Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - Transcend the limits...face the unknown!

Quality Score: 9/10

Infinite: having no limits or boundaries in time or space or extent or magnitude

Evolution: a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage)

Great artistes are few; those of unparalleled creations are even fewer and do occur only once maybe in a generation. Stanley Kubrick, needless to say, is one such freak of nature, or happenstance of evolution if you may, that happened for the boomers here in the United States.

2001: A Space Odyssey is without a doubt his Magnum Opus, which stimulated critics and average movie goers alike to question or embrace the movie one way or the other. Irrespective of the reaction, the movie forced people to think and question long held beliefs of the “known” and the unknown. It has to be noted though that the content as portrayed in this review is probably only one of the many interpretations that the movie presents us with.

2001 discusses one man’s interpretation of the concept of human evolution, and more importantly, his extrapolation of the same, 35 years in the future. Divided into 4 sections, the movie begins by depicting the pre-human apes that live in groups, fighting and defending resources necessary for survival. As if to introduce a whiff of simplicity to a concept so profound, Kubrick uses a slick, black monolith to represent the catalyst that sets of a sea change in the way man (and his ancestor, the ape) thinks, behaves and ultimately evolves.

The (intentionally buried?!!!) monolith challenges both the apes and men alike to seek their inner courage and to challenge the unknown. This in turn induces both to come up with ingenuous tools that ultimately help in their quest of the unknown; the unknown being relatively different in both cases. The same tools that helped men in daring to reach for the unknown ultimately prove counterproductive in their survival. This happens to the extent that man almost replaces himself with his tool, as the leading purveyor of the expanse of space in earth’s immediate neighborhood.

Kubrick’s signature is seen vibrantly in the presentation of the plot. His clever use of classical music coupled with the unhurried screenplay exudes reality in the scenarios portrayed therein. This movie however is not what most people would consider as the best choice for an easy evening viewing. It is one that stimulates a calm mind and forces a person to reason one way or other with it. The message communicated through this movie, in this writer’s view, is clearly that the unknown is mysterious, so long as it is left unexplored and unreasoned. One may never realize the hand behind how things come to pass (the monolith in this movie), but the inherent tools possessed by men are sufficient to help in any quest to understand the same.

Genre: Sci-Fi, Action/Adventure

- Prasanna Ramakrishnan