The ending is largely symbolic, so take all of this with a grain of salt. Id like to hear some interpretations from others and see if i cant grasp what kubrick was going for. A big part of that is because theres no real character development to speak of. See more ideas about 2001 a space odyssey, stanley kubrick and sci fi movies. But a new book on the making of 2001 does offer a fascinating take on. A space odyssey is the 1968 science fiction novel written by arthur c. Stanley kubrick was less inclined to cite the book as a definitive interpretation of the. In lost interview, stanley kubrick explains the ending of 2001. Many people remarked on the quasireligious nature of the films depiction of an extraterrestrial force that guides the formation and application of human intelligence. A space odyssey begins with a manape named moonwatcher millions of years ago and leaps forward through time to the present day when dr. A space odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel by british writer arthur c. This is done on purpose to make the connection that, in the world of 2001, there is no god and the aliens are the highest. A space odyssey is a film that is filled to the brim with symbols.
What on earth did the end of 2001 a space odyssey mean. Summary of 2001 a space odyssey and personal response essay. There is something drastically wrong with the design of the spherical aries moon shuttle. A space odyssey is based on the final version of the script for the 1968 motion picture, but, even so, in some regards they differ due to late changes made by director stanley.
There are few conversations that could not be handled with title cards. A space odyssey by arthur c clarke and its three sequels 2010. As we see in the beginning of the movie a bunch of apes the early men come across the monolith and they have no idea what it is. Bowman enters by briefly exposing himself to the vacuum of space while entering the airlock. Clarke, wanted to leave the film open to philosophical and allegorical interpretation, purposely presenting the final sequences. Clarke and kubrick worked on the book together, but eventually only clarke ended up as the official author. Stay on top of the latest breaking film and tv news. The following story contains spoilers from the series finale of breaking bad. He looks over at the bed and sees himself, only older to the point of mummification. You neednt be a scifi junkie to appreciate this book.
Sep 05, 2008 what on earth did the end of 2001 a space odyssey mean. A space odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by stanley kubrick. A space odyssey for the first time, and although the ending sequence was really cool, i didnt quite understand what was going on. Realistic portrayal of the best of humanity breaking down in failure and.
In this piece i will attempt to identify and explain a few of these phenomena, focussing on symbols, signs and metaphors present in the film. A space odyssey is a countdown to tomorrow, a road map to human destiny, a quest for the infinite. Which is, ultimately, never true of a film that costs that much money laid out by a major studio mgm, in this case, though ill concede that if by difficult one means the ending is a deliberately obscurantist explosion of borderline nonsense, then i can see why youd think that. Understanding the film 2001 is best done through the lens of homers the odyssey hal as the cyclops, nietzsches thus spoke zarathustra and the genealogy of morals, along with finally frueds civilization and its discontents the film is structured around the odyssey, while it contrasts neitzschian transhumanism on the one hand against frueds thesis that civilization. Opinion sometimes a broken glass is just a broken glass the.
Nov 08, 2014 on april 2, 1968, a scifi epic premiered in washington d. A space odyssey continues to cause confusion and debate. The love story is the primary plot, even if the story would change quite a bit by taking it out of space, or wherever. So then he is reincarnated in advanced spirit and new. Bad education subject criticizes films portrayal of his sexuality. After the first encounter with the monolith, we see the leader of the apes have a quick flashback to the monolith after which he picks up a bone and uses it to smash other bones. Bowman ends up in a room somewhere in one universe or another, and we have no idea where. For example, all ai pods have a red eye similar to hals eye, the game also ended in the ai singing.
A space odyssey is the sort of movie that frequently gets called difficult. A space odyssey s ending is famous among strange film endings, and when you consider that the competition includes magnolia, mulholland drive, and rockadoodle, thats sayin something. I still found time to read, but other books, and not that one. To that end, it gives you bignessbig, vast sweeps of time, big vast sweeps of space, big vast fiery suns coming at you. It has been celebrated for its beauty and mystery, its realistic depiction of space travel and dazzling display of visual effects, the breathtaking scope of its story, which reaches across millions of years, and the thoughtprovoking depth of its meditation on evolution, technology and. Heywood floyd is sent to the moon owing to a secretive and rumored disease that is believed to have inflicted the american portion of the colony. And now, were going to dig deep and explain the story of the timid.
Jul 05, 2018 fifty years since it was first screened, 2001. A space odyssey is the picture which sciencefiction enthusiasts of every age and in every corner of the world have prayed sometimes forlornly that the industry might one. Clarke has also written a lot of books, like the space odyssey series, childhoods end, and many more. Much of the dialogue exists only to show people talking to one another, without much regard to content this is true of the conference on the space station. A space odyssey is one of my favorite films and my favorite scifi of all time, i ve committed far too many hours of my.
Clarke and includes such fun trivia as the authors halfserious predictions for the future. A space odyssey left 1968 audiences openmouthed as befuddled by the elusive meaning of the films unconventional narrative as they were awed at the grandeur of its visual imagery. Man emerges as a species slowly, over tens of thousands of years, man explores the stars slowly and actual space travel is very slow. The odyssey is a long greek poem by homer about a dude named odysseus who goes on a long voyage. Some seats and many fixtures are upside down relative to the updown orientation of the shuttle itself, and we see loose food trays and equipment about the place as if this is routine. I was asked by a friend why had i never read the iconic scifi book, 2001 space odyssey. Bowman dons a spacesuit, disconnects hal, establishes contact with earth and learns that learns that his mission is to explore iapetus to contact the society that buried the monolith on the moon. A space odyssey as one of the astronauts on the mission to track the source of an alien artifact found on the moon. Just watched it again, first time i was very young and dont really remember anything other than the pretty pictures and the apes. The monolith had nothing to do with the hal 9000 trying to kill the crew, he really was malfunctioning, but it wasnt really hals fault the 9000 series computers primary programming, which was hardwired into them and cannot be changed, is the accurate processing of information, without distortion or mistakes. A space odyssey is a true classic in how films look on the screen and the artistic sensibility behind it. A space odyssey is the most important science fiction movie ever made. A life in pictures gives kubrick beginners a great place to quickly learn about the famed director and his 10 feature films.
The problem stems from the fact that for the discovery mission, hal was programmed with instructions that conflicted with this primary programming, namely to keep the. A space odyssey 1968 in order to provide the basis for the brilliant film of the same name. A space odyssey has been analysed and interpreted by numerous people, ranging from professional movie critics to amateur writers and science fiction fans. One of the most enigmatic movie endings in history becomes a little clearer with. Over the course of five seasons, breaking bad told the tale of a man whose cancer diagnosis drove him to cook and sell meth. One of the greatestselling science fiction novels of our time, this classic book will grip you to the very end. The 9000 series computers primary programming, which was hardwired into them and cannot be changed, is the accurate processing of information, without distortion or mistakes.
Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnu. A space odyssey 1968 is widely regarded as one of the best films ever made. A space odyssey 1968, plus mistakes, quotes, trivia and more. Peace walker also has various references to hal and 2001. Clarke and the 1968 film directed by stanley kubrick. The metal gear solid character hal otacon emmerich is named after hal 9000 by his father huey. In lost interview, stanley kubrick explains the ending of. This collection comprises the science fiction novels 2001. On april 2, 1968, a scifi epic premiered in washington d. To begin his voyage into the future, kubrick visits our. A space odyssey, alien and her so dont be surprised to see those pop up in my writing from time to time. As a fan of stanley kubrick and cinema in general, i find that the cinematography of 2001.
Fangrrls is about kicking down doors, breaking boundaries and. Both the novel and the film are partially based on clarkes 1948 short story the sentinel, an entry in a bbc short story competition, and encounter in the dawn, published in 1953 in the magazine amazing stories. The shuttle pilots carefully match rotation and steer the shuttle into the stations central docking bay. At the end of breaking bad, tvs greatest liar finally stopped lying to himself. A space odyssey is one of my favorite films and my favorite scifi of all time, i ve committed far too many hours of my life watching it and i m now here to share my thoughts on what the. The movie is quite abstract, which is fine as an experience, but the boo. A space odyssey symbolically describes the story of mankinds life. I had wanted to read it for a long time, and kept trying to find time, but things got in the way. Time and space, 2001 says, are really huge and impressive. New video and audio uploaded to youtube appears to offer kubrick explaining the ending as he saw. The screenplay was written by kubrick and arthur c. A space odyssey ending with interstellar music duration.
Clarkes most famous works, due in part to the film versions popularity, he was a prolific and influential science fiction writer. A space odyssey 1968 when a midair swirling bone, thrown from an ape man, cuts to a space station floating in space. If i had a to make a decision between watching that movie and not eating my favorite food, i guess id never eat pizza again. The perfect collaboration between book and film originally posted at fantasy literature arthur c. Rating is available when the video has been rented. A space odyssey is a very good example to illustrate the point, if not the best. As a single passenger dozes in his seat, a flight attendant with velcro shoes recovers his floating pen. Some books want you to laugh, some books want you to cry. Apr 07, 2018 the interactive transcript could not be loaded. Someone please explain the ending to me like im a 5 year old. This site is dedicated to the science fiction work 2001. Nonetheless, in july 2018, kubricks interpretation of the ending scene was presented. I always found this a pretty disappointing end to the film because it seemed to make no sense. It depicts the differences between the written work and the movie production, and analyzes possible alternate meanings to certain themes and motifs.
I read the book in my 20s because the film intrigued me, but i didnt. Yet, despite that, the plot actually isnt all that complicated. A panam space shuttle approaches a large spinning space station, its revolutions mirroring those of the apes spinning bone. The one based on the book goes like this the black monolith you saw in the beginning of the film, and the one found buried on the moon, were placed there by a supremely advanced alien race as a way to nudge along the evolution of humanity. X clarkes the spot this website is dedicated to all things arthur c. A space odyssey is the worst fucking movie ive ever. A space odyssey, this amazing book was written by arthur c.
I admit that some of the scenes are very, very long like the big snooze inducing scene with the ships while the blue danube waltz is playing. A novelisation of the film released after the films premiere was in part written concurrently with the screenplay. Space odyssey series 4 primary works 9 total works each book in the series is a whole story with a beginning and an ending, however the plot of each book relies on prior books in the series. If so many people are asking what the end of your movie means, it means you did a bad job. Clarke, and was inspired by clarkes short story the sentinel and other short stories by clarke. So whats up with the title is that clarke is saying, that old greek dude went on a long voyage and had adventures way back when, and so heres a story about the future of 2001, when some other dude is going to go on an awesome voyage also. At the end of the picturephone call in 2001, theres a charge displayed. And piers bizonys 550page the making of stanley kubricks 2001. A space odyssey is the worst fucking movie ive ever seen and i am using movie loosely here cause its more of a hey lookwe can put vids of things in space followed by classical music if thats a movie my windows screensaver is a movie as well. The deliberately mannered tempo of the first 90% of the film reflects the unhurried pace of mans progress. What do you think about the cinematography in 2001.
At the end of the opening scene, when leaving nibiru, the transition between the enterprise drawn on sand by a primitive native, and the actual ship flying in space, pays homage to 2001. There is almost no music during the entire next hour of the movie, just the silence of space or the everpresent background noise of the ships engines. The monolith is somekind of step to a higher evolution level made by aliens. Finally, i put it on my ereader and began the journey. My favorite movies are before sunrise, pulp fiction, 2001. It was developed concurrently with stanley kubricks film version and published after the release of the film. Dec 31, 2011 as you may be able to tell from my avatar, 2001 is my favorite film. Unfollow 2001 a space odyssey book to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Ive watched it about 10 times, and it only gets better with each viewingeach time, i find myself asking new questions and finding connections i didnt notice before.
He forgot the mission until accidentally breaking a crystal glass, which makes him wake up out of the trance for a second. A space odyssey movie features bizarre colours and the main character appearing in a bed, then becoming an old man and finally a fetus. The ending is largely symbolic, and reading the book helps with its interpretation. In one of the films key plot points, as benson notes, the discovery spacecrafts hal9000 computer goes bad and kills off.
I will agree with you to an extend that the first half hour is the least interesting. They were written and made concurrently, so its not an adaptation of the source. Which is, ultimately, never true of a film that costs that much money laid out by a major studio mgm, in this case, though ill concede that if by difficult one means the ending is a deliberately obscurantist explosion of borderline. Stanley kubricks epic film reimagined what cinematic science fiction could be, but it also went into esoteric areas, most notably with an ending that the director famously refused to discuss. A space odyssey is the quintessential science fiction book, filled with both inspired visions of the future and startling philosophical questions about humanitys place in the cosmos. At the end of 2001, we see dave pass through a bizarre dreamscape of light patterns and totally alien imagery, and then wake up in a weird set of rooms that are bathed in light in all directions, with oddly historical furnishings. A space odyssey was the name of an oversized comic book adaptation of the 1968 film of the same name and a 10issue monthly series expanding on the ideas presented in the film and the eponymous arthur c. A space odyssey, detailing the lengthy production, is a work befitting its subject. Ann patchett on why we need lifechanging books right now. Clarke has many degrees that allow him to give depth to the plot.