MGM, Rated G
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Arthur C. Clarke & Stanley Kubrick

Undoubtedly one of the greatest examples of a great use of visuals and sound (or sometimes lack of it) in film is Stanley Kubrick's 1968 masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey". Written as a novel by Arthur C. Clarke at the same time it was being filmed, many consider it the greatest science fiction film and certainly the most realistic. The narrative of the film, with its sense of awe and ideas about man and his tools, is told in a way that can only be told through film. Sound, visuals, and music also play a larger part than usual in the narrative.

The film is divided into four acts taking place over a space of thousands of years. The first is "The Dawn of Man", in which primitive man is visited by a strange Monolith and he first uses a bone as a weapon to defend himself. The second act ("TMA-1") is after the bone is thrown into the air changing into a space shuttle (once called the longest flash-forward in cinema history). The film has gone from prehistoric times to the year 2001. The first dialogue is in this scene, in which we see that there are some strange occurrences going on which are soon revealed to be the top secret discovery of another Monolith on the moon. We meet Dr. Heywood Floyd, who seems to be the main character, who is investigating the Monolith. The third act, called "The Jupiter Mission: 18 Months Later", shows a shuttle on a top secret mission in which all but two members of the crew have been put into suspended animation and most of the mission is being run by the most perfect computer ever created, HAL. The two conscious members of the crew, Dave and Frank, seem to be completely bored, their only activities exercising and playing chess with HAL. Eventually, HAL makes a mistake by saying that one of the ship's parts is defective when it is not. HAL was designed to make no mistakes, and so this causes the two crew members to discuss the possibility of shutting HAL down and running the mission themselves. They discuss this the one place where HAL won't hear them, in the pod. When they leave the ship, however, HAL, having read their lips and discovering their plan, shuts down all life supplies to the crew and kills Frank. The only remaining crew member, Dave, is denied permission to be let inside the ship by HAL. He finds a way to enter the ship through the airlock and shuts down HAL. In the final act "Jupiter & Beyond the Infinite", Dave finally makes it to Jupiter having learned what his mission is, to investigate the Monolith. He finds the Monolith, and is swept away to a wormhole where he goes to an alien planet. He finds himself in a white room, and seems to age over a short period of time. He sees the Monolith once more on his death bed and becomes a "star child" as the film ends. This is the basic plot as the average viewer would see it but there is much more to the film than that, which shall next be examined.

There are several main emotions one will probably experience when viewing this film. At certain times, it will evoke a sense of wonder, like when one sees the grand space shuttles floating in space and the special effects which amaze even today, such as when Dave is going through the wormhole. The Monolith also evokes a sense of awe because of the reaction it gets from all who see it and it's usually filmed from below. The lining of the planets is a scene which repeats throughout the whole film which usually signals an important scene. This sense of importance is evoked often in the film as well. The music also evokes this, especially when the theme, "Also Sprach Zarathustra", is heard. Also many people have said that there are no suspenseful scenes in "2001". These people obviously weren't paying attention. The scene in which Dave must find a way back inside the ship and shut down HAL is one of the most suspenseful scenes ever filmed, and it's one example of suspense evoked in the film.

The emotions that "2001" evokes are brought about in several different ways. Along with the awesome sight of the Monolith and the music, the pure vastness of space and all the special effects are quite awe-inspiring even by today's standards. The space shuttles (often accompanied by "The Blue Danube") are shown to be wonders of the future and the various docking scenes at the beginning seem to show a ballet of space ships and satellites. One gets a big sense of wonder whenever the space shuttles are featured.

Suspense is also shown in the many silent or semi-silent scenes. Roger Ebert has stated that this film could very easily be a silent film, and it is these scenes that are the most suspenseful and are also the most meaningful. The sequence where Frank is killed and all of the crew's life support is cut off by HAL is silent yet the viewer is on the edge of their seat. The fact that barely a sound is made contributes to the added suspense. An example of this is when HAL has just killed Frank and kills all the rest of the crew members. The only sounds are some alarms, and then silence. HAL believes he has won. Then the silence is broken as Dave says, "Open the pod bay doors, HAL." This begins the most suspenseful scene in the film. When HAL tells Dave he won't let him inside the ship, the next scene is completely silent as Dave must figure out a way to get into the ship without HAL's help. Once he is inside, the silence of space is gone, and all we can hear is his breathing and footsteps as he is determined to stop HAL. Then HAL speaks in a monotone voice as he is slowly shut down. The suspense builds up here too, even though HAL has no panicked sound to his voice. HAL is frightened yet his programming prohibits him from talking like he is. This fact makes the scene seemingly become all the more suspenseful. The visuals and sounds are extremely important to the emotions one feels when viewing it, excepting the words of the characters, which can usually only be accomplished through film.

There are quite a few recurring themes in "2001: A Space Odyssey" as well. One of these is man's evolution. This is rather apparent in the opening act which shows ape-like creatures trying to defend themselves in harsh terrain. You can probably sense that these are ancestors of man and this will probably have something to do with the overall meaning of the film. The final scene shows Dave having become a star child. It is rather apparent that he has just reached the next stage in man's evolution, so in this way the first and last scenes seem to tie together. Another theme that is repeated must be thought about carefully to pick up, but it is essential to the film's message. This is the theme of man's tools. Tools are featured throughout the whole movie. The first tool is discovered by the leader of the apes, when his hands begin to use the old bone as a weapon to defend his group. The bone dissolves into a space shuttle which is also a tool that man is now using to transport himself away from his home to outer space. The many various gadgets inside all the space ships are also tools he uses. Then, in the "Jupiter Mission" act, we see man's ultimate tool, HAL. HAL is supposedly incapable of error. He can almost do everything for man. And as will soon be seen, the Monolith becomes a tool also. Another recurring theme is that of new frontiers. It starts out showing us traveling through space and ends showing Dave going through a wormhole to a part of space never seen before. The movie is filled with things never experienced by man a short time before. Once again, silence and the use of only visuals is a recurring theme. The first and last half hour, as I have mentioned, for example, are basically silent. Many scenes in space are either silent or only music, and many recurring visuals such as the sun aligning with Jupiter, Earth, or the Monolith are shown. Also there are many scenes involving futility. The rescue of Frank is futile in that he is never brought back to the ship to be restored to life. And almost all of the discussions in the film are meaningless. It shows how everyday conversation has nothing to do with the bigger picture and is futile. A big theme in "2001" can be seen by many in that realism is strived for in every aspect of the story. There is no sound in space and the ships don't zip along like in other science fiction films, they are quite slow like satellites and space shuttles in real life. The reality of space travel and every day life can be seen often as a recurring theme in this film.

The technical elements in this film are used for some great effects which accentuate each scene. One example of a good use of lighting in this film are the lights on the pod controls which reflect off of Dave's helmet in the darkened pod. His face seems to be lit from above also. Later, as he is traveling through the wormhole, the amazing sights he sees are also reflected off of his helmet. The light coming off of a tiger's eyes is also a great effect in "The Dawn of Man" act even if it was a pure coincidence.

The cinematography in this film also adds a lot to it. There are quite a few shots where we are seeing a first person perspective. When Dave is walking through the ship in his spacesuit on his way to shutting down HAL, the camera follows him as he is walking. We see things through a tracking shot of his perspective. The same thing happens when we see him walking through the room at the end. We see his perspective and his reactions. Often we see exactly what he sees. A good example is when he sees himself as an older man and then it switches to the older Dave's perspective. Another example of first person perspective shots in "2001" is when Dave and Frank go inside of the pod to talk about shutting down HAL. Here we see what HAL sees as he is reading Frank and Dave's lips. The camera pans fast between Dave's mouths as they are talking to each other. This gets across to us what HAL is doing without saying it. "2001" also uses many long shots of the ships floating through space, especially at the beginning of the "TMA-1" act. Closeups are used on a few occasions to signify something important. A very good example of this is in the room when the old Dave drops a cup to the floor and there is a closeup of the cup. The cup seems to signify something important because there is a closeup of it. Many have tried to explain what it means, but I will come back to it. There are many closeups of HAL. HAL is usually thinking or figuring something out whenever there is a closeup of him, like when he is shutting down life support to the other crew members or reading Dave and Frank's lips. Also, there are closeups of Dave's reactions to HAL when he says he won't let him in and his reactions to the wormhole. The Monolith is filmed often from below to show its superiority over the humans in the film.

The narrative of "2001" is certainly told in a style different from other Hollywood films. A lot of the plot is told through inference. Things are alluded to, but not spelled out like in most movies. In the "Dawn of Man" act, the importance of these scenes could be completely missed if one isn't paying close attention. This plot is told completely visually since the apes cannot speak. If we pay attention we can see that the apes are trying and failing to defend their food from another group of apes. Then the Monolith appears and the apes are curious about this perfect form, something obviously made by a more advanced civilization. They touch it, an act which is repeated almost every other time someone encounters it. Later, the leader of the apes is going through some bones and there is a quick closeup shot of the Monolith and it goes back to the ape who figures out how to use the bone as a weapon to defend himself and his "tribe". The quick shot of the Monolith infers that the Monolith willed the ape to find the bone. This is a very important plot point but would be missed even easier than the other parts of this act if the viewer isn't paying attention to this film's narrative style. In the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" act, there is also no dialogue and we first see Dave approach the Monolith then he is sent through a wormhole. It has to be inferred that Dave went inside the Monolith and it sent him through the wormhole and at the end he ended up inside the room. In most Hollywood films, the dialogue is very important to advancing the plot. In "2001: A Space Odyssey", however, it has very little importance. Almost all of the plot points are told through visuals. The dialogue is usually useless and perhaps the film is trying to get across an idea similar to that of "talk is cheap". Dr. Floyd, and Dave and Frank's discussions often have nothing to do with the plot. Also, HAL tries to talk Dave out of shutting him down, but it doesn't work. On a few occasions, however, the dialogue does get across things like what Dr. Floyd is investigating and what the purpose of the Jupiter Mission. But for the most part, the story is told through what you see, much like the old silent films.

Before I mentioned what the average viewer sees in the film. But many have wondered exactly what it all means. If one follows this kind of narrative style, it is much easier to understand what is going on in the film, and what the point of it is. Of all the themes I mentioned earlier, the most important one by far is the theme of tools. "2001" hypothesizes that tools are the key to human development. When the Monolith wills the ape to use the bone as a weapon, he has discovered his first tool and is on his way to becoming man. The bone becomes another tool, a space shuttle, which is being used to take man outside of his home planet. He is almost ready for the next step in his evolution. Dr. Floyd and the crew find the Monolith again on the moon, but are still curious and want to touch it. They don't know what to make of it, but this starts the Jupiter mission. At this point, however, man seems to be overrun with tools, so much so that he is bored with them, as Dave and Frank are on their mission. On this mission, they are using HAL, the ultimate tool. HAL is supposedly without flaws, and can therefore do without us. The tool is doing everything, and man barely lifts a finger. When HAL kills the crew he plans to complete the mission by himself. He is truly independent of man. Dave, however, decides that he must overcome HAL, so he finds a way in through the airlock and shuts down HAL. Dave has now taken a major step in man overcoming his tools. He makes it to Jupiter and encounters the Monolith, he goes into the Monolith and is transported through the wormhole, presumably to meet the aliens who made the Monolith. However, he finds himself in a white room, and waits there. He seems to be aging so fast, he can see himself age. He drops a cup on the floor while eating (with a fork and spoon: tools), showing that man is still capable of error, and not quite independent of tools. Finally, we see Dave on his deathbed, a very old man. He encounters the Monolith once more, reaching out for it. A transformation has now taken place. He is a "star child". He is taken to his home planet, ready to begin life in his new form. He still relies on one last tool, the Monolith. The triumphant "Also Sprach Zarathustra" plays once more, one of the many things that has symbolized an important part of the story through the whole film, along with the Monolith and the alignment of the sun and earth.

This story was told almost completely through visuals, and things were inferred or alluded to rather than spelled out. It's a narrative style that is distinct to film, and the whole film is done extremely well. When one follows this style, they won't have much of a problem understanding its meaning of tools being the most important key to man's evolutionary development. Kubrick and Clarke truly created a masterpiece when they made "2001: A Space Odyssey". ****