I've been in a Kubrick mood the last few weeks but hadn't had time to watch one of his movies, until tonight. For those of you who don't know, Stanley Kubrick is my favorite director of all time and in my opinion the best director of all time-hands down, no one even compares and this movie ranks number 2 on my list of The Top 10 Best Movies of all Time (so yah I am going to be a little bias when writing this).
2001 is the best sci-fi movie ever made. There can be no comparison. Because so many sci-fi movies and movies in general have used images, themes, camera shots, production design, color schemes, audible sound and music from this movie that its influence (I wager) can be seen in about 90% of the films out there. Granted I haven't actually calculated or tested that theory but I'm confident enough that it's right and would stand up if scrutinized.
I haven't seen a Kubrick film in a long time and I haven't seen 2001 in an even longer time, but I've got to say his movies only get better as time moves on, especially when compared to most of the crap that comes out of Hollywood today. Even though I hadn't seen this movie in a long time (years in fact) I still found myself remembering how one scene cut to another scene, where music ended to set up the other scene such is the power of Kubrick, to stamp his work of art onto my mind (yes I am gushing a bit). And a work of art this movie is. It's like watching a moving painting, such is the power of the visuals on display.
Another reason I wanted to watch this movie was that the new movie Cloud Atlas was coming out this weekend, yet another pretentious, want to be philosophical laden, empty filled, mumbo jumbo movie from the Wachowski brothers (granted I haven't seen it and am prejudging this movie but based on their other films the pretensions this movie is going to aspire to, while giving no answers, is going to be great). I wanted to see a movie that asked some tough questions, that made me think yet wasn't as empty on the answers department.
I forgot how good this movie was. Kubrick's way of letting the movies visuals tell the story, but yet net letting the special effects or visuals get in the way of the story is truly remarkable. It's one of the few movies out there were the special effects are woven into the movie in such a way where they function with the storyline and never let the storyline be a slave to them. And I can name countless movies where this is the opposite and so few where they are woven together in a nice marriage. And what special effects they are as they have more than stood the test of time. How many effects heavy movies can that be said about? Even today they are better than the majority of movies using computer effects and all Kubrick used was models and full scale sets to capture the space scenes.
Another bold move Kubrick used, that hasn't been repeated a lot since his movie, was he set the movie in three different time periods and used an inanimate object as the main character to ground each time period. What a character the monolith becomes, visually at least, it's an imposing, striking image that plants itself inside the mind when seen, such is the power of the image. I won't delve into the phallic symbolism represented by it either. Even though the monolith doesn't speak Kubrick uses a sort of off kilter chanting as its voice, which works in an eerie, spiritual, church sort of way that when the chanting is heard the viewer knows the monolith is about to do something.
Another bold movie Kubrick made was making the computer HAL have more feeling, emotion and characterization than the humans in the movie, which only supports the philosophizing that humans haven't evolved much from the Dawn of Man sequence as apes. They are still ruled by their lack of emotions or cared away with their barbarian lusts, there is no in between, no humanity.
Never before has the vastness of space been presented in such wondrous and lonely isolation as in 2001 and sometimes even in the same scene. I could go on and on writing about this movie but after looking up and seeing how much I've written so far, I think it's about time to end this one.
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