2001: A Space Odyssey: Kubrick and Beyond

In the final sequences of Stanley Kubrick's landmark Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove, we see the world seemingly being destroyed by machines of its own creation. It appeared Kubrick's outlook on the fate of mankind was clear: we're all in
deep trouble. But in the four years following nuclear war, things changed drastically.

In 1968, Kubrick gave us 2001: A Space Odyssey. A dazzling mixture of experimental film, science fiction, and social commentary (In some aspects it can be seen as an update of Strangelove for an imagined future) that still looks ahead of its time today. 2001 remains a landmark achievement, not only for the 1960's, but for the entirety of the motion picture industry's history.

In 1964, despite its popularity, Dr. Strangelove was seen as a controversial piece when it was released in America; some even alleged it glorified communsim. Stanley Kubrick, already an expatriate living in England and undettured by this criticism, had already begun a reworking, of sorts, as the film made its US debut. Several key themes would be revisited in 2001, despite the fact that the two films have very little in common on the surface. Strangelove is dim and dreary throughout, shot in black and white.

2001 is the visual polar opposite. If Strangelove's color is meant to lull the viewer into a dreary demise, 2001 is attempting to overwhlem them with a visual spectacular from the future. Despite this, many ideas can be seen as a kind of continuation.One of these, which is abundantly clear, are the sexual undertones in each. From the "refueling sequence" during the opening credits to Sterling Hayden's impotent cigar enthusiast Gen. Jack D. Ripper, Strangelove is rife with sexual imagery, much of which seems to favor the side of inadecquacy. 2001, however, does not suffer from this problem.

From the phallic spaceships docking in their vaginal ports to the deployment of pods likes ovaries in the uterus, the film dictates not only sexuality but the physical process of copulation. The idea of birth is central throughout. In fact, there are several birthdays that act as intricate milestones in the development of Kubrick's elaborate plot.

The birth of mankind eventually leads to the birth of super computer HAL which leads to the birth of the Star Child; the ultimate being, in evolutionary terms, and the perfect conclusion to this fascinating story. In the world of Kubrick's Strangelove impotence signals the world's forthcoming demise, but in 2001, sexual vitality serves as the springboard for human life's transition to the next intellectual and physical level.

Another parallel to the two films, one that exists on a conscience and deliberate stage, is the presence of the Russians and an ongoing political rivalry which has now stretched four decades. He even goes as far to suggest that this form of competition is four million years old (ie; the prehumans struggle for supremacy at the watering hole). The scene in which Heywood Floyd meets with Russian diplomats to discuss the "problem" at the space station is reminiscent of the war room struggles in Strangelove, but also the Cold War fears that continued to grip America in 1968.

The inclusion of a mechanical character, inheriently flawed and destined to thwart mankind's drive to stay alive in an everchanging dangerous world, is also present in both films. Dr. Strangelove is not technically 100% machine, but his
idealogy and actions are certainly as computerized as any real robot. 2001's robot, however, is very real and actually displays more human emotion than Strangelove.

Perhaps, this is telling because ultimately it is Strangelove who is the successful one in developing and following through with a plot to destroy mankind's advancement on planet Earth and beyond. One glaring difference between these two films is the obvious end results. If Dr. Strangelove is Stanley Kubrick's way of saying societys' problems are capable of undoing life as we know it, 2001 is his vision of humanity's answer. Though it is human flaws that lead to the quandries in both films, it is human resilence, present in 2001, which lead to redemption.

Although, that is not to say that this was accomplished without any help. The idea and inclusion of the messianic Monoliths are the missing link when it comes to the knowledge needed to overcome otherwise overwhelming dilemmas. Each time a Monolith emerges from thin air, life is awarded with the intelligence needed to progress to its next stage (ie; the herbivore prehuman apes become violent tool weilding killers and Hank Bowman becomes the Star Child).

Although 2001 does touch on the Cold War fears of the 1960's, it is probably best known for its conceptual vision, special effects, and its use of music. Kubrick took home the only Academy Award of his career for it, Best Visual Effects. The first peice of dialogue is nearly thirty minutes into the film, and there's hardly any speaking throughout. A good deal of the film is silent (accurately depicting the absence of sound in space), set to music, or with the sound of human breathing within a spacesuit. Kubrick's sci-fi experiment intended to present its story almost purely with visual imagery and auditory signals with very little communicative human dialogue.The film's use of music is also a milestone in film.

Because so much of the movie features long, wordless, visual displays the selection of classical compositions are key to fully interpreting the scene. For the shots of the spaceships, probes, and satellites floating in space Kubrick uses The BlueDanube Waltz by Johann Strauss, a famous and recognizable peice that adds even more to fluidity to the dance of the elaborate models shot against a green screen. During each Monolith sequence, he uses several avant garde peices by György Ligeti; a contemporary composer know for his innovative use of atonal scales and vocal arragments (the result is down right scary, and it does not sound like human voices).

But the most famous peice of music used is the one thatbookends the film, Thus Spake Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. This epic peice might be one of the most recognizable aspect of any part of 2001. Another of the most recognizable parts of Kubrick's masterpeice is the psychadelic "slit-scan" sequence. When Dave Bowman begins his transformation to eventually becoming the Star Child, he his sent spiraling through a portal in his pod. The technology for this scene was brand new to major films and had only been used before in so-called "acid" films of the earlier 1960's.

The dazzling array of colors and lights signifies the end of dialogue in 2001 and beginning of the transformation of human life, both literally and figuretively. In closing, while 2001 will not be best remembered for its Cold War undertones and Dr. Strangelove parallels, those connections and similarites are there and worthy of dissection. Stanley Kubrick's 1968 landmark will remembered for exactly what it is, a genre defying epic which takes on questions that no living human could possibly answer. It is Stanley Kubrick's greatest and most elaborate peice of cinema...until his next. 1

971's A Clockwork Orange will again defy what a movie is supposed to be, and it will stir (arguably) more controversy than the two before it. And look no further than the very last shot of 2001 to see that Kubrick wants the viewer to notice these connections in his films. The closeup of the Star Child's face is not-so-strangely similar to that of the closeup of Alex which begins A Clockwork Orange. Stanley Kubrick did not just make movies in the 1960's, he helped define them.