2001: A Space Odyssey

Of course there has been a lot written about Kubrick’s “2001:  A Space Odyssey“, a film that is in the top ten lists of many movie gurus, and therefore a genuine modern artefact. It is still worth making some comments about aspects that could be hidden below the surface. Or not. How do you see it?

Special Effects  The film was released in 1968, and was in production for a long period before that. It is still considered to have probably the best depictions of space travel, due to the skills and inventiveness of Douglas Trumbull. This was in the days before computer generated effects were available, and ways had to be found of controlling camera movements and film processing to simulate aspects such as weightlessness and movement against a starry background with high scientific accuracy. Even in his later career (“Silent Running”, “Blade Runner” etc) Trumbull preferred to avoid computer effects. It’s worth looking at the saga involved in these achievements on 2001. (http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/sk/2001a/page3.html)

“The Sentinel” is a short story by Arthur C Clarke that was the starting point for “2001”. Explorers on the moon discover anomalous signals from underground. The premise is that a superior alien race has observed, three-or-so million years ago, that evolution on earth is leading to intelligent creatures. For their own possibly benign reasons they want to be kept informed when these earthlings achieve space travel. First stop will be the moon, so the sentinel, the high-tech monolith, is buried there waiting to be dug up by mankind, and then to send its signal to the aliens’ station on Saturn.

Kubrick and Clarke together expanded the story backwards and forwards in time, and both names are on the cover of the resulting novel “2001: A Space Odyssey”. But, as in every case of adapting stories to film, the book is one thing and the film another.

The book’s approach is as a straight science fiction story, where there is an internal logic that can explain everything that happens. Kubrick is deliberately not so literal  –  he leaves some puzzles, many things for the audience to interpret for themselves. The famous jump cut where the bone/tool thrown high in the air in triumph by Moonwatcher is instantly replaced by the Pan-Am space ship on its approach to the space station is a categorical shock. You have to say What just happened? Only by thinking about it do you connect it to three million years of technological expansion, which is considered to be step two in our development, and soon the next step will happen. We’ve gone from Animal – to Human – to What? The three note ascent in the “Also Sprach Zarathrusa” theme is a suggestion that the film’s journey is soon to enter the third level.

As an example of possible metaphorical interpretation, the appearance of the monolith among the ape-men could suggest something more spiritual than concrete. The idea of human evolution is allowed to be accepted by followers of mainstream Western religion, but one problem involved here is that we humans are deemed to have an immortal soul, animals are not. Looking at a long line of evolving pre-humans, where is the point that the soul, created by God, was implanted? And was it suddenly switched on? Were there part-formed souls etc etc? The monolith’s arrival could be seen as a symbol of the demarcation between animal and human, or the work of the hand of God. I think Kubrick would have been happy for us to try out some such ideas.

A similar atmosphere of mystery surrounds the last section of the film when Bowman is apparently kept in a comfortable confinement – is he an exhibit in a zoo? A laboratory specimen? How long is he there? Fifty years? A million years? Time is not passing normally. What does it all mean?  Where is evolution going to take us? You must make your own mind up – Kubrick is not going to do the thinking for us, but he does want us to think.

HAL  The super computer with many human characteristics is a formidable figure in the film, especially when we can now appreciate that we are close to seeing the real thing in our lives. Eventually Hal causes havoc, with his stated intention of taking full control of the mission. For Clarke, in the novel, Hal has had a psychological breakdown due to an oversight in his programming, but Kubrick makes a strong suggestion that he becomes malevolent due to hubris – his infallibility has been questioned by the inferior earthlings. This is again open to interpretation.

However, Bowman’s ingenuity defeats Hal in a battle of wits and he disarms him. Is this expressing the hope that mankind can remain the overlord even when machines are vastly improved?  Behind this there may also lurk the notion that by overcoming the machine Bowman (or Man) has passed a test – he then proceeds through the Stargate towards another level of existence, ending up as the Starchild with incredible potential.

Duel – Movie

DUEL

This movie still has a cult following even though it dates from 1971. It is a notable film for a few reasons, not only as Spielberg’s first feature-length movie but also as one of his most intelligent. This may sound a surprising thing to say about a film that is a visceral thriller that most people describe as “scary”, but there is more to it than at first sight. Of course the film-craft in the shooting and editing is excellent, as is the script by Richard Matheson. But there are interesting facets under the skin that are worth noticing.

In the opening sequence where the car backs out of the garage and passes through the city towards the countryside the driver is not seen for about five minutes, and then only through the mirror. The traffic is mainly trucks and buses and only a few people are seen crossing the street. Spielberg would have no doubt preferred them not to be there but he didn’t have the budget to control everything  –  this film was made on a comparative shoestring. Here it’s worth noting the clever graphics of the title sequence, with the text mainly framed by the tunnel shapes. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0707XtiFPs)

At this stage we have a suburban man with a suburban job and a suburban car listening to trivial talkback on the radio, which incidentally includes a reference to fears about a guy’s masculinity. Dennis Weaver is an Everyman, already surrounded by, and dependent on, machines. This is a deliberate theme which is developed big-time through the film. When he stops at the gas station the car is already vulnerable (radiator hose). He needs to talk to his wife, by phone of course, while she’s using a vacuum cleaner and the kids have robot toys. Their talk makes mention of his perceived weakness, and this is partly shot through the glass door of a washing machine.

His troubles escalate from here on as the truck increasingly makes it clear that it’s hunting him, and increasingly takes on the character of a large animal, with the exhaust panting while it waits for him, and the headlights watching for him from the tunnel in the school bus scene. Forget the driver, it’s the animate machine, not a person, that’s his enemy. Looking at the film at this level we are not concerned with mundane reality  –  e g whether Weaver could act in a more rational way by turning around and heading home for example. It’s a film, a fiction and an allegory. He is locked into the journey, and so are we. When he phones the emergency number from the Snakerama he gives his name  –  David Mann. Man defending his humanity versus machine technology.                                              

Mann is finally triumphant, with the mammoth lured into the ravine through his human ingenuity, and giving a prehistoric dying groan, leaving the man to do his incoherent apelike dance of relief.

 

SOME EXTRA COMMENTS

Most people watching a film become immersed in the experience, suspend disbelief, empathise with the characters etc. But if you are interested in the art and craft of film-making, can you fully enjoy the experience and emotion of the work and at the same time take note of clever camera work, the finesse of the editing etc? I suppose experienced and amateur film critics do learn to watch at two levels at once, but still it often pays to see the picture a second time. I think Duel is one movie that repays a second look.

The truck that’s hunting Mann has singled him out apparently, and we see the big machines befriend each other. The truck turns around to help the school bus get started, and then after it almost pushes the Valiant into the path of the freight train the two large things hail each other with their horns.

There is one nice joke that is easily missed in Duel because it happens fast. When Mann is desperate to escape the pursuing truck he heads towards a parking bay where there appears to be a police car with the driver looking at the rear wheel. As he gets there he finds that the graphic on the door says “Pest Control”, not “Police”. You would only see the proprietor’s name if you freeze-frame  –  Grebleips (Spielberg backwards).