2001: A Space Odyssey

Released 1968
Stars Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Douglas Rain (voice)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick

The genius is not in how much Stanley Kubrick does in "2001: A Space Odyssey," but in how little. This is the work of an artist so sublimely confident that he doesn't include a single shot simply to keep our attention. He reduces each scene to its essence, and leaves it on screen long enough for us to contemplate it, to inhabit it in our imaginations. Alone among science-fiction movies, "2001" is not concerned with thrilling us, but with inspiring our awe.

The film did not provide the clear narrative and easy entertainment cues the audience expected. The closing sequences, with the astronaut inexplicably finding himself in a bedroom somewhere beyond Jupiter, were baffling. What he had actually done was make a philosophical statement about man's place in the universe, using images as those before him had used words, music or prayer. And he had made it in a way that invited us to contemplate it--not to experience it vicariously as entertainment, as we might in a good conventional science-fiction film, but to stand outside it as a philosopher might, and think about it.

Summary by Roger Ebert

What can I say about the best film ever made? It's odd because I saw this film (or parts of it) once when I was a teenager. I remember being baffled and irritated by the ending, and I didn't see it again for 20 years. Watching it a second time, even though it was on a tv screen again, I sat in awe. I don't think there has been a more visually beautiful film before or after. It's gorgeous. I hope I can see it in a theater someday. Also, the marriage of classical music to the scenes was brilliant. Regardless of how good the commissioned score may have been, it wouldn't have been able to match the power and beauty of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" or "Blue Danube."

On one hand it's difficult to believe this film was released in 1968, because it looks better than anything produced since. On the other hand, it had to be made during that period. I don't think a 2 1/2 hour, slow-paced, contemplative science fiction film that asks more questions than it answers could be made today. Who would finance it? Who would see it? The closest thing to that description is "Contact," which was as deep and interesting as a teaspoon of mud.

Just like great art in any given medium, this film is not accessible to everyone. If you're looking for plot or action, don't look here. You'll feel the same way I did as a kid. If you're looking for beauty or wish to contemplate man's position in the universe, see this film. -- Bill Alward May 27, 2001