Analysis of 2001: A Space Odyssey
This film deftly and amazingly captures the profundity of life. Imagine sitting down to make a movie encapsulating all of existence in a matter of two and a half hours. In this regard, Kubrick is absolutely genius, and the movie's artistic quality coninciding with its popularity, is a testament to his genius. The film can be interpreted in so many ways. I personally do not have a firm opinion on many of the themes, but I will present some possible interpretations in this analysis.
The general concept of the movie began with Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sentinel". Fascinated with the emergence of space travel and the prospect of alien life, Kubrick sought to make a film based on the concept of the infinite evolutionary cycle of life, and the idea that there is a greater knowledge in the universe than human knowledge. The Freidrich Nietzche poem Thus Spoke Zarathustra influenced the film's vision. Also the title of the original musical score by Richard Strauss, the poem evokes the sentiments Kubrick is trying to grasp with lines like, "Man is a rope, fastened between animal and Superman- a rope over an abyss".
With this in mind, Kubrick set out to create this image in cinematic fashion. In the first five minutes of the film, he cuts to various landscapes, noting the natural undulation of the environment, and how flatland and highland balance and compliment each other. The behavior of the apes ties them to the earth. They are, at this stage in their evolutionary process, bound to the earth, or on the animal end of the rope. It is not until the discovery of the monolith and the tool that the apes begin to depend on anything other than what is literally on the surface of the earth. The tool symbolizes the progression of human evolution. It is key to notice the morning before the discovery of the monolith, a few apes awake with their faces skyward. This is the only time any of the apes look up. Their concentration is focused on the earth and what is directly in front of them. Not until they encounter the monolith are they aware of something other than themselves. The monolith represents a higher form of being or knowledge. As they recognize the monolith, they are touch it vulnerably, signifying the meekness of human existence when confronted with the unknown. It is with this event that elements such as birth/death, progression/regression, creation/destruction become the key elements of the film.
When the film cuts to the second section, an ape is beating another ape with the bone. He tosses the bone in the air in his excitement, and as the bone spirals down, it transforms into a spaceship. Suddenly, the film has jumped 4 million years into the future. This brilliant cut by Kubrick emphasizes the effect (or lack of effect) the growth of technology has on the human race. Kubrick does not distinguish the second quarter of the film from the first. The reason is open to interpretation, but it certainly adds to the ambiguity of the film. It is possible he is trying to say that man is not very different from the apes, only the technology has vastly progressed. Or possibly, that none of the advancements are noteworthy for they are relatively the same because they stem from the same functional principle. Whatever the interpretation might be, the lack of distinction is noteworthy.
The second quarter of the film contains most of the dialogue. Dr. Floyd's journey to the Clavius space station has little meaningful dialogue. The visual wonder of the film is the focus, and not character or oral development. The fact that the movie has only 46 minutes of dialogue out of 141 minutes of screentime is pretty spectacular. This shows the focus of the film lies in its visual aspects. The film is preoccupied with the unknown, things that are not human. The ineffable nature of emotions or concepts which have not been, or cannot be, conceptualized dominate the film. When Dr. Floyd confronts the second monolith at the Tycho site on the moon, he is as awestruck as the apes were four million years ago. This emphasizes the liminality of the human condition, and however much our environments alter or technology changes, we remain creatures, beings subject to greater forms of knowledge than our own.
The third quarter of the film tackles the issue of technology and its role in the progression of human life. HAL, though a form of artificial intelligence, is always referred to as a person in the film. The worry of both Dr. Bowman and Dr. Poole that HAL is a conscious being is unspoken, and also unnecessary, for they both know HAL is just as human as they are and prone to mistake just as they are. HAL is never referred to as an "it" or a computer, but is considered an active member of the crew. When HAL betrays David and Frank, David is forced to rely on animalistic characteristics of self-preservation. The scene where he propels himself back into the ship is symbolic of birth and recreation of human intuition. His dismantling of HAL symbolizes man's will triumphing over the ills of gross technological advancement.
The final section of the film is the most ambiguous and open to many interpretations. Beyond obvious symbolism such as the reappearance of the monolith and the birth and rebirth of Dr. Bowman in separate dimensions, there is little concrete about the section. The 16 minute "ultimate trip" sequence is extremely abstract, but I find to be a re-ordering of the in universe in the eyes of Dr. Bowman to create an entirely new reality and new concept of being, possibly a new universe all together. His reincarnation as embryo floating through space suggests, not only a new consciousness, but a new state of being. This seems to be Kubrick's message of this film. He challenges humankind to visualize itself outside of its own existence, but its existence in relation to the rest of the universe.