2001: A Space Odyssey – (1968 Stanley Kubrick)

“Perhaps the beauty of 2001 is appreciating that some of the best stories are the ones that are half-told” (Hall, 2010) “2001” is a thought provoking sci-fi film that portrays the struggle to find knowledge and the power that it holds. This concept is shown early on in the film, when a monkey (early man) discovers the use of tools – a bone to hunt with – and he uses it to over throw the powerful clan that rules the watering whole, upon defeating the alpha ape the victor tosses the bone into the air which then turns into a spacecraft/satellite and a new narrative unfolds. This scene holds two very important messages that run throughout the duration of the film, knowledge is power – firstly; knowledge allowed the monkey to overthrow his superior and become the alpha himself, and secondly the transformation from bone to satellite represents the struggle that man has gone trough to gather knowledge and develop it into something productive.

The use of loud, up beat orchestral music makes the longer more mundane scenes feel more dramatic and emphasises the sense of how vast space is whilst creating an empathy and escape for the viewer, into the world of Bowman and Poole (two of the astronauts) “The music that Kubrick uses during these scenes evokes the lonely emptiness of space”(Caldwell 2011) which would have directly affected the audience in 1968 due to the fact that the “First piloted flight of Apollo spacecraft” (Braeuning 1966-2011) took place on 11-Oct-1968.

 

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Not only did Kubrick didn’t only use music to create empathy within scene he also generated a sense of the unknown and mystery, this idea was evident mainly when the black plinth appeared in each chapter of the film, loud hymn like singing was heard every time the plinth was in shot, building tension and a air of anticipation. This can be seen being used in modern day films such as Jaws and Predator when iconic music is played when the monster is approaching, this goes to show how influential a film 2001 is.

Bibliography

Phil Hall 2010

http://filmsnobbery.com/retro-cinema-2001-a-space-odyssey/

Thomas Caldwell 2011

http://blog.cinemaautopsy.com/2011/06/03/free-will-technology-and-violence-in-a-futuristic-vision-of-humanity-2001-a-space-odyssey/

Robert Braeuning – 1966-2011

http://www.braeunig.us/space/manned.htm

Figure 1 - http://www.blu-raydefinition.com/reviews/2001-a-space-odyssey-blu-ray-review.html

Figure 2 - http://www.manuelantoniocuba.com/category/scholarships/

Figure 3 - http://bigzigfitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/predator-3.jpg

Figure 4 - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oeVtbDBJyaM/T9tJnZ0z3UI/AAAAAAAACLc/vXwZZFhu8Vc/s1600/2001+A+Space+Odyssey+1.jpg

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