A group of astronauts were tasked to investigate a mysterious black rectangular object that is somehow emitting a strange signal to Jupiter. Little did they know, they are in for an otherworldly psychedelic acid trip of their lives.
Far and Beyond
After his movie
Dr. Strangelove in 1964, Director and writer Stanley Kubrick, also famous for his film
The Shining, decided to expand his work canvass by doing something more surreal and out-of-the-box. Kubrick was always fascinated by the idea of human life outside Earth and the greater beyond. He contacted famed author and science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke, and collaborated with him to expand on Clarke's work on
The Sentinel, where a mysterious artifact was discovered on the surface of the Earth's Moon and was believed to be left by extraterrestrial ancient beings eons ago. Finally in 1968,
2001: A Space Odyssey was finally released and this marks to be one of the greatest achievements in unconventional storytelling and in movie history
— a benchmark for all future science-fiction films.
In this film, a strange and imposing black rectangular object, called the Monolith, was dug up on the Earth's Moon. Dr. Heywood R. Floyd (William Sylvester), together with his team of astronauts landed on the moon to investigate the Monolith. After surrounding the object for a group picture, an eerie supsersonic sound came out of it. Eighteen months later, a new batch of astronauts was tasked for another space expedition to Jupiter. The team, boarded in United States spacecraft called Discovery One, is composed of Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) and three other members under a state of cryonic hibernation.
The spacecraft was mostly operated by a highly-intelligent computer machine called HAL 9000, or as the astronauts call it, Hal. After a strange behavior and a possible malfunctioning, Dr. Bowman decided to disconnect Hal from the mainframe and revert him to his basic state. Dr. Bowman, riding an EVA pod, encountered a Monolith near Jupiter and decided to go near it. As he was approaching, he was seemingly sucked into it and was transported into this weird, cosmic highway, defying space and time and was bound to an otherworldly, far and beyond, parallel universe.
The Good
For a 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey is miles ahead of its time. Kubrick's use of slit-scan photography technique, front-projection and rotating sets are what pioneers an amazing visual style prior to the CGI techniques used today. The intricate designs of the spacecrafts and colorful costumes are well-thought-out and remarkable.
The unsettling mood and horror aspect to it is almost always a staple in every Kubrick film and is one of my favorite parts of the movie. The score is resonating a strong autonomous, sensory meridian response (ASMR) effect, which gives both exciting and relaxing sound and is one of the reasons why this film is very memorable.
The story poses a lot of questions about evolution and the existence of a sentient being and alien life and I like that Kubrick didn't hold back on the whole science fiction conundrum. Overall, this is one of those films wherein it's more of an experience rather than plot-driven — a movie that you should let yourself be sucked into and wash over you.
The Bad
Personally, I like films that focuses on character relationships and this movie is quite lacking of that. I understand that the whole point is presenting a visual extravaganza but at the expense of a character arc is quite a let down.
Should You Watch It?
2001: A Space Odyssey is the transcendence of cinematography. A well-crafted art film that is bold, mesmerizing, outlandish and thought-provoking — a masterpiece in itself. However, this type of movie is not for everyone as it's rather bizarre and confusing for the regular viewers.
Still, a one-of-a-kind experience.
8.5/10
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