceships themselves looked like bones floating through
space. The technicality of this film is insane. I was aware that this was done
long before computers or digital films so the special effects were incredibly
complicated…nonetheless, Kubrick and his team truly conquered the hurdles they
faced and produced awe-inspiring outer space visuals, from the complicated
space stations and their computer screens and graphics, to the planets and
moons and nebulas that Dave observes along his journey. Not to mention that
slit-scan sequence near the end…holy crap. The suspense built with Hal’s eye
was so well done. After the lip-reading scene, any time Kubrick cut to the eye,
you knew stuff was about to go down. Hal’s death scene was so freaky and
thrilling. The slow pace was excruciating and the cuts to Dave’s sweaty,
nervous face were awesome. And I haven’t even mentioned how freaking sweet the
colors were throughout this film. Some of my favorite parts color-wise was the
scene with Dr. Floyd and crew aboard the spaceship with the interior casting a
blue light on everything, and Dave’s face in the escape pod as the neon lights
changed colors on his face.
One of the best uses of editing in the film was
when Dave is going through this time warp after seeing the monolith, and the
slit-scan sequence is displaying these incredible, breath taking colors and
patterns while every now and again it cuts quickly to a still of Dave’s
terrified face. My eyes were glued open from then until the end of the movie.
Finally I want to comment on the last scene, and how flawlessly Kubrick
transitions through time. As Dave is recuperating in his pod after it ends up
in that surreal, space mansion, we see an older Dave outside the pod. We take
on that Dave’s perspective as he walks to an entranceway where an even older
Dave sits, the older Dave turns around and doesn’t see anything, so the camera then
follows him. The Dave’s keep seeing themselves progressing through time, which
creates a flawless transition through time instead of having to use a montage
and also creates a dream-like, magic or alien effect – a feeling that some
phenomena unknown to man is occurring. Overall this is not a very comparable
film, its an experience unlike any other, and I don’t think it quite falls
under Sci-fi or thriller because of its profound message and skillful artistry.
It is simply a far-reaching, deeply reflective piece of film history.
The scene of the fateful
morning the monolith appears had me in awe. The jump cut to its presence was
nothing extraordinary and the shot had no unique perspective. Sunlight came
down upon the area where it stood like a spot light and in the distance the sun
is just rising over a beautiful light blue and yellow sky. The haunting
a-capella choir in the background is building and building, as the Neanderthals
scream louder and louder. The shots of the monolith get closer, slowly, and my
attention was held on this alien thing, so out of place, but so masterfully
framed. Finally a shot from the perspective of the foot of the structure
looking up is cut to, and my jaw dropped. It was so simple but so intensely
powerful and beautiful - the symmetry of the monoliths shape with how the sun
sat on its edge. Then, in the next jump cut, the music stops dead and all that
is heard is wind over an orange African plane. That was just…wow. The next
sequence of the ape’s enlightenment and the beginning of man’s use of tools was
just as stunning. The score behind all of it really drove it home. I loved the
use of jump cuts to the pigs collapsing and the use of slow motion in that and
the bones smashing. The close up of the ape’s face and the arms raising the
bone in the air to smash gave it such a primal and violent feeling, yet coupled
with the boundless sky and the epic symphony, it had such profound
implications. The bone was thrown into the air, thus transitioning the film to
the space age. Man had been using tools for a long time by now and it is
interesting how the spaceships themselves looked like bones floating through
space. The technicality of this film is insane. I was aware that this was done
long before computers or digital films so the special effects were incredibly
complicated…nonetheless, Kubrick and his team truly conquered the hurdles they
faced and produced awe-inspiring outer space visuals, from the complicated
space stations and their computer screens and graphics, to the planets and
moons and nebulas that Dave observes along his journey. Not to mention that
slit-scan sequence near the end…holy crap. The suspense built with Hal’s eye
was so well done. After the lip-reading scene, any time Kubrick cut to the eye,
you knew stuff was about to go down. Hal’s death scene was so freaky and
thrilling. The slow pace was excruciating and the cuts to Dave’s sweaty,
nervous face were awesome. And I haven’t even mentioned how freaking sweet the
colors were throughout this film. Some of my favorite parts color-wise was the
scene with Dr. Floyd and crew aboard the spaceship with the interior casting a
blue light on everything, and Dave’s face in the escape pod as the neon lights
changed colors on his face. 
One of the best uses of editing in the film was
when Dave is going through this time warp after seeing the monolith, and the
slit-scan sequence is displaying these incredible, breath taking colors and
patterns while every now and again it cuts quickly to a still of Dave’s
terrified face. My eyes were glued open from then until the end of the movie.
Finally I want to comment on the last scene, and how flawlessly Kubrick
transitions through time. As Dave is recuperating in his pod after it ends up
in that surreal, space mansion, we see an older Dave outside the pod. We take
on that Dave’s perspective as he walks to an entranceway where an even older
Dave sits, the older Dave turns around and doesn’t see anything, so the camera then
follows him. The Dave’s keep seeing themselves progressing through time, which
creates a flawless transition through time instead of having to use a montage
and also creates a dream-like, magic or alien effect – a feeling that some
phenomena unknown to man is occurring. Overall this is not a very comparable
film, its an experience unlike any other, and I don’t think it quite falls
under Sci-fi or thriller because of its profound message and skillful artistry.
It is simply a far-reaching, deeply reflective piece of film history. 
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