Reel Memories No. 151

REEL MEMORIES NO. 151

2001: a Space Odyssey

by William V. Reynolds

Stanley Kubrick had just finished “Dr. Strangelove” when he became interested in extraterrestrial life. He was looking for a film project that would portray aliens in a realistic manner. In an effort to accomplish this, he consulted Arthur C. Clarke. The two of them became collaborators in what was to be one of the most outstanding science-fiction films of its time.

Among others Kubrick consulted Carl Sagan about the best way to represent extraterrestrials. Sagan persuaded Kubrick that alien life forms might not resemble humans at all. This left Kubrick with the dilemma of representing beings from outside of our sphere of experience without human actors. How, he asked himself, could this be done?

Kubrick’s solution was to introduce an alien object rather than an alien being. Using a monolith of alien origin, the film director covered four major subjects, human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial life.

The film begins with apelike early humans foraging for food on an African savannah. They find themselves in danger from a leopard who kills one of them. Other man-apes drive them from their waterhole where they sleep in a small rock corridor. A black monolith appears and as a result the apelike creatures discover that they can use bones as weapons.

The film then cuts to the space age where Dr. Heyward R. Floyd (William Sylvester) is on his way to the moon where an alien object has been discovered. Dr. Floyd’s mission is to investigate the discovery. The investigation reveals that the monolith was buried some four million years ago. While posing for a photograph in front of the object, the group discovers radio signals coming from it.

Eighteen months later the Discovery One spaceship is on its way to Jupiter with two mission pilots and other scientists. During the voyage Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) have a confrontation with “Hal,” the onboard computer. Hal successfully sabotages a repair effort by Dr. Poole and tries to lock Dr. Bowman out of the spacecraft. Bowman is able to defeat Hal and continue his journey.

When Dr. Bowman reaches Jupiter he discovers another monolith left in orbit around the planet. When he approaches it, it suddenly becomes a tunnel of colored light and Bowman finds himself going through a series of weird experiences. This part of the film is so enigmatic that several possible interpretations have been devised in order to explain what Kubrick is actually talking about. Interested persons should consult the literature on the subject.

Kubrick gave the film a memorable soundtrack associating the spinning motion of satellites and the dancers in waltzes. He uses the Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss and the famous symphonic poem Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss to portray the philosophical evolution of Man.

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and received one for visual effects. In 1991 it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Today we give a reel memories salute to 2001: a Space Odyssey (1968).

William V. Reynolds is the author of “Murder in the Okefenokee” available at McCaysville Public Market and Pat’s Country Kitchen in McCaysville; Parris Pharmacy, The Book Nook and Ingles in Blue Ridge; Book Nook in Blairsville; and Phillips and Lloyd in Hayesville.