2001 a space odyssey film series8/15/2023 True pioneers! Then, in one of the most celebrated flash-forwards ever in the history of cinema, Kubrick takes us ahead millions of years by jumping from the shot of a bone triumphantly thrown up in the air to that of a satellite (That is not a spaceship although it is widely referred to as one) orbiting the earth in the 21st century. In no time, they even managed to perfect the art of killing one of their own, using their brand new invention. Plenty to eat! Meanwhile, the territorial fights continue to occur among the tribes and they start using bones to fight among themselves. This makes their lives a lot better and prosperous. After the appearance of the monolith, somehow they seem to have been inspired to use bones as tools/weapons. We see a beautiful shot of sunlight reflecting off of the monolith. They curiously and gingerly approach the monolith and examine it. One fine day, a mysterious black monolith appears at a watering hole, the habitat of one of the tribes. At times, they are being attacked by predators as well. The apes live in groups as several different tribes and often there are (nonviolent) conflicts among them over watering holes. They seem to be living off what the predators leave behind. But, they aren’t modern enough to hunt their preys. Apparently, apes are the most evolved species at the time. This visual poetry begins its journey from millions of years ago. So, here’s an attempt at explaining this gem of a film. But, it is not the brilliance of this legendary film but the themes and philosophical interpretations that’s been discussed the most over the years. It has been discussed in great deal for decades. Owing to the otherworldly quality in direction, nonverbal narrative style (minimal dialogues), stunning cinematography & visual effects and haunting music it is regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time. In terms of the content, making and technical brilliance, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ is undoubtedly way ahead of its time or even our time. I have literally paused the movie several times and wondered things like “ Was this really made in 1968? I mean the moon landing was in 1969!” or “ Good lord! This makes ‘Interstellar’ look like ‘Doodlebug’!” But the grandeur and elegance of it shocks you. I knew I was going to watch a Stanley Kubrick epic. ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ was one hell of an exception. Usually when I watch an old classic film from my watchlist, I almost always feel “ Well, that was great, you know, just as expected” because I must have encountered the annoying reaction “OMG! You have never watched it? It’s brilliant!” from cinephiles a million times about that movie (Hypocrisy Alert). There has never been a film that made me feel so small. It stands tall in all its magnificence and it intimidates you. 2001: A Space Odyssey is the Everest among those Kubrickian mountains. You look up and wonder, how could anyone have climbed that high?” – Martin Scorsese. “Watching a Kubrick film is like gazing up at a mountaintop.
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